List of terrorist incidents in France

Etching of the December 1800 attack of the plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise

This is a list of terrorist attacks in France in peacetime from 1800 to the present. Several 19th-century French rulers were targeted in unsuccessful assassination attempts which killed innocent bystanders. Since 1970, more than 400 people have been killed and over 1,700 others injured in terrorist attacks.

Background

France has a lengthy history of terrorist attacks carried out by a variety of groups from the extreme right, extreme left, extreme Basque, Breton and Corsican nationalists, Algerian insurgent groups and Islamist extremists.[1] Most of the attacks have been bombings utilising improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Anarchists carried out a series of bombings and assassination attempts in the 19th century. A number of attacks associated with the Algerian War took place in the 1950s and 1960s, including the deadliest terrorist attack in France in the 20th century, the 1961 Vitry-Le-François train bombing carried out by the pro-colonialist French nationalist Organisation de l'armée secrète. Various Middle Eastern factions carried out shootings and bombings in the 1970s and 1980s, principally in Paris, while during the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s, insurgents from the Armed Islamic Group carried out a series of major attacks against the Paris public transport system. Nationalist extremists from the Basque, Breton and Corsican communities carried out a number of assassinations and targeted bomb attacks in the 1990s and 2000s. Islamist extremists have carried out numerous attacks in the 2010s, of which the November 2015 Paris attacks have been the bloodiest to date.

Although 2015 has been the deadliest year so far in terms of fatalities caused by terrorist attacks, the number of attacks in previous years has been far higher. The highest number of attacks recorded in a single year was 270 in 1996, while the last year without any recorded terrorist attacks was 1971.[2]

Outside France, the worst terrorist attack in terms of the number of French victims was the 19 September 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Niger, in which 170 people died, 54 of them French citizens.[4]

19th century

Date Type Dead Injured Location and description
24 December 1800 Bombing 22 50+ Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris.[4][5]
28 July 1835 Shooting 18 22 Unsuccessful attempt by Giuseppe Mario Fieschi to assassinate King Louis Philippe I using an "infernal device", essentially an improvised multi-barrelled gun.[4][6]
14 January 1858 Bombing 8 106 Unsuccessful attempt by Italian nationalist Felice Orsini to assassinate Napoleon III.[4][7]
8 November 1892 Bombing 5 0 The anarchist Émile Henry placed a bomb at the offices of the Carmaux Mining Company, killing five police officers after it was discovered and transported to a police station.[8]
9 December 1893 Bombing 0 1 The anarchist Auguste Vaillant threw a home-made bomb into the French Chamber of Deputies from the public gallery, injuring one deputy.[9]
12 February 1894 Bombing 1 20 French anarchist Émile Henry detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare.[10]
24 June 1894 Stabbing 1 0 Assassination of the President of the French Republic, Sadi Carnot by the Italian anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio, in revenge for the execution of Vaillant.[11]

20th century

Date Type Dead Injured Location and description
31 July 1914 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of Jean Jaurès a socialist leader and a committed antimilitarist, at the outbreak of World War I, in a Parisian cafe, by a French nationalist Raoul Villain.[12]
25 May 1926 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of Symon Petliura in Paris on rue Racine, by a Russian revolutionary Sholom Schwartzbard.[13]
9 October 1934 Shooting 6 5 Assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou in Marseille, by a Bulgarian revolutionary Vlado Chernozemski.[14]
23 January 1937 Stabbing 1 0 Assassination of Dimitri Navachine, former governor of the BCEN, a Soviet-controlled bank in Paris, by an extreme-right group La Cagoule.
9 June 1937 Shooting 2 0 Assassination of two Italian antifascists, the Rosseli Brothers (Nello and Carlo) by La Cagoule in Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, probably on the orders of Mussolini.
11 September 1937 Bombing 2 0 Bomb attack by La Cagoule against the Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie and the "Confédération générale du patronat français" to create the impression of a communist conspiracy.[15]
15 September 1958 Shooting 1 3 Unsuccessful attempt by National Liberation Front (Algeria) to assassinate the French Information Minister Jacques Soustelle on the Place de l'Etoile in Paris.
18 June 1961 Bombing 28 100+ 1961 Vitry-Le-François train bombing carried out by the Organisation de l'armée secrète, which caused a fast Strasbourg–Paris train to derail; the worst terrorist attack in French history before the 21st century.[1][16]
22 January 1962 Bombing 1 12 Bomb attack against the Quai d'Orsay, carried out by the OAS.[16]
9 March 1962 Bombing 3 47 Car bomb attack in Issy-les-Moulineaux, carried out by the OAS.[16]
14 December 1973 Bombing 4 20 Bomb attack against the Algerian consulate in Marseille by the far-right Charles Martel Group.[1]
28 July 1974 Bombing 0 12 Bomb attack against the Spanish consulate in Toulouse by Revolutionary Internationalist Action Groups (GARI).
15 September 1974 Bombing 2 34 Grenade attack on the Drugstore Saint-Germain-des-Prés, allegedly by Carlos the Jackal.[17]
13-19 January 1975 RPG attack 0 24 Two failed rocket propelled grenade attacks on El Al airplanes at Orly Airport by Carlos the Jackal.
9 March 1975 Bombing 1 6 Bomb attack in the Gare de l'Est.
31 July 1975 Hostage taking 1 2 Hostage taking at the Iraqi embassy in Paris, carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
24 October 1975 Shooting 2 0 A group of Armenian militants ambushed the car of Turkish Ambassador İsmail Erez killing him and his chauffeur. Both ASALA and JCAG claimed responsibility.
18 October 1977 Shooting 1 0 A Red Army Faction commando shoots and kills German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer near the city of Mulhouse. Another commando had kidnapped Schleyer in Cologne, Germany, on 5 September 1977, killing his driver and three police officers.
20 May 1978 Shooting 4 5 Three terrorists open fire on El Al passengers in the departure lounge of Orly Airport south of Paris.[18]
3 August 1978 Shooting 2 0 Assassination of the PLO representative in Paris, Izz al-Din al-Kalak and one of his assistants, by the Abu Nidal Organization.
27 March 1979 Bombing 0 32 Bomb attack against a university restaurant in a Jewish student hostel in Paris claimed by an Anti-Zionist group.[18]
23 December 1979 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of Turkish attaché for tourism in France, Yılmaz Çolpan on the Champs Elysées by the JCAG.
17 January 1980 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of the director of the Palestinian library-shop in Paris, Yusef Mubarak, by the Abu Nidal Organization.
29 January 1980 Bombing 1 8 Bomb attack against the Syrian Embassy in Paris.
21 July 1980 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of former Prime Minister of Syria, Salah al-Bitar in his newspaper office in Paris.
5 August 1980 Shooting 2 11 1980 Turkish Consulate attack in Lyon, carried out by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).
3 October 1980 Bombing 2 34 1980 Paris synagogue bombing against the synagogue of the French Israeli Liberal Union on rue Copernic, Paris.[1]
4 March 1981 Shooting 2 1 Assassination of the Turkish Labour Attaché, Reşat Moralı, and the Religious Affairs Officer in the Turkish Embassy, Tecelli Arı by two gunmen of ASALA in Paris.
29 August 1981 Bombing 0 15 Bomb attack by a Palestinian group in the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris.
24-25 September 1981 Hostage taking 1 2 1981 Turkish consulate attack in Paris, carried out by ASALA.
18 January 1982 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of the United States Assistant Army Attaché (Charles R. Ray), carried out by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction.
29 March 1982 Bombing 5 29 Bomb attack against the "Capitole" train between Paris and Toulouse, attributed to Carlos the Jackal.[1]
3 April 1982 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of an Israeli embassy advisor (Yaacov Barsimentov) in Paris, carried out by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction.
22 April 1982 Bombing 1 60 Car bomb attack outside the Parisian offices of anti-Syrian newspaper Al-Watan Al-Arabi, attributed to Carlos the Jackal.[17]
21 July 1982 Bombing 0 15 Bomb attack in a terrace café on the Place Saint-Michel in Paris, carried out by ASALA.
9 August 1982 Shooting 6 22 Goldenberg restaurant attack on the Rue des Rosiers in Paris, attributed to the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).[1]
17 September 1982 Bombing 0 51 Bomb attack against an Israeli diplomat in front of the Israeli consulate and the Lycée Carnot, claimed by FARL and Action Directe.[18]
28 February 1983 Bombing 1 4 Bomb attack in an office of the Turkish travel agency Marmara in Paris, carried out by ASALA.[19]
15 July 1983 Bombing 8 56 Orly Airport attack, carried out by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).[1][19]
30 September 1983 Bombing 1 26 Bomb attack during the Marseille International Fair Trade. Action Directe, FARL, ASALA and Commando Delta claimed responsibility.[19]
31 December 1983 Bombing 5 13 Bombing of a TGV fast train between Marseille and Paris and the Saint Charles train station in Marseille, attributed to Carlos the Jackal.[17]
7 February 1984 Shooting 2 1 Assassination of Gholam Ali Oveisi, a former military governor of Tehran, and his brother in Paris where they were in exile. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility .
8 February 1984 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to France, Khalifa Abdel Aziz al-Mubarak on a Paris street, attributed to the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).
2 August 1984 Bombing 0 6 Bombing of the European Space Agency headquarters in Paris, by Action Directe.
25 January 1985 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of René Audran, senior official of the French Ministry of Defence, by Action Directe.
23 February 1985 Bombing 1 14 Bomb attack against the Marks & Spencer store in boulevard Haussmann, attributed to the Hezbollah.[20][21]
29 March 1985 Bombing 0 18 Bomb attack against the Rivoli Beaubourg cinema in Paris during a Jewish film festival, attributed to the Hezbollah.[18][20][22]
25 September 1985 Shooting 4 1 Monbar Hotel attack in Bayonne, in which four members of ETA who police believed to be senior figures in the organisation were killed by the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL).
7 December 1985 Bombing 0 43 Double bomb attack against the Printemps Haussmann store in Paris, attributed to the Hezbollah.[20][21]
3-5 February 1986 Bombings 1 35 Three bomb attacks in 3 days against the Claridge Hotel on the Champs-Élysées, a bookshop on the Place Saint-Michel and a Fnac store on Les Halles by the CSPPA and Hezbollah.[20][21]
20 March 1986 Bombing 2 29 Bomb attack against the Point Show gallery on the Champs-Élysées by the CSPPA and Hezbollah.[20]
9 July 1986 Bombing 1 21 Bombing of the Brigade de répression du banditisme office in Paris, by Action Directe.
5-15 September 1986 Bombings 5 131 4 bomb attacks against a post office in the Hôtel de Ville, a Casino caféteria in La Défense, a restaurant on the Champs-Élysées and an office in the Préfecture de police by the CSPPA and Hezbollah.[20]
17 September 1986 Bombing 7 55 Bomb attack against the Tati store on rue de Rennes in Paris, attributed to the CSPPA and Hezbollah.[1]
17 November 1986 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of Georges Besse, CEO of Renault, by Action Directe.[12]
22 October 1988 Arson 0 14 1988 attack on Saint-Michel cinema in Paris carried out by an integrist Catholic group to protest against the showing of The Last Temptation of Christ.
24 December 1994 Hijacking 7 25 Hijacking of Air France Flight 8969 by members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA).[1]
July-October 1995 Bombings 8 140+ 1995 Paris Métro and RER bombings, 8 bomb attacks carried out by the Armed Islamic Group.[1]
3 December 1996 Bombing 4 170 1996 Paris Métro bombing. Bomb attack against the RER B Gare de Port-Royal in Paris, attributed to the Armed Islamic Group.[1]
8 February 1998 Shooting 1 0 Assassination of Claude Érignac, prefect of Corsica, by Corsican nationalists.[1]
19 April 2000 Bombing 1 0 Bomb attack against a branch of McDonald's in Quévert, Brittany, attributed to extreme Breton nationalists.[1]

21st century

Date Type Dead Injured Location and description
20 July 2003 Bombing 0 16 Double attack against the regional directorates of customs and the treasury in Nice, claimed by the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC).[1]
8 October 2004 Bombing 0 10 Bomb attack against the Indonesian Embassy in Paris, claimed by the Front islamique français armé.
1 December 2007 Shooting 2 0 Killing of two members of the Spanish Civil Guard carrying out surveillance against ETA members in Capbreton, Landes.[1]
16 March 2010 Shooting 1 0 A French policeman was shot dead by members of ETA when he stopped their car at a routine checkpoint at Dammarie Les Lys, outside of Paris.[23]
11-22 March 2012 Shooting 7 5 Toulouse and Montauban shootings, murders of three French paratroopers, and a French Rabbi and three French schoolchildren (aged eight, six and three), carried out over a period of 11 days by Mohammed Merah.[1]
23 May 2013 Stabbing 0 1 2013 La Défense attack by an Islamist knifeman against a French soldier in the Paris suburb of La Défense.
20 December 2014 Stabbing 0 3 2014 Tours police station stabbing. A man yelling "Allahu Akbar" attacked a police office in Joué-lès-Tours with a knife. He was killed and 3 police officers were injured.
21 December 2014 Vehicle ramming 0 11 2014 Dijon attack. A man yelling "Allahu Akbar" ran over 11 pedestrians with his vehicle.
22 December 2014 Vehicle ramming 1 10 2014 Nantes attack. A man yelling "Allahu Akbar" ran over 10 pedestrians with his vehicle, killing one, then attempted suicide.
7-9 January 2015 Shooting 17 22 January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, a mass shooting at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, carried out by Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, two Islamist gunmen who identified themselves as belonging to Al-Qaeda in Yemen.[1] During this period, a third Islamist gunman and close friend of the Kouachi brothers, Amedy Coulibaly was responsible for two shootings and an hostage taking at a Hypercacher kosher market. He said he synchronized his attacks with the Kouachi brothers. Coulibaly had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
3 February 2015 Stabbing 0 3 3 military men, guarding a Jewish community center in Nice, are attacked by Moussa Coulibaly (not related to the January Coulibaly attacks).
19 April 2015 Shooting 1 0 Unsuccessful attack against 2 churches in Villejuif by an Algerian jihadist. He killed a woman probably when trying to steal her car but accidentally shot himself in the leg, putting an end to his plans.[24]
26 June 2015 Beheading 1 2 Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack. An Islamist delivery driver probably linked to ISIS decapitated a man and rammed a company van into gas cylinders at the Air Products gas factory in an attempt to blow up the building.
21 August 2015 Shooting and stabbing 0 4 2015 Thalys train attack. An attempted mass shooting occurred on a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris. Four people were injured, including the assailant who was subdued by other passengers.[25]
13-14 November 2015 Shootings, hostage taking and suicide bombings 130 352 November 2015 Paris attacks. The single deadliest terrorist attack in French history. Multiple shooting and grenade attacks occurred on a Friday night; among the locations targeted were a music venue, sports stadium and several bar and restaurant terraces. 90 persons were killed during a siege at an Eagles of Death Metal concert inside the Bataclan. French president François Hollande evacuated from a football match between France and Germany at the Stade de France, venue for the UEFA Euro 2016 Final, after three separate suicide bombings over the course of about 40 minutes. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks and President Hollande named the Paris attacks an "'act of war'".[26]
1 January 2016 Vehicle ramming 0 2 A man rammed his car twice into 4 soldiers protecting a mosque in Valence. He said he wanted to kill troops and jihadi propaganda images were found on his computer.[27]
7 January 2016 Stabbing 0 1 January 2016 Paris police station attack, a jihadist wearing a fake explosive belt attacked police officers in the Goutte d'Or district in Paris with a meat cleaver, while shouting "Allahu Akbar". He was shot dead and one policeman receiving injuries. The ISIS flag and a clearly written claim in Arabic, were found on the attacker.[28]
13 June 2016 Stabbing 2 0 2016 Magnanville stabbing, a police officer and his wife, a police secretary, were stabbed to death in their home in Magnanville by a jihadist. ISIS claimed responsibility.
19 July 2016 Stabbing 0 4 An Islamist staying in a holiday resort, in Garda-Colombe, attacked a family of four with a kitchen knife. He told prosecutors he was offended by their lack of suitable clothing.
26 July 2016 Stabbing 1 3 2016 Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray church attack, two terrorists attacked a church during a mass, killing an 86-year-old priest. ISIS claimed responsibility.
19 August 2016 Stabbing 0 1 A rabbi was stabbed in Strasbourg by a man reportedly shouting Allahu Akbar.
30 August 2016 Stabbing 0 1 A policeman was wounded in a melee attack in a police station. The assailant was arrested by other policemen. He tried to kill the policeman because "It represents France".[143]
2 September 2016 Stabbing 0 (+1) 2 A 29-year-old attacker injured a nurse and police were called to the scene, upon which a policewoman was seriously injured. The perpetrator was shot dead by another officer and the incident is being described as a 'terrorist incident'.[8]
4 September 2016 Stabbing 0 2 A prisoner in a radicalization prevention unit wounded two prison officers. The detainee first assaulted a supervisor with an artisanal weapon. A second supervisor, posted at the entrance to the exercise yard, was also injured when he tried to help his colleague.[14][15]
4 September 2016 Melee attack 0 2 Two Islamists attacked an author and his son, with blows to the head and stomach. The author, who wrote a book on 'Jihad', lost consciousness, and has now requested full police protection on his premises. Both victims were called 'filthy whites' and the author's daughter was also verbally abused.
8 September 2016 Stabbing 0 1 A terror raid took place in Essonne. A suspect attacked a police officer with a machete and was apprehended by his colleagues. The officer was injured in the shoulder and was subsequently hospitalized; though the injuries were reportedly not life-threatening.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pech, Marie-Estelle (7 January 2015). "L'attentat le plus meurtrier depuis Vitry-Le-François en 1961". Le Figaro. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2016). Global Terrorism Database (globalterrorismdb_0616dist.xlsx). Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd University of Maryland
  3. ↑ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2016). Global Terrorism Database (gtd1993_0616dist.xlsx). Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd University of Maryland
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Charlie Hebdo, un attentat sans précédent en France". Le Parisien. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Esdaile, Charles (2008). Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815. Penguin.
  6. ↑ Summerville, Christopher (2014). Who was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle. Routledge. p. 87.
  7. ↑ Cropley, David H.; Cropley, Arthur J. (2013). Creativity and Crime: A Psychological Analysis. Cambridge University Press. p. 184.
  8. ↑ Gérard Chaliand; Arnaud Blin (2007). The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24709-3. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  9. ↑ Chaliand & Blin, pp. 127-8
  10. ↑ Chaliand & Blin, p. 129
  11. ↑ Robert J Goldstein (2013). Political Repression in 19th Century Europe (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 24). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-02670-7.
  12. 1 2 "Histoire du terrorisme" (PDF). France Culture. 25 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "FRANCE: Petlura Trial". Time (magazine). 7 November 1927. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Live footage of King Alexander's Assassination (1934)". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  15. ↑ http://images.midi.bibliotheque.toulouse.fr/1938/B315556101_MIDSOC_1938_01_12.pdf
  16. 1 2 3 "Le temps de l'OAS". Anne-Marie Duranton-Cabrol. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 "Carlos the Jackal faces new France trial". BBC. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Depuis 30 ans, la communauté juive plusieurs fois ciblée". Le Figaro. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 "Remembering The Orly Attack". Maxime Gauin. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Les attentats de 1986 en France : un cas de violence transnationale et ses implications (Partie 1)". Didier Bigo. Cultures et Conflits. 1991.
  21. 1 2 3 Le Point, magazine. "CHRONOLOGIE - Ces grands magasins parisiens visés par des attentats". Le Point.fr. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "New attacks feared after Paris bombing at a jewish Festival". The New York Times. 1985.
  23. ↑ Tremlett, Giles; Davies, Lizzy (2010-03-17). "Eta blamed for death of French policeman in shoot-out near Paris". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  24. ↑ Peter Allen (23 April 2015). "French Islamic terrorist suspect's alleged plot foiled after he shot himself in leg". mirror. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  25. ↑ Inti Landauro and Sam Schechner (21 August 2015). "Three Wounded in Attack on French Train". WSJ. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  26. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/string-of-paris-terrorist-attacks-leaves-over-120-dead/2015/11/14/066df55c-8a73-11e5-bd91-d385b244482f_story.html
  27. ↑ "Man who drove car at troops not linked to terrorist group: French prosecutor". Reuters. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  28. ↑ "ISIS knife-wielding man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' shot dead in Paris on Charlie Hebdo anniversary". RT. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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