Thousands gather for Paris attacks victims’ memorial

It was a very different atmosphere than past year when, on the Sunday following the January attacks, more than one million people filled the square in a demonstration of unity and solidarity.

Seventeen people were killed in the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket massacres in January, and a further 130 died in the November carnage on bars, a rock concert and the national stadium.

There was heavy security around the Place de la Republique on Sunday as Hollande and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, laid a wreath and unveiled a commemorative plaque near a newly planted oak tree.

People gather at Place de la Republique square to pay tribute to the victims of last year’s shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Paris, France.

Belgian authorities said Friday they are concerned about the possibility of new attacks in their country to mark the anniversary of the January 15, 2015 police raid in the eastern city of Verviers that foiled a suspected plot by Islamic extremists.

French daily Le Parisien quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that the attacker also carried a claim stating that the attack was “revenge for the killings in Syria”.

It was followed by songs from the French army choir and a reading from 19th century French poet and author Victor Hugo. She was was shot dead the day after two gunmen – brothers – entered the second-floor offices of Charlie Hebdo on January 7 and killed 11 people.

French police use a bomb disposal robot to inspect the body of the man shot dead at the police station in the 18th district in Paris.

Relatives of some of the victims also attended Sunday’s event, which was the culmination of a week of ceremonies commemorating the attacks.

French prosecutors said he was carrying a handwritten claim to be acting in the name of the Islamic State (IS) group.

“We were attacked because of our values”, adding that people were very suspicious of each other in Paris after the November attacks, but that has eased somewhat.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said security forces remain on high alert as there is a real threat of more attacks.

Mosques in France opened their doors to the public this weekend in a bid by the Muslim community to build bridges following the attacks.