Egyptian citizen Salah Emad al-Gebaly was killed in one of the six coordinated attacks that shook Paris Friday night, said Egypt’s Consul in France Serenade Gamil late Sunday.
It is believed that Gebaly was among the victims of the Bataclan Theatre, where at least 89 people attending a concert by American group Eagles of Death Metal were either shot or bombed to death or died when the three suicide attackers blew themselves up following a brief hostage situation after which police stormed the theatre.
In a phone interview with TV host Sherif Amer on MBC private channel, Gamil refuted speculation that any Egyptians were involved in the attacks.
In the worst attack on France since World War II, Paris was stunned as gunmen and suicide bombers went on a rampage killing at least 129 and injuring hundreds at a music hall, at restaurants and bars and near a stadium where French President Francois Hollande was attending a friendly between France and Germany.
Lining up outside the stadium to buy a ticket was Egyptian Waleed Abdel Razek, who was critically injured when a bomb went off near him. His passport was found at the scene of the bombing and for a few hours authorities had falsely hinted that he was involved in the attack.
According to his brother Wael, Waleed had come to Paris with their mother to accompany him through cancer treatment.
He is currently in the Beaujon Hospital with injuries including a cut in the arteries of his right leg, a broken shoulder and arm as well as shrapnel wounds across the body reaching his colon and kidneys, leading to severe hemorrhage, Wael told Aswat Masriya Sunday in a telephone interview.
Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack a day later in a statement published in both Arabic and French, and made available in an audio recording, where the group said eight of its members had carried out the operation.
The group said in the statement circulated on social media and shared on an unofficial website for the group that it targeted the "capital of immorality and vice" and the "bearer of the banner of the cross in Europe."
French authorities said Sunday that the Paris attackers were helped by three brothers from Belgium. While one, Salah Abdeslam, was still at large, another, Mohamed, was apprehended by Belgian authorities and the third, Ibrahim, was killed at some point in the Friday carnage.
Previously, a visibly shaken Hollande had immediately declared a state of emergency and ordered the closure of national borders.
The French president blamed ISIS for what he described as “an act of war”.
France is a member of the US-led coalition, which includes more than 60 countries, fighting ISIS on Syrian territories.
The attacks in the French capital provoked international condemnation with hashtags #PrayforParis and #Prayforhumanity trending on social media.
It is feared that the attacks might prompt hostility against Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS in Europe in addition to provoking Islamophobic behaviour in France and across the continent.
This marks the third attack claimed by ISIS affiliates in two weeks in different regions. A day before the attack in France, ISIS affiliates claimed a double suicide bombing in southern Beirut, killing dozens.
On October 31, ISIS affiliates in Egypt’s North Sinai gloated at downing a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 passengers and crew, most of whom were Russians.
French Ambassador to Egypt Andre Baran said on Sunday that every country is vulnerable to “terrorism”.
He added that several French and European youth joined ISIS and that the attacks will not affect France’s policies in the Middle East, stressing that France will continue its fight against ISIS.
