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Deadliest ISIS attacks in Europe

AFP

Mar. 25, 2024 • 2 min read
Image of Deadliest ISIS attacks in Europe Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP)

Friday's massacre at a Moscow concert hall, in which at least 137 people were killed, was the deadliest attack claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group in Europe.

The worst attacks by the Sunni extremist group had previously targeted cities in Western Europe.

- Paris attacks, 130 dead -

The worst attack in France's post-war history is carried out by a group of French and Belgian ISIS gunmen and suicide bombers, who kill 130 people at the Bataclan concert hall, in bars and restaurants, and at the Stade de France stadium on November 13, 2015.

The attack prompts an outpouring of solidarity with France.

The sole surviving member of the IS cell behind the attack, Salah Abdeslam, is caught in Belgium and brought back to France, where he is sentenced to life in prison.

- Nice truck attack, 86 dead -

France is again targeted on July 14, 2016, when a truck ploughs into crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display in the southern city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring more than 400.

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old radicalised Tunisian man who had been living in Nice for years, is shot dead by police at the scene.

ISIS claimed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as one of its followers though investigators said said they found no evidence of links to international jihadist groups.

- Brussels airport and metro, 35 dead -

On March 22, 2016, ISIS suicide bombers kill 35 people and injure another 340 at Brussels airport and the Maelbeek metro station, near the European Union's headquarters.

The perpetrators of Belgium's worst peacetime attacks are part of the same cell that orchestrated the Paris attacks.

Eight men, including Abdeslam, were convicted.

- Manchester concert, 22 dead -

On May 22, 2017, a young Briton of Libyan origin blows himself up at an Ariana Grande pop concert in the city of Manchester, killing 22 people and injuring around 100 others.

The bombing was claimed by ISIS, with the 22-year-old assailant using a homemade shrapnel bomb.

- Catalonia attacks, 16 dead -

On August 17, 2017, a group of young radicalised Moroccans and Spaniards of Moroccan origin plough a van into pedestrians in Barcelona's famous Ramblas boulevard.

The following day, five others plough a car into pedestrians in Cambrils, a seaside town 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.

The two attacks, which leave 16 people dead and 140 wounded, are claimed by an IS cell comprising mostly youngsters who grew up in the Catalonia region.

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