963 : Paris Attack - Nov 13 2015

In the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks, consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and hostage-taking, occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:20 CET, there were three suicide bombings outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, along with another suicide bombing and a series of mass shootings at four locations in Paris. The attackers killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan theatre, where they took hostages before engaging in a three-hour stand-off with police. 368 people were injured, 80–99 seriously. Seven of the attackers also died, while authorities continued the search for any accomplices. The attacks were the deadliest on France since World War II, and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks, and French President François Hollande said the attack was "an act of war" by ISIL, "planned in Syria, organised in Belgium, perpetrated on our soil with French complicity". France had been bombing various targets in the Middle East, including Syria, since October 2015. ISIL's stated motive was retaliation for French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War.France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, including civilians and police officers.

In response, a state of emergency was declared, the first since the 2005 riots,and temporary controls were placed on the country's borders. People and organisations expressed solidarity, some through social media. On 15 November, France launched its largest single airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, by striking targets in Al-Raqqah, in retaliation for the attacks. On 18 November, the suspected lead operative of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a raid by French police.