Incident Summary:
01/07/2015: Two assailants stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, Ile-de-France region, France. The attackers opened fire on journalists and building security, killing 11 people and injuring 11 others. The assailants fled following the raid, but continued shooting at police vehicles outside of the building and several blocks away; one police officer was killed in the street attack. The gunmen abandoned their vehicle several kilometers from the magazine offices, hijacked a second vehicle and injured the driver, before they disappeared for the remainder of the day. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the incident, stating that the attack was in retaliation for the magazine's depiction of Prophet Muhammad. The two assailants were identified as brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi.
Overview
GTD ID:
201501070001
When:
2015-01-07
Country:
France
Region:
Western Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Ile-de-France
City:
Paris
Location Details:
The incident occurred in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Barricade Incident) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Journalists & Media |
Name of Entity |
Charlie Hebdo |
Specific Description |
Offices |
Nationality of Target |
France |
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
French Police |
Specific Description |
Officer: Ahmed Merabet |
Nationality of Target |
France |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Not Applicable |
Specific Description |
Car |
Nationality of Target |
France |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
11 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Hours of Kidnapping |
1 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
Two Zastava M70 AB2 assault rifles were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
12 Fatalities / 12 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
12 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
12 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Charlie Hebdo attack: Three days of terror," BBC, January 14, 2015. |
"Terrorists Strike Charlie Hebdo Newspaper in Paris, Leaving 12 Dead," The New York Times, January 7, 2015. |
"Al Qaeda officialy lays claim to Paris carnage," CBS News, January 14, 2015. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties