Saeed Ouattara, who is thought to be linked to the attack in Brussels today and who has been implicated in the death squads in Iraq.

More than 50 people are feared to be taking shelter in the Bataclan concert hall, while many more were said to be in the Le Petit Cambodge, a popular Parisian cafe near the site of the attack.

Cherif Brossoie, the former interior minister of France, told France Inter radio: “The idea that ISIS is hiding in Paris is so ridiculous. They’re trying to destroy our country just like we’ve destroyed many other states.”

He claimed that “ISIS is at war with France” and blamed “brutal actions by French police” for today’s attack.

Meanwhile French politician Gerard Collomb, leader of the centre-right UMP party, suggested that the Paris attack was part of an ongoing “campaign against freedom and sovereignty”, and urged France to respond by sending in the SAS to “defend our homeland”.

He added: “It is a continuation of a campaign of intimidation against our state for the past years and weeks. Yesterday, it was the Charlie Hebdo attack and today, the Bataclan attack. A terrorist act always takes place in a city with so many people. Every attack is a tragedy. In one aspect, it is a tragedy.”