A gunman opened fire at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament. At least two people were killed and 12 injured. Prosecutors opened a terror investigation. France immediately raised its national security alert to its highest level in anticipation of copycat attacks.

A man wielding a knife attacks bystanders in a central neighborhood in Paris, killing one person and wounding another four. French prosecutors open a terror probe into the attack, citing witness accounts that the assailant shouted "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest"). The militant "Islamic State" (IS) group claims responsibility for the attack, calling the knifeman one of their "soldiers."

An attacker claiming allegiance to IS perpetrates a string of violent crimes in the southern town of Trebes during the morning hours. He kills a man while stealing a car and then fires shots at police officers before entering a Super U grocery store, where he takes hostages. Police shoot dead the attacker. Four people are killed, including including policeman Arnaud Beltrame.

A man fatally stabs two women at the Marseille train station. The perpetrator, Ahmed Hanachi, is shot dead by police on patrol. IS claims responsibility for the attack in a post by its news agency Amaq. In it, they call Hanachi one of the group's "soldiers." Two Interior Ministry officials resign after it is revealed that Hanachi was an undocumented immigrant who they had failed to detain.

A gunman opens fire on police on the Champs-Elysees, Paris' most iconic boulevard. One police officer is killed and two individuals are injured before police shoot the gunman dead. A note praising IS is found next to the gunman's body. The terrorist group also claims responsibility. The attack occurs just days before the first round of the French presidential election. Security is tightened.

Soldiers shoot and severely injure a knife-wielding man outside the Louvre museum in Paris after he assails them. One soldier is lightly injured. The attacker had two further machetes in his backpack. A subsequent investigation reveals the Egyptian national had traveled to France from Dubai on a valid tourist visa. A Twitter account associated with the man's name refers to IS in posts.

Two teens enter a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy and slit the throat of an 85-year-old priest in front of five parishioners. Police shoot the 19-year-olds dead as they try to leave. IS takes responsibility and publishes a video of the teens pledging allegiance to the group. Many French Muslims attend the next Sunday's Mass to show solidarity with Catholics and condemn the attack.

On Bastille Day, France's national holiday, a truck drives through crowds in Nice that had gathered to watch the fireworks on a major seaside promenade. Before being shot dead by police, the driver kills 86 and injuries more than 400 others. IS claims responsibility, stating that the attacker had responded to IS calls to target civilians living in coalition nations fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

France's most deadly terror attack: IS jihadis armed with automatic weapons and explosives undertake coordinated attacks in Paris including at the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium and various street cafes. The mass shootings and suicide bombings kill 130 people, injuring hundreds more. IS claims responsibility. Then-President Francois Hollande calls it an act of war by IS.

A deadly attack is averted: On a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris, a man opens fire with an assault rifle that subsequently jams. Other train passengers tackle the man, preventing deadly violence. Four are injured including the attacker. The assailant had been known to French security officials for past drug-related activities and statements in defense of radical Islamist violence.

Yassin Salhi beheads his boss and displays the head, along with two Islamic flags, on the gate outside a gas plant near Lyon. He also tries to blow up the factory by driving his van into the gas cylinders. The attempt fails, but unleashes a smaller explosion, injuring two. French authorities claim links between the man and IS. He commits suicide in prison.

Two men with automatic guns storm the offices of satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 and wounding 12 others. A different gunman kills a police officer the next day, then four more during a hostage-taking on January 9 at a kosher grocery. Police eventually shoot all three gunmen dead, but not before they claim allegiance to IS and al-Qaida.

People with links to terrorist organizations can be forbidden from leaving their town or city of residence and required to report to police. They can also be banned from specified places. This is a toning down of the emergency law, which allowed partial house arrest. Its provisions were used not just against suspected terrorists, but also to ban suspected radical leftists from demonstrations.

Authorities will be able to carry out searches of homes, but only to prevent acts of terrorism. In contrast to the emergency powers, searches must first be approved by a judge. Of the 3,600 house searches carried out in the seven months after the state of emergency came into effect, only six resulted in terrorism-related criminal proceedings, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Authorities retain the power to close places of worship where extremist ideas are propagated, including promoting hatred or discrimination, as well as inciting violence or supporting acts of terrorism. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, has complained the law did not go far enough in combating the "Islamist ideology that is waging war on us."

Security forces can check the identity of people within a 10-kilometre radius of ports and international airports. The government's original draft bill proposed a 20-kilometre radius. Le Monde calculated this would have covered 67 per cent of the French population, including 36 of the country's largest 39 cities. Unlike the other powers, this one will not expire automatically in 2020.

This continues emergency powers under which security forces can search property and frisk persons at and near major public events that could be targeted by terrorists. Other provisions include a civil servant working in an area related to security or defence can be transferred or dismissed if he or she is found to hold radical opinions. Soldiers can also be discharged for similar motives.