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Politics

A chronology of terror in Europe

August 17, 2017

Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Manchester and now another attack in Barcelona. European cities have been increasingly targeted by Islamist extremists in recent years.

UK London am Tag nach dem Anschlag
Image: Reuters/P. Nicholls

Barcelona, August 2017

At least 14 people were confirmed killed when a van mowed down pedestrians on one of Barcelona's busiest avenues, Las Ramblas. The so-called "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack.

London, March/June 2017

On June 2, three men drove a van into civilians on London Bridge then exited the vehicle and stabbed people in restaurants and bars in the nearby Borough Market area. British police killed the three perpetrators, who were wearing fake suicide bomber vests, eight minutes after the first call was received by emergency services.

In March, an British Muslim attacker steered a car into pedestrians Westminster Bridge in the center of London before stabbing and killing a policeman inside parliament's grounds. Of the nearly 50 victims on the bridge, four eventually died of their injuries. British security forces shot the perpetrator dead.

Read more: Opinion: In Britain, we stand against terror together

London police shoot attackers dead

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Manchester, May 2017

After a concert by US singer Ariana Grande, a 22-year-old suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the event's exit area killing himself and 22 civilians, including several children. Over 100 more people were injured.

Stockholm, April 2017

Five people die after a truck hit pedestrians on a busy shopping street in the Swedish capital. On the same day, police arrested a 39-year-old Uzbek on suspicion of carrying out a terrorist act.

Paris, February/March/April 2017

In a series of incidents across the French capital at the start of the year, soldiers are targeted at the Louvre Museum in February and Paris' Orly airport in March. In April, a gunman opens fire on a police vehicle on the Champs Elysees, killing one officer. The attacker, identified as a 39-year-old Frenchman, is quickly shot dead by other officers.  

Berlin, December 2016

Twelve people are killed shortly before Christmas, when the German capital becomes a target. A supporter of the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group steers a captured truck into a Christmas Market. A few days later, the 24-year-old Tunisian is shot dead in a police check in the Italian city of Milan.

Shortly before Christmas, an attacker steered a truck into a Christmas Market in Berlin Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken

Nice, July 2016

At least 86 people are killed when an attacker drives a truck into the crowded Promenade des Anglais in the southern French coastal resort. IS claims responsibility for the atrocity.  

Brussels, March 2016

Islamist attackers detonate a number of bombs at the airport of the Belgian capital and in a metro station, killing 32 people.

Istanbul, January 2016

An IS suicide bomber blows himself up in the middle of a tourist group near the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, killing 12 Germans.

Paris, November 2015

IS supporters kill 130 people and injure hundreds more in a coordinated series of attacks on the Bataclan music venue, several restaurants and the Stade de France football stadium. 

Copenhagen, February 2015

A 22-year-old opens fire on a café in the Danish capital, killing one person. The attacker then shot and killed a man who was guarding a synagogue before himself being shot dead by police.

Paris, January 2015

Seventeen people die in an attack on the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a seperate incident at a kosher supermarket in the French capital. 

Brussels, May 2014

A French Islamist is arrested after four people are shot in the Jewish Museum of Belgium. The gunman, a self-proclaimed jihadi, had previously fought in Syria.

London, July 2005

Four British Muslims detonate bombs on the Tube - London's underground rail system - and on a bus. The attacks kill 56 people and injure about 700. 

Madrid, March 2004

Some 191 people are killed and 1,500 are injured when coordinated bombs explode on Spanish commuter trains. 

wa/rc (dpa, AFP, Reuters) 

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