‘Charlie Hebdo’ attack January 7
The Paris offices of magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published satirical illustrations of the prophet Mohammed, are stormed by two gunmen. They kill 11 people, 10 of them execution-style — including cartoonists who the attackers had singled out by name. The attackers shout, “Allah akbar” (“God is great”) and say, “We’ve taken revenge against the prophet.” They get away. During their escape, they fire upon a patrol car and then a wounded police officer lying on a sidewalk, killing him. That evening, after news of the massacre has spread across the world, thousands of Parisians gather for a vigil at Place de la Republique, where a prominent message on a sign in the crowd is “Not Afraid.”
January 8
A police officer is killed and a street sweeper injured in a shooting in southern Paris.
January 9
As police track the two suspects down to an area 40km northeast of Paris, a gunman takes over a kosher grocery just outside the city, killing four as he enters. Those remaining in the store become hostages, whom the gunman says he will kill if police move against the suspects in the Hebdo attack. Subsequently, police storm the building where the Hebdo suspects were holed up, killing them and rescuing a hostage they had taken amid gunshots and explosions. Minutes later, police rush into the grocery and, through more gunshots and explosions, kill that gunman. The Hebdo attackers are identified as brothers Chérif and Said Kouachi; the grocery gunman as Amedy Coulibaly. Police identify Coulibaly as the one behind the shooting that killed the police officer the day before.
Beheading at US-owned factory June 26
A man once placed on a “radicalisation list” drove a truck into a U.S.-owned gas factory called Air Products in Lyon, triggering an explosion as his boss’ severed head was found at the entrance. The man, Yaccine Salhi, 35, was taken into custody. Banners with Arabic inscriptions were found near the severed head. “Islamist terrorism has again struck France,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said of the incident.
Train attack August 21
A young Moroccan armed with a Kalashnikov and a knife was subdued aboard a Paris-bound high-speed train, as he was apparently preparing to attack passengers. Three Americans, all longtime friends traveling together -- Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos -- sprang into action as the suspect cocked the trigger of his weapon. Stone was stabbed and recovered from his wounds. The three were honored with the Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande, and President Obama thanked them personally. The attacker was identified as Ayoub El-Khazzani. Prosecutors said he watched a jihadi video on his phone just before the incident and has ties to radical Islam.
