1995 Islamist terror bombings in France
|
|
In 1995, the GIA Islamic militant group staged a series of attacks against the French public, targeting public transportation. These attacks killed 8 and injured more than 100.
On July 25, 1995, a gas bottle exploded in station Saint Michel of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). 8 were killed and 80 wounded.
On August 17, a bomb at the Arc de Triomphe wounded 17 people. On August 26, a huge bomb was found on the railroad tracks of a high-speed rail line near Lyons. On September 3, a bomb malfunctioned in a square in Paris, wounding 4. On September 7, a car bomb at a Jewish school in Lyons wounded 14.
A leader of the group, Khaled Kelkal, was identified through fingerprints left on unexploded bombs. He was killed on September 29 by members of the French EPIGN gendarmerie unit when allegedly resisting arrest in Paris.
Yet the attacks continued. On October 6, a gas bottle exploded in station Maison Blanche of the Paris Métro, wounding 13. On October 17, a gas bottle exploded in the Orsay station of RER Line B, wounding 29.
Members of the groups have since been prosecuted for various charges. Apparently, the attacks were designed to be a broadening of the war in Algeria, a former French colony.
See Also
External link
- SOS Attentats (http://www.sos-attentats.org/jur_chron_judiciare/procedures/rer_saint_michel_faits.htm)