What we know about the attackers
French authorities suspect three teams carried out the attacks, but not all have been identified. Here is what we know so far:
Suspected mastermind
Abdelhamid Abaaoud
29 years old,
Belgian of Moroccan descent. Killed in Saint-Denis
Eight known attackers
Captured in Brussels raid
Salah
Abdeslam
26 years old, French national, born in Brussels
Sought by police
Unidentified
suspect
Died in attacks
Attacked restaurans and bars
PARIS
Brahim
Abdeslam
31 years old, French national born in Brussels
Suicide bombers near Stade
de France
SAINT-DENIS
Other attacks
PARIS
“Ahmad
Almohammad”
Name found in fake Syrian passport near blast site
Bilal Hadfi
20 years old,
French national
Unidentified
attacker
Attacked the Bataclan
music hall
PARIS
Samy Amimour
28 years old, French national
Ismael Omar Mostefai
29 years old,
French national
Unidentified
attacker
Suspected mastermind
Abdelhamid Abaaoud
29 years old,
Belgian of Moroccan descent. Killed in Saint-Denis
Eight known attackers
Salah
Abdeslam
Captured in Brussels raid
26 years old, French national, born in Brussels
Unidentified
suspect
Sought by
police
Brothers
Brahim
Abdeslam
Died in
attacks
Attacked restaurans and bars
31 years old, French national born in Brussels
PARIS
Suicide bombers near Stade
de France
“Ahmad
Almohammad”
Name found in fake Syrian passport near blast site
SAINT-DENIS
Other attacks
PARIS
Bilal Hadfi
20 years old,
French national
Unidentified
attacker
Samy Amimour
Attacked the Bataclan
music hall
28 years old, French national
PARIS
Ismael Omar Mostefai
29 years old,
French national
Unidentified
attacker
Suspected mastermind
Abdelhamid Abaaoud
29 years old,
Belgian of Moroccan descent. Killed in Saint-Denis
Eight known attackers
Captured in Brussels raid
Sought
by police
Died in attacks
Unidentified
suspect
Bilal
Hadfi
Brahim
Abdeslam
Salah
Abdeslam
Unidentified
attacker
“Ahmad
Almohammad”
Unidentified
attacker
Ismael Omar Mostefai
Samy Amimour
Name found in fake Syrian passport near blast site
28 years old, French national
31 years old, French national born in Brussels
20 years old,
French national
29 years old,
French national
26 years old, French national, born in Brussels
Brothers
Suicide bombers near Stade
de France
Attacked the Bataclan
music hall
Attacked restaurans and bars
SAINT-DENIS
Other attacks
PARIS
PARIS
PARIS
Abdelhamid Abaaoud
Abaaoud was the suspected mastermind behind the Paris attacks and several others, and French authorities suspected he was planning a new attack near Paris when he was killed. Abaaoud was one of Europe's most wanted men before the Nov. 13 attacks, but he slipped from the radar of intelligence services and was widely thought to be in Syria, where he starred in grisly propaganda videos. One counterterrorism expert said he had “a big role” in recruiting French-speaking jihadists.
“Ahmad Almohammad”
A Syrian passport bearing this name was found near one of the suicide bombers at Stade de France, but was later deemed fake by authorities. His fingerprints matched those of an asylum seeker who arrived from Turkey to the Aegean island of Leros with 198 Syrian immigrants on Oct. 3. He was later found to have gone through Athens, Macedonia and Serbia; his identity remains unknown.
Foued Mohamed-Aggad
Mohamed-Aggad was identified by French authorities on Dec. 9 as a suicide bomber at the Bataclan music hall, the deadliest scene of the attacks in Paris. The 23-year-old was from Strasbourg, in northeastern France, according to AFP, which reported that Mohamed-Aggad went to Syria in late 2013 with a brother and several friends. AFP and Le Parisien reported that most of those who he traveled to Syria with were arrested in spring 2014 when they returned to France, but Mohamed-Aggad stayed longer. Reports quoting French authorities said he was identified via DNA that matched his mother, who received a text message confirming his death.
[French authorities identify third attacker from Paris concert hall]
Bilal Hadfi
According to two European intelligence officials, Hadfi had fought in Syria. Belgian law enforcement new he returned from the Middle East to Belgium, but couldn't find him.
Ismael Omar Mostefai
A former petty criminal with family ties to Algeria, Mostefai is believed to have crossed into Syria in 2013, a French police official said. The Associated Press reported he lived with his family in Chartres and frequented the Anoussra Mosque.
Samy Amimour
The former bus driver was questioned by French officials in 2012 about links to a network of terror sympathizers, prosecutors said. He was placed under judicial supervision in France in 2012 after attempting to travel to Yemen. After Amimour went to Syria, his father told Le Monde that he tried but failed to get him to return home in June 2014.
Brahim Abdeslam
Abdeslam grew up in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek and spent a month in a Belgian prison in 2003 for stealing and reselling official ID cards. He was charged in 2010 with fencing stolen goods and falsifying papers, according to Belgium’s federal prosecutor. Abdeslam, who ran a sketchy café in Molenbeek, was interrogated by Belgian federal police and released in February after he was sent back from Turkey.
Salah Abdeslam
A younger brother of Brahim, Abdelslam was caught Friday after a massive manhunt. Authorities suspect he helped with logistics during the Paris attacks. He was stopped near the Belgian border after the attacks but not arrested; an alert called him “dangerous” and his whereabouts remain unknown. In February 2011, he was convicted of breaking and entering along with a friend, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Earlier this year, Abdeslam was questioned by Belgian federal police; authorities said they knew he had been radicalized but didn’t think he was a terrorist.
A ninth suspect
French officials confirmed they are seeking another individual in connection with Friday’s attack.
Hours-long raid in the North of Paris
Site of raid
(detailed below)
Stade
de France
SAINT-DENIS
La Defense
Friday’s attacks
PARIS
Suspected militants were planning an attack on La Defense business district.
A seven-hour siege which began at 4:16 a.m. in Saint-Denis left two dead, including the suspected overseer of the Paris bloodshed, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
Eglise Neuve
church
Saint-Denis
Market
CORDONED
AREA
Suspects arrested
No vehicles or pedestrians were allowed access to the area surrounding. Rue du Corbillon during the seven hour operation.
Seven men and one woman were detained at the apartment and other locations Wednesday.
Eglise Neuve church
Police were seen using axes to enter this church at approximately 6 a.m.
Saint-Denis
Market
No vehicles or pedestrians were allowed access to the area surrounding. Rue du Corbillon during the seven hour operation.
CORDONED
AREA
Suspects arrested
Eglise Neuve church
Boulevard
Carnot
Rue des Chaumettes
Rue de la
Republique
Rue
Fontaine
Eglise Neuve church
Seven men and one woman were detained at the apartment and other locations Wednesday.
Police were seen using axes to enter this church at
approximately 6 a.m.
No vehicles or pedestrians were allowed access to the area surrounding Rue du Corbillon during the seven hour operation.
Boulevard
Carnot
Rue des Chaumettes
Rue
Fontaine
Rue de la
Republique
Eglise Neuve church
Seven men and one woman were detained at the apartment and other locations Wednesday.
Saint-Denis Market
Police were seen using axes to enter this church at approximately 6 a.m.
Suspects arrested
Where and when the attacks occurred
The attacks occurred at the Bataclan concert hall, restaurants and outside a soccer stadium.
6
1
2
3
4
5
PARIS
Notre Dame
1
Stade de France
1 killed
SAINT
DENIS
NORTH
3
6
Cafe Comptoir Voltaire
Casa Nostra
pizza restaurant
5 killed
0 killed
Cemetery
Place de la République
PARIS
2
4
5
Rue Alibert
Bataclan
La Belle Equipe
15 killed
89 killed
19 killed
6
1
2
3
4
5
PARIS
Notre Dame
1
3
6
Casa Nostra pizza restaurant
Cafe Comptoir Voltaire
Stade de France
1 killed
5 killed
0 killed
Place de la Nation
Cemetery
SAINT
DENIS
Place de la République
PARIS
2
4
5
NORTH
Rue Alibert
Bataclan
La Belle Equipe
15 killed
89 killed
19 killed
Casa Nostra pizza restaurant
Cafe Comptoir Voltaire
NORTH
5 killed
0 killed
Place de la
Nation
Cemetery
SAINT DENIS
Gare du Nord train station
Place de la République
PARIS
Rue Alibert
Stade de France
La Belle Equipe
Bataclan
Roughly 4 miles apart
1 killed
15 killed
89 killed
19 killed
Stade de France
9:20 p.m. – An explosion boomed through the stadium. A suicide bomber had blown himself up outside, killing one passerby. 1 person killed
[Remembering the victims of Friday’s attacks in Paris]
Rue Alibert
9:25 p.m. – Minutes after the first bomb blast, two gunmen stepped out of a black SEAT Leon car in front of Le Carillon, a modest cafe-bar in the city center, and started shooting. They then walked across the street and fired at the restaurant Le Petit Cambodge, or Little Cambodia. 15 killed, 10 injured
Casa Nostra
Moments later – On Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, gunmen with assault weapons stepped out of the same black car and opened fire at an Italian restaurant called Casa Nostra, a nearby cafe, La Bonne Bierre, and a laundromat. 5 killed, 8 injured
Stade de France
9:30 p.m. – A second explosion rang out at the stadium — and it still largely didn’t occur to the cheering crowd that anything was amiss.
La Belle Equipe
About 9:36 p.m. – Police said the black SEAT Leon pulled up at La Belle Equipe, a popular eatery in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, an area filled with restaurants and bars. The gunmen fired for “at least three minutes,” one witness said. “Then they got back in their car.” 19 killed, 9 injured
[La Belle Equipe a new and popular bistro]
Bataclan
9:40 p.m. – Police said a black Volkswagen pulled up in front of the Bataclan concert hall, a Paris landmark since the 19th century. Three gunmen entered the hall and started shooting. Witnesses said the shooting lasted about 15 minutes, then the gunmen held the remaining concertgoers hostage for the next two hours. When police finally stormed the concert hall at 12:20 a.m., the attackers blew themselves up. 89 killed, more than 200 injured
The theater is less than a mile from the site of the Jan. 7 shooting at the Charlie Hebdo offices.
Bataclan
Charlie Hebdo
offices
0
100
METERS
Bataclan
Charlie Hebdo
offices
0
100
METERS
[22-year-old offers most vivid account yet of surviving Bataclan massacre]
A member of the French fire brigade aids an injured man near the Bataclan concert hall. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters)
Cafe Comptoir Voltaire
9:40 p.m. – Police said the black SEAT Leon pulled up at La Belle Equipe, a popular eatery in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, an area filled with restaurants and bars. The gunmen fired for “at least three minutes,” one witness said. “Then they got back in their car.” 1 injured
Stade de France
9:53 p.m. – As police were responding to the Bataclan, they received word of a third explosion near the soccer stadium. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a McDonald’s restaurant, but no one else was hurt. By then, spectators at the stadium had learned, mainly through messages on their phones, that Paris was under attack.
[Attacker reportedly tried to enter Stade de France with a ticket]
Spectators flood the field of the Stade de France after the international friendly soccer match between France and Germany. Explosions were heard outside the stadium during the game. (Michel Euler/Associated Press)
Deaths in terror attacks across Western Europe
Friday night’s attacks in Paris make 2015 the deadliest year for terrorism in Western Europe since 2004.
France
Rest of Western Europe
Madrid train
bombings
Pan Am Flight 103
bombing
November
attacks
in Paris
300
150
0
1970
2015
Nov. 13
2015
France
Rest of Western Europe
Pan Am Flight 103
bombing
Madrid train
bombings
November
attacks in Paris
300
150
At least
130 deaths
0
1970
1980
1988
2004
2015*
Nov. 13
2015
Note: Only includes incidents that Global Terrorism Database analysts have considered exclusively terrorism. Excluded cases may include insurgency, hate crime and organized crime. 2015 data is preliminary and may be incomplete.
Source: Global Terrorism Database by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
[How the Paris attacks combined more than a decade of terrorist tactics into one night]
Islamic State-linked attacks in 2015
Paris is the latest attack that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for in 2015. In 21 attacks outside of Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has claimed to have killed more than 800 people. One U.S. attack is claimed by the group: In May, two gunmen opened fire on police blocking their way to a cartoon exhibit and contest depicting the prophet Muhammad in Garland, Texas. The attack, which is not shown on the map, failed and only the gunmen were killed.
Notable attacks outside Syria and Iraq
Islamic State wilayat, or provinces
3
4
FRANCE
SYRIA
2
IRAQ
1
1
The Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt has repeatedly claimed responsibility for bringing down Metrojet 9268, which left 224 people dead.
2
Twin suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State killed dozens of people and wounded more than 200 in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
3
Attack in Paris, Nov. 13
4
Charlie Hebdo, Jan. 7
Islamic State wilayat, or provinces
Notable attacks outside Syria and Iraq
Attacks in Paris
Nov. 13
Charlie Hebdo
Jan. 7
FRANCE
Qawqaz
al-Khorasan
al-Jiza’ir
AFGHANISTAN
TUNISIA
SYRIA
IRAN
PAKISTAN
Barqa
2
IRAQ
Tripoli
Sinai
ALGERIA
1
LIBYA
EGYPT
SAUDI
ARABIA
Najd
Fezzan
Haramayn
NIGER
Yemen
Gharb al-Afriqiya
NIGERIA
1
2
The Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt has repeatedly claimed responsibility for bringing down Metrojet 9268, which left 224 people dead.
Twin suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State killed dozens of people and wounded more than 200 in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Notable attacks outside Syria and Iraq
Attacks in Paris
Nov. 13
Charlie Hebdo
Jan. 7
Islamic State wilayat, or provinces
FRANCE
Qawqaz
Twin suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State killed dozens of people and wounded more than 200 in Beirut
al-Khorasan
AFGHANISTAN
al-Jiza’ir
PAKISTAN
TUNISIA
SYRIA
IRAN
LEB.
Barqa
IRAQ
Tripoli
ALGERIA
Sinai
LIBYA
Najd
EGYPT
Fezzan
SAUDI ARABIA
The Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt has repeatedly claimed responsibility for bringing down Metrojet 9268, which left 224 people dead
Haramayn
NIGER
Yemen
CHAD
Gharb al-Afriqiya
NIGERIA
The majority of attacks carried out by the Islamic State have occurred in Syria and Iraq, where the group's campaign began. The militants' territory there is divided into wilayat, or provinces, which form the core of its operational presence. While the Islamic State claims much territory, only a handful of provinces successfully control territory.
[What a year of Islamic State terror looks like]
Boko Haram pledges allegiance to the Islamic State in March, giving the group a strong foothold in northern Nigeria. A group in Russia's North Caucasus region also vowed allegiance in June, splintering the territory of an al-Qaeda group that has operated in the region since 2007.
Reactions from world leaders
World leaders were quick to condemn the attacks, vowing to bring those reponsible to justice. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was an exception, saying Western policies were to blame for the expansion of terrorism.
French President
François Hollande
“In these difficult moments, we must — and I'm thinking of the many victims, their families and the injured — show compassion and solidarity. But we must also show unity and calm. Faced with terror, France must be strong, it must be great and the state authorities must be firm. We will be.” (Washington Post)
President
Obama
“Once again we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. This is an attack not just on Paris, it's an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share.” (White House)
Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad
“Wrong [policies] adopted by Western states, particularly France, toward events in the region, and its ignorance of the support of a number of its allies to terrorists, are reasons behind the expansion of terrorism.” (Washington Post)
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel
“This attack on freedom was aimed not just at Paris. It targeted and it hits all of us. That is why we must all respond together. ... We, your German friends, feel very close to you. We cry with you. We will lead this fight together with you against those who did such unimaginable things to you.” (U.S. News)
Pope Francis
“I am moved and saddened. But I do not understand these things are hard to understand, made by human beings. For this I am deeply moved, saddened and pray. They are so close to the French people so loved, I am close to the families of the victims and I pray for all of them.” (Tv2000)
Vice President Biden
“We will stand together. We will never bow. We will never break. That’s the character of our two nations. We are bound by timeless democratic values that the cowardice and perverse ideologues of extremist networks can never match, wherever they are.” (White House)
Secretary of State John F. Kerry
“These are heinous, evil, vile acts. Those of us who can must do everything in our power to fight back against what can only be considered an assault on our common humanity.” (U.S. Department of State)
U.N. Council President Matthew Rycroft
“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attacks which took place in several places in Paris on the evening of 13 November 2015, causing numerous deaths and injuries among civilians.” (United Nations)
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir
“wanted to express our condolences to the government and people of France for the heinous terrorist attacks that took place yesterday which are in violation and contravention of all ethics, morals and religions.” (Al Arabiya News)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
“Such terrorist attacks will not weaken the will of peace-loving countries.” (Al Arabiya News)
Qatar Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah
“The state of Qatar, through its foreign minister, strongly condemns these heinous attacks that have struck the French capital causing so many victims.” (Al Arabiya News)
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
“We condemn and deplore the terrorist attacks in Paris, which emphasize that fighting terrorism calls for international efforts to eliminate it in all countries.” (Al Arabiya News)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
“As a country that knows very well the manner and consequences of terrorism, we understand perfectly the suffering that France is experiencing now.” (Al Arabiya News)
Russian President Vladimir Putin
“It’s clear that real joint efforts of the entire international community are necessary to effectively fight this evil.” (Bloomberg)
European Union heads of state
“The European Union is deeply shocked and in mourning after the terrorist attacks in Paris. It is an attack against us all. We will face this threat together with all necessary means and ruthless determination.” (Council of the European Union)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
“Hungary’s defenses must be increased and we must respond to these monstrous terrorist attacks.” (Hungarian Free Press)
Sources: News reports, Associated Press, Google Earth, IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center, the Soufan Group, the Long War Journal, Institute for the Study of War. Graphics by Laris Karklis, Kevin Uhrmacher, Todd Lindeman, Kevin Schaul, Darla Cameron, Bonnie Berkowitz, Lazaro Gamio and Andrew Katz.
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