A series of attacks targeted

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

systems in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, as well as a school in Villeurbanne, in 1995. They were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA), who sought to expand the Algerian Civil War to France. The attacks killed eight people, all during the first attack on 25 July. The attack also injured 190 people. The assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a co-founder of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front (; , FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representing its two bases of its support; Abbassi Madani appealed to pious small businessmen, and Ali Belhadj appealed to the a ...

(FIS), was a prelude to the extension of the Islamists'

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

campaign in France."Rachid Ramda jugé pour l'ultime procès des attentats de 1995", in '' Libération'', 1 October 200
read on-line

Attacks

On 25 July 1995 a gas bottle exploded in the Saint-Michel station of line B of the RER metropolitan train system in Paris. Emergency service vehicles then used Place Saint-Michel and the surrounding bridges and streets to attend the scene, while Parvis Notre-Dame became a helicopter landing site and a nearby café, ''Le depart Saint-Michel'', was used as a field hospital. At 8:00 that evening, national news on France 2 announced that four people had been killed and another 40 injured in a "mysterious explosion". At that time, no official sources had confirmed that it was a

attack. This was only confirmed later, and the outcome was said to be eight deaths and 117 injured. It was the deadliest terror attack in France since the 1983 Orly Airport attack, and would be the only deadly attack for the GIA's 1995 bombing campaign in France. On 17 August, a second bomb hidden in a public bin near the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

wounded 16 people. The bomb was composed of a gas bottle filled with nails. On 26 August a huge bomb was found on the railway tracks of a high-speed rail line near

. It was supposed to explode when a train passed. Fingerprints of Khaled Kelkal and Boualem Bensaïd were found on the bomb. The leader of the group, Khaled Kelkal was quickly identified and his picture appeared all over France. Bombing attacks continued with an attack on 3 September at an open market in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, causing three injuries; and on 7 September when a car bomb exploded near a Jewish school in Villeurbanne, a town near Lyon, causing thirteen injuries. The wanted suspect, Khaled Kelkal, was killed on 29 September by members of the French EPIGN gendarmerie unit near Lyon as he resisted arrest. Nonetheless, the attacks continued on 6 October, the day of Khaled Kelkal's funeral; another gas bottle exploded in the '' Maison Blanche'' station of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

, wounding twelve people. Boualem Bensaïd's fingerprints were again found on the bomb. The next day, a statement from GIA commander Djamel Zitouni, written on 23 September, arrived at the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

press agency in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. He said the " Jihad"- the "military strikes at the heart of France", were intended to punish it for supporting the Algerian government. A letter was also sent to Jacques Chirac through the French Embassy in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, urging him to convert to Islam. On 17 October a gas bottle exploded between the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

and Saint-Michel–Notre-Dame stations of RER Line C, wounding 29. Investigators found a transportation card on Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem used a few minutes before the attack in a nearby underground station. Additional bombs were found and cleared without casualties during morning searches of Metro and RER stations, often in public toilets. Increased security required the removal of all public bins, to prevent bombs from being hidden inside.

Arrests and trials

Members of the Armed Islamic Group and the "Kelkal Group" have since been prosecuted on various charges. Some suspects fled to the United Kingdom. Extradition proceedings against Rachid Ramda began in 1995 and went on for nearly ten years, during which he remained detained in HM Prison Belmarsh. Ramda was eventually extradited to France on 1 December 2005 in connection with the bombings. On 26 October 2007 Ramda was sentenced to life in prison for financing the attacks. According to

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann, part of the money used to finance the bombings came from people connected to the Brandbergen Mosque in Haninge,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Aftermath

Algeria-France relations were heavily affected by these events. Jacques Chirac refused to meet with Algerian ministers, openly saying that the GIA could have been manipulated by the Algerian secret services. Legislation on terrorism in France was reinforced with a new law in 1996, allowing police forces to perform searches at night. The French government also suspended the Schengen Acquis which allows free movement across borders within Europe, keeping the restrictions in place until March 1996. Vigipirate, the French national security alert system was activated in September 1995 as a result of the attacks, and is still in place in 2020. The crisis only lessened when Lionel Jospin became

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1997 and Abdelaziz Bouteflika became the new Algerian president in 1999.Guy Pervillé, "Vingt ans après 1995: les attentats de Paris, Lyon et Lille reconsidérés", http://www.lefigaro.fr, 24 July 2015

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:France bombings, 1995 1995 in international relations 1995 in Paris 1995 murders in France 1990s crimes in Paris Armed Islamic Group of Algeria attacks France, 1995 Building bombings in Paris Car and truck bombings in France Bombings France, 1995 Islamic terrorism in France Islamic terrorism in Paris Islamic terrorist incidents in 1995 Marketplace attacks in France Mass murder in 1995 Mass murder in Paris School bombings in Europe 1995 bombings Terrorist incidents on subterranean rapid transit Train bombings in France 20th-century mass murder in France Massacres during the Algerian Civil War Terrorism in the Algerian Civil War Attacks on railway stations in Europe Attacks on coffeehouses and cafés in France July 1995 in France August 1995 in France September 1995 in France October 1995 in France July 1995 crimes August 1995 crimes September 1995 crimes October 1995 crimes Attacks on schools in France Attacks on schools in 1995

Attacks

Arrests and trials

Aftermath

See also

Notes and references