Daesh attacks on Western targets

Following is a list of attacks on Western targets claimed by or blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group after Saturday's assault on two policewomen in southern Belgium:

- August 6: Machete attack in Belgium -

A machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) attacks two policewomen in Charleroi, southern Belgium, badly injuring one in the face before being shot dead by a third officer. 

Investigators give the initials of the assailant as K.B., describing him as a 33-year-old Algerian who had been living in Belgium since 2012.

The following day, IS says the attacker acted "in response to (its) calls to target citizens" of countries in the US-led coalition bombing IS in Syria and Iraq.

- July 26: French priest killed -

Attackers slit an elderly priest's throat in a hostage-taking at his church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
French President Francois Hollande says the two attackers, killed by police, claimed to be from IS, while the group says they were its "soldiers".

- July 24: German suicide blast -

A failed Syrian asylum-seeker blows himself up outside a music festival in the German city of Ansbach, wounding 15 others. The Bavarian interior minister says the man "pledged allegiance" to IS, while the jihadist-linked Amaq news agency said he was a "soldier" of the group.

- July 18: German train attack -

A 17-year-old asylum-seeker, believed to have been Afghan or Pakistani, attacks passengers on a Bavarian train with an axe, injuring five people, two of them critically. He is shot dead by police.

IS releases a video the following day purportedly featuring the attacker announcing he would carry out an "operation" in Germany.

- July 14: Nice lorry attack -
Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rams a 19-tonne truck into people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and wounding more than 300.

IS said Bouhlel staged the attack "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states" fighting the jihadist group.

- June 28: Istanbul airport attack -

A triple suicide attack at Istanbul's Ataturk airport kills 47 people. Authorities blame IS, though there is no claim of responsibility.

- June 13: French police couple killed -

A man claiming allegiance to IS stabs a police officer to death before slitting his partner's throat in front of their young son at their home in Magnanville, west of Paris.

- June 12: Orlando gay bar shooting -
A gunman claiming allegiance to IS opens fire inside a gay bar in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

- March 22: Brussels attacks -

Suicide attacks claimed by IS kill 32 people and wound more than 340 at Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station, near the European Union headquarters. 

The attackers have links to the cell that carried out the November 2015 jihadist attacks in Paris.

- January 12: Tourists die in Istanbul -

Twelve German tourists are killed in a suicide attack in central Istanbul. On March 19, three Israeli tourists and an Iranian are killed by a suicide bomber at an Istanbul shopping centre. Turkish authorities attribute both attacks to IS.

- December 2, 2015: San Bernardino shooting -
Syed Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik open fire at a Christmas party in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people. IS hails the attack, but does not claim direct responsibility.

- November 13, 2015: Paris attacks -

Coordinated suicide attacks in Paris kill 130 people and wound more than 350 at a concert hall, cafes and the national stadium. IS claims responsibility.

- October 31, 2015: Russian jet bombed -

An Airbus passenger jet owned by a Russian company crashes in the Sinai desert after a bomb rips a hole in the plane, killing all 224 people on board. IS claims responsibility.

- June 26, 2015: Tunisia beach attack -
Gunmen kill 38 people, including 30 British tourists, at a beach hotel in Sousse, a little more than three months after a similar attack at the Bardo museum in Tunis kills 22 people, including 21 foreign tourists. IS claims both attacks.

- January 7-8, 2015: Paris shootings -

Gunman Amedy Coulibaly, claiming allegiance to IS, kills a policewoman in a Paris suburb before attacking a Jewish supermarket the next day, where he kills four more people. He is killed in a police assault.

On January 7, the Al-Qaeda-linked Kouachi brothers had killed 12 people at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly in Paris.

Source: AFP