France: Timeline of terrorist attacks

As France heads towards a national day of mourning on Thursday (8 January) following Wednesday's attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris, the nation will also remember the spate of terrorist attacks that have jolted the country in the recent months.

Terrorists behind Wednesday's (7 January) attack told witnesses that they belonged to al-Qaeda in Yemen, while the previous lone wolf attacks in France appeared to have been inspired by militant extremist groups, like the Islamic State (Isis).

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda's online magazine Inspire quite recently released a step-by-step explosives making guide for 'lone-wolf' jihadists with recommended targets, including Air France, BA, easyJet and US carrier American Airlines.

IBTimes UK takes a look at some of the recent terrorist attacks in France.

January 7, 2015 – Charlie Hebdo magazine attack: Black-clad gunmen armed with automatic weapons stormed the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris and later escaped aboard a getaway car.

Two police officers and 10 journalists were amongst the dead. French President Francois Hollande condemned the attack as "barbaric" and announced a national day of mourning.

"No barbaric act will ever extinguish press freedom. We are a united country that will be able to react and stand together," tweeted French President François Hollande.

December 23, 2014 –Gunman arrested in Cannes: As the French government deployed soldiers in city centres, a man armed with two loaded pump-action shotguns and a knife was held in the city centre of Cannes.

December 22, 2014 – Nantes market lone wolf attack: Ten people were left injured and one dead after a 37-year-old man drove into crowds at a Christmas shopping market in Nantes.

Eyewitnesses told local newspaper Quest France that the driver of the white van yelled: "Allahu Akbar" (meaning "God is great" in Arabic), and then stabbed himself with a knife.

December 21, 2014 – Dijon lone wolf attack: A 40-year-old man shouting "Allahu Akbar" slammed a black Renault Clio into pedestrians at several different locations in the eastern France city of Dijon on Sunday.

Eyewitnesses told local media that the man was heard shouting that he was "acting for the children of Palestine".

Eleven people were reported injured and police sources said "the man is apparently unbalanced and had been in a psychiatric hospital."

December 20, 2014 – Joue-les-Tourslone wolf attack: A 20-year-old, Burundi-born, man was shot down by police after he stabbed three officers shouting "Allahu Akbar" at a police station in Joue-les-Tours, the largest suburb of Tours in central France. French police later said that the man named Bertrand Nzohabonayo might have IS links.

September 17, 2014 – Lyon Isis-related arrests: Six people were arrested in Lyon on suspicion of recruiting potential jihadists for the Islamic State (Isis).

June 26, 2014 – 'Isis Jihadist' Mehdi Nemmouche to be extradited:

French jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche, who was arrested in May during a customs inspection in the French city of Marseille, was announced to be extradited to Belgium.

Nemmouche allegedly killed four people at the Brussels Jewish Museum after returning from Syria where he fought for IS.

June 2, 2014 – Jihadist recruiters arrested after Belgium Jewish Museum Shooting: French police arrested four people allegedly involved in a jihadist recruitment network following the deadly shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels.

"We will not give terrorists a chance," Bernard Cazeneuve, French Interior Minister told Europe 1 radio.

June 20, 2012 – Al-Qaeda gunman Toulouse bank siege: Four people were taken hostage at a CIC bank in the southwestern Toulouse by a man claiming to be an al-Qaeda operative.

The 26-year-old, who was identified in French media as either Fethi Bouamza or Seti Bouamza, was later revealed to be schizophrenic by his family.

He was captured after a special police unit, the Groupe d'intervention de la police nationale (GIPN), stormed inside the bank.

There were no casualties and all hostages were freed unharmed.

March 19, 2012 –Toulouse Jewish School shooting: Three children were reportedly amongst the four dead after a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah School, a private Jewish secondary school in the south-west city of Toulouse in France.

The suspected gunman, Mohammed Merah, later died on 22 March during an exchange of bullets after police and commandos stormed into his flat in Toulouse where he had been under siege for 30 hours.