With one suspected terrorist still on the loose, we recount everything we have learned about the ordeal so far
There were seven coordinated terror attacks in Paris carried out by militants, killing at least 130 people.
The first attacks were launched virtually simultaneously, with two explosions close to the Stade de France at just after 9.20pm local time, four miles apart. The explosions came as a large crowd were enjoying the first half of the international friendly between France and Germany. The attacks then moved to central Paris, where a separate team of gunmen arrived in a back Street at the Right Bank area of the city.
The attackers opened fire on the Petit Cambodge Cambodian restaurant in Rue Bichat, and the Le Carillon bar on the other side of the road. With devastating coolness they gunned down diners and revellers at the two venues, killing 15 as many enjoyed their Friday night out.
The fourth attack came on Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, when the same unit of terrorists drove the 500 yards to the Casa Nostra pizzeria and opened fire on diners, killing at least five. From there, the militants drove around a mile south-east — apparently past the area of the Bataclan concert venue — to then launch another attack, this time on La Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne. At least 19 people died after the terrace was sprayed with bullets at around 9.35pm.
The next attack, at the Bataclan concert venue in Boulevard Voltaire, was the most deadly. There, at least 89 people lost their lives when they were shot by black-clad gunmen wielding AK-47s and wearing suicide vests.
The attackers stormed into the hall and fired calmly and methodically at hundreds of screaming concert-goers, who were watching the US rock group Eagles of Death Metal playing to a full house of 1,500 people. They began a siege that would last two hours and forty minutes. Two of the militants blew up their explosive belts as heavily armed anti-terror police ended the siege at around 12.30am. A third was shot by officers.
Terrifying details have emerged of the police assault on the Islamist attackers. The first policeman to get there arrived at 10pm, about 20 minutes after the three gunmen burst into the concert hall. At around 10.15 pm a heavily armed Swat team arrived and entered the building. The attackers had by then retreated to an upper floor. The police evacuated all the people they found and then, in two columns, went up the stairs to the right and the left of the auditorium.
As they progressed terrified people emerged from cupboards and other hiding places where they had taken cover.
"They came out like zombies. They were in a terrible state and could hardly walk," said one officer involved in the raid, named only as Jean.
At 20 minutes past midnight the order was given to start the final assault. The police burst open the door and, protected by a heavy metal shield, began advancing down the corridor that was revealed to be full of about 20 hostages.
The attackers opened fire immediately but the police unit kept advancing, with officers rushing screaming hostages out as they went forward. When finally they were face to face with the attackers, the police threw a stun grenade as they blasted their guns at the Islamists. One attacker went down, and then the other detonated his suicide vest, blowing both their bodies to pieces. The assault had lasted three minutes.
Finally, at around 9.50pm a third blast took place near the Stade de France, this time by a McDonald's restaurant on the fringes of the stadium. The boom caused terror among spectators who had already been attempting to flee the stadium following the first two explosions. The match had continued, with many attributing the initial noises to fireworks, but word soon spread of what had taken place outside the stadium, as people read updates on their mobile phones.
At least 130 people have died, according to city officials, with many still in intensive care. One Briton — Nick Alexander — has been confirmed by family to have lost his life at the Bataclan.