1995 bombings in France
| 1995 Paris Métro and RER bombings | |
|---|---|
| Location | Paris, France |
| Date | 25 July 1995 – 17 October 1995 |
| Weapons | Improvised explosive devices, school bombing |
| Deaths | 8 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
157 |
| Perpetrator | Armed Islamic Group |
The 1995 bombings in France were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), who were broadening the Algerian Civil War to France. In total, these attacks killed eight and injured more than 100 people. The assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a co-founder of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) who opposed attacks in France, was a prelude of this extension of the Islamists' terrorist campaign to France.
On 25 July 1995, a gas bottle exploded in the Saint-Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). The Place Saint-Michel, the bridges and surrounding streets are full of emergency vehicles. The Parvis Notre-Dame becomes a helicopter runway while a nearby pub, Le depart Saint-Michel, is used as a field hospital.
At 8pm, at the beginning of the France 2 news, the announcer states that 4 people died and another 40 got injured in a « mysterious explosion ». At that time, no official sources had confirmed that it was a terrorist attack.
The thesis of it being a terrorist attack would be confirmed later on, as the final outcome is said to be 8 deaths and 117 injured.
On 17 August, a second bomb, hidden in a garbage can, at the Arc de Triomphe wounded 16 people. The bomb was composed of a gas bottle with nails.
On 26 August, a huge bomb was found on the railroad tracks of a high-speed rail line near Lyon. It was supposed to explode when the train would pass by. Fingerprints of Khaled Kelkal and Boualem Bensaïd are found on the bomb. A leader of the group, Khaled Kelkal is quickly identified and his picture appears all over France.
He was identified through fingerprints left on unexploded bombs. He was killed on 29 September by members of the French EPIGN gendarmerie unit when resisting arrest in hills near Lyon.
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Wikipedia