On the morning of January 7th, 2015 two gunmen claiming affiliation to Al-Qaeda's Yemini branch attacked the Paris office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 staff-members and a police officer. Hebdo had been targeted since the paper had ran cartoons of the prophet Muhammed, an act considered blasphemous by some conservative Muslim groups.
This attack was one of five that occurred between January 7th and 9th in the Île-de-France region, all of which Al-Qaeda had claimed responsibility for.