France: 19 Months of pure terror

Since January 7, 2015 when the Kouachi brothers, Saïd and Chérif, burst into the Charlie Hebdo office and brutally murdered 11 people, France has suffered a wave of terrorist attacks. Monday’s murder of a priest in Normandy is the latest chapter in one of the bloodiest periods in the country’s post-war history.

1) Charlie Hebdo massacre - January 7, 2015 - 12 dead, 11 injured

Journalists from the secular, non-conformist publication were the primary targets but a janitor and a policeman were also among the 12 killed in the mid-morning assault. The Kouachi brothers fled the scene before being cornered and killed by French security services in an industrial estate outside Paris.

2) Kosher supermarket siege - January 9, 2015 - 5 dead, 9 injured

Amedy Coulibaly held 19 people hostage during a siege at the Porte de Vincennes supermarket in Paris while the Kouachis were on the run from police. A follower of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Coulibaly, who shot dead a police officer elsewhere in Paris the previous day, had demanded that the brothers not be harmed during his time holed up in the Kosher store.

He murdered four people in the supermarket before being shot dead by police.

3) Paris attacks - November 13, 2015 - 130 dead, 368 injured

By far the deadliest, most savage attack. On Friday, November 13 suicide bombers detonated outside the Stade de France during an international soccer match, while an attack at the Bataclan Theater, which saw gunfire sprayed into a concert crowd, killed 89. There were also coordinated shootings at cafes and restaurants in the city that night.

4) Nice truck rampage - July 14, 2016 - 84 dead, 303 injured

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had links to Islamic State, drove a 19-ton truck through a massive crowd enjoying the Bastille Day fireworks display at the Promenade des Anglais on the city’s waterfront. He was eventually shot dead by police inside the lorry, but questions have been raised about security procedures at the event.

Rouen priest murder - July 26, 2016 - 1 dead, 1 injured

Two men broke into the Normandy church during mass, taking the 84-year-old priest and four others hostage. The suspects were shot dead by police while attempting to flee. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.

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