Terrorist attacks in Paris

On Jan. 7 in Paris, France, two men, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi — armed with assault rifles — entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine, and opened fire on the staff. They killed 11 people and injured another 11, then killed a police officer as they made their escape. Witnesses reported the men yelled “God is great” and “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad” during their attack.

Charlie Hebdo had often been the target of threats for printing cartoons that depicted the Prophet Muhammad. Depicting the prophet in any image is considered forbidden by many Muslims.

On Jan. 8, a policewoman was killed and another man injured by an associate of the Kouachi brothers, Amedy Coulibaly, who was armed with an assault rifle and pistol. 

On Jan. 9 in the town of Dammartin-en-Goële, 22 miles north of Paris, the Kouachi brothers held a man hostage in a printing shop. The brothers, who told police they wanted to die as martyrs, attacked police after releasing the hostage. Both men were killed and two police officers were wounded.

In Paris at the same time, Coulibaly took at least 19 people hostage in a kosher grocery store. Police stormed the grocery, killing Coulibaly. The bodies of four hostages were found in the back of the store.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen has claimed responsibility for planning the attacks by the Kouachis and Coulibaly. A fourth person, Hayat Boumeddine, is suspected of being Coulibaly’s partner in planning and carrying out his attacks. She fled to Syria.

After the incidents, anti-terror raids in France and Belgium led to the deaths of two suspected terrorists and the arrests of 13 others.