Wednesday 7 January, 11.30am local time
Two gunmen - Chérif Kouachi and his brother Saïd - storm the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. They shoot dead several people including the magazine’s editor and some of its cartoonists. Five minutes later, they emerge on to the street and get into their car to escape. They drive north and exchange fire with a police vehicle. One officer, Ahmed Merabet, is wounded in the shootout; a Kouachi brother then runs up and shoots him in the head. In total 12 people are killed in the attacks.
Midday
The gunmen crash their car and hijack another vehicle, calmly forcing the driver out. They tell him: “If the media ask you anything, tell them it’s al-Qaida in Yemen.” They drive off from Paris’s 19th arrondissement in a grey Clio. Paris is put on the highest state of alert.
6pm
The people of Paris gather on Place de la République for a vigil, one of many around France and the world.
Thursday 8 January, 8am
News of another attack in Paris, with a policewoman - 25-year-old trainee Clarissa Jean-Phillipe - shot dead in the southern suburb of Montrouge. Police initially believe the shooting is unrelated, but later say that the Montrouge gunmen and the Kouachi brothers knew each other
10.30am
Reports suggest the two suspects, heavily armed and wearing balaclavas, are seen driving north through Picardy. The pair rob a petrol station north-east of Paris. They drive off with assault rifles and rocket launchers visible in the back of their getaway car. A massive manhunt takes place in a large wooded area nearby.
Friday 9 January, 8.10am
The gunmen resurface and hijack a grey Peugeot 206 in the village of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité. A village teacher spots the men as they seize her vehicle. She says they are carrying weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The pair dump the Renault Clio they were driving earlier after it runs out of petrol
9am
There is a shoot-out between the suspects and police on the N2 motorway. No one is hurt. The brothers drive into an industrial estate in the small village of Dammartin-en-Goële, 40km north-east of Paris. They take refuge in a printing works. A massive police operation gets underway involving armed officers and helicopters
11.30am
Police close in on the printing complex, Création Tendance Découverte. There are reports that one hostage is inside. According to French TV, he is a 26-year-old male. French special forces take up positions on the roof of surrounding buildings. Charles de Gaulle airport, 8kms away, is partly closed.
1.30pm
Reports that an armed man has taken a hostage in a Jewish grocery store at Porte de Vincennes in Paris.
2pm
Reports say the man suspected of killing a policewoman in Paris on Thursday is the hostage taker at the supermarket, and is holding around five people. Initial reports say people have been injured, but police later say this is not the case.
2.30pm
Police name two people wanted in connection with the case. They are Amedy Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene, the first of whom is reported as the supermarket hostage taker. He has a long criminal history.
Just before 5pm
Shots and explosions are heard at the siege at Dammartin-en-Goële, and heavily-armed counter-terror officers are seen moving in. The Charlie Hebdo gunmen are reported to have been killed and the hostage there freed.
5.15pm
Loud bangs are heard at the site of the supermarket siege, with pictures showing some hostages being led out by police. Shortly afterwards, reports say the hostage takers at Dammartin-en-Goële, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, were killed in the assault, as was the supermarket hostage taker, named in reports again as Amedy Coulibaly.
7pm
The French president, François Hollande, confirms that four hostages were killed and four wounded in the supermarket in Paris.
