On Wednesday, three terrorists in France attacked the offices of a satirical magazine, killing 12 and injuring scores more. Sadly, the terror attack in France is one of many recent incidents carried out by Islamists (that is, Islamic extremists). While most Americans are familiar with recent terrorism perpetrated against the citizens of Canada and Australia, here are five terrorist attacks against Western targets that you may not have heard about:
- December 2010: Stockholm – An Iraqi-born Swedish citizen who had lived in the U.K. carries out a suicide car bombing, injuring two and blowing himself up. Although the planned attack failed, Swedish authorities believed the terrorist intended to detonate the vehicle remotely in an attempt to kill as many people as possible during the busy Christmas shopping season.
- March 2012: Toulouse and Montauban, France – A French national of Algerian origin kills three off-duty soldiers, three Jewish children and a rabbi in three separate terrorist attacks in southern France. Before being killed by police in a shootout, the terrorist, who carried out the terrorist attack in the name of Islam, told authorities he did so in part because he was mad over France’s military role in Afghanistan.
- May 2013: London – British serviceman Lee Rigby is brutally murdered in broad daylight by two British citizens who were converts to Islam. Rigby is run over by the terrorists before being hacked to death as the murderers shouted “Allahu akbar.” Both terrorists are convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
- May 2014: Brussels – A terror attack carried out against a Jewish museum kills four. A French terrorist who had returned from fighting with Islamists in Syria and Iraq is charged with carrying out the attack. The terrorist is described by one former hostage as a “publicity-loving sadist,” whose depravity knew no bounds even prior to the attack on the Jewish museum.
- December 2014: Joue-les-Tours, France – A 20-year old French national, who is a Muslim convert with known sympathies to radical ideology, injures three after attacking police with a knife while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He is shot and killed by police.
Wednesday’s terrorist attack in Paris is yet another wake-up call for the West. As The Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner stated, the attack shows that: “We are at war against militant Islamists who seek our destruction and the destruction of everything that we stand for.”
Americans should stand side by side with our allies in Europe against terrorism and an extremist ideology, while remaining vigilant at home against terrorist attacks by lone wolves. In the ongoing fight against Islamists, we are all in this together.
