Accessibility links

Breaking News

Terror in France: Recent Attacks


People lay flowers and mementos in honor of the Bastille Day truck attack victims, July 15, 2016. (Photo: VOA Persian Service)
People lay flowers and mementos in honor of the Bastille Day truck attack victims, July 15, 2016. (Photo: VOA Persian Service)

France has been hit by multiple terrorist attacks in the past 18 months that have killed nearly 230 people and injured hundreds. President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency last November, after the Paris assault that was the deadliest attack in the country’s modern history. On Friday, Hollande extended the order, which was due to end July 26, for another three months after the Bastille Day attack in Nice.

Here is a timeline of the attacks on France going back to January 2015, when terrorists killed 11 journalists in the newsroom of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper:

Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of an attack on July 15, 2016, after a truck drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice.
Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of an attack on July 15, 2016, after a truck drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice.

July 14, 2016

A driver killed 84 people and injured more than 100 others when he steered his speeding truck into a crowd in Nice at a celebration of Bastille Day, France's independence holiday. Many children were among the dead.

June 13, 2016

A knife-wielding man killed a senior police chief and his companion, also a police officer, in Magnanville, about 55 kilometers west of Paris. Police rescued the couple’s 3-year-old boy and killed the assailant pledging allegiance to Islamic State.

January 7, 2016

A militant wearing a fake explosive belt attacked police officers in the Goutte d'Or district in Paris, shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic. He was shot dead and one policeman was injured. The Islamic State flag and a clearly written claim in Arabic were found on the attacker.

January 1, 2016
A man rammed his car into four soldiers guarding a mosque in the southeast French city of Valence, and he was stopped when a soldier fired and wounded him. He said he wanted to kill troops, and terror propaganda images were found on his computer. One soldier was slightly injured and a passer-by was also injured by a stray bullet.

FILE - President Barack Obama, right, French President Francois Hollande, second from right, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrive at the Bataclan, site of one of the Paris terrorists attacks, to pay their respects to the victims, Nov. 30, 2015.
FILE - President Barack Obama, right, French President Francois Hollande, second from right, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrive at the Bataclan, site of one of the Paris terrorists attacks, to pay their respects to the victims, Nov. 30, 2015.

November 13-14, 2015

In the deadliest attack in France’s modern history, nine gunmen and suicide bombers launched multiple deadly attacks across the French capital, killing almost 130 people and wounding more than 350.

Gunmen stormed the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, where the U.S. rock band Eagles of Death Metal was performing, and fired AK-47s into the crowd, leaving 89 dead.

Thirty-nine people were also killed when a gunman opened fire on diners sitting at outdoor terraces in the popular eating districts of central Paris.

One was killed in three explosions near the Stade de France football ground, where France was playing Germany in an international match.

Seven of the perpetrators died on the night of the attacks, and two were killed in the days that followed.

August 21, 2015

A gunman opened fire on board a Thalys high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, wounding three people before being overpowered by passengers, including two American servicemen.

June 26, 2015

Attackers crashed a car into a U.S.-owned gas company in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon, then beheaded a businessman, leaving his decapitated body daubed with Arabic writing at the entrance of the premises. A flag with Islamist inscriptions was also found nearby.

April 19, 2015

An Algerian jihadist attempted an unsuccessful attack against one or more churches in Villejuif. He killed a woman, probably while trying to steal her car, but he accidentally shot himself in the leg, ending his plans.

February 3, 2015

A knife-wielding assailant attacked soldiers outside a Jewish community center in the southern French city of Nice. Two of the servicemen were injured, but their lives were not in danger.

FILE - In this Sept.19, 2012 file photo, Stephane Charbonnier also known as Charb , the publishing director of the satyric weekly Charlie Hebdo, displays the front page of the newspaper as he poses for photographers in Paris.
FILE - In this Sept.19, 2012 file photo, Stephane Charbonnier also known as Charb , the publishing director of the satyric weekly Charlie Hebdo, displays the front page of the newspaper as he poses for photographers in Paris.

January 7-9, 2015

Masked gunmen, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, stormed into the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 reporters, including its prominent editor-in-chief.

Then the brothers unflinchingly shot dead an injured police officer in the street.

A day after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, a policewoman was killed in a shootout with Amedy Coulibaly, an associate of the Kouachi brothers.

On January 9, in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, Coulibaly took hostages at a kosher supermarket. By the end of the day 20 people were dead.
The Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, AQAP, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG