The team of Marines responsible for guarding the U.S. Embassy in Paris have all been accounted for following a murderous terrorist rampage on the city that left more than 125 people dead.
All of the Marines currently assigned to the embassy were safe and accounted for Friday night, said Maj. Chris Devine, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. The city came under attack by eight armed terrorists at about 9 p.m. local time as Parisians and tourists flooded a concert hall, soccer stadium, restaurants and bars. At least 128 people were killed and scores more injured when attackers set off bombs and opened fire at six locations.
State Department officials said Americans were among the victims, but have not released the identities of the U.S. citizens killed or injured in the attacks.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The eight attackers, now dead, appear to be part of a self-contained cell that returned to Paris from Syria, according to the BBC. At least one of the attackers reportedly had a Syrian passport and was believed to have entered Europe through Greece. Some witnesses inside the concert hall, where most of the victims were killed, told local news organizations the attackers yelled that they were acting in retaliation for France's involvement in Syria.
Officials with Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa tweeted a message of solidarity following news of the attacks.
About 1,750 Marines are forward-deployed in Europe, with the bulk of them based in neighboring Spain and Italy as part of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa, the Corps' crisis response force for Africa and Europe.
While it's not immediately clear whether the Marines there have been put on standby or alert following the terrorist attack, the unit is designed to provide a quick-reaction force in the wake of threats to U.S. or allies' interests and humanitarian emergencies. The force includes an infantry battalion as well as a reinforced MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft squadron, which has vertical takeoff capabilities like that of a helicopter but flies with the speed of an airplane.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian on Saturday that the U.S. military stands with its oldest ally and remains committed in "taking additional steps to respond to these barbaric attacks," according to a Defense Department news release. The two agreed to remain in close contact over the next few days.
French President Francois Hollande has called the attack "an act of war," and declared a three-day state of national mourning. France remains on a high state of alert, with some segments of the country facing curfews and bans on public demonstrations.
