Timeline: The Kouachi brothers’ path to radicalisation

The important stages in Cherif and Said Kouachi's journey from a life of poverty and family struggles to one of violent extremism

Handout photos released by French Police in Paris on January 8, 2015, show Cherif Kouachi (L), aged 32, and his brother Said Kouachi, aged 34. French Police/AFP Photo

Early 1980s to mid 90s

Cherif and Said Kouachi are brought up in the 19th arrondissement, north-east of central Paris, by their mother, along with three other siblings.

1994 and 1995

At some point during these years, Cherif – then aged 12 and his brother, 14 – comes home from school to find their mother dead, possibly from a deliberate drug overdose. Their father died years earlier and the brothers are now orphans. After being taken into the care of social services, they go to live in a children’s home in the southwestern area of Corrèze.

Mid to late 1990s

The brothers remain at the Corrèze children’s home for the next few years. Cherif later spends time in the Breton city of Rennes, achieving a sports education qualification.

2000

Cherif and Said are back living in Paris’ 19th arrondissement, getting by on low incomes.

Early 2000s

The brothers begin attending the local Adda’wa mosque on rue de Tangers. It is there that Cherif meets his first known mentor, a radical preacher named Farid Benyettou. He begins training with fellow militants at the nearby Parc des Buttes Chaumont. The group becomes known as the Buttes Chaumont network and sends recruits to Iraq to fight with Al Qaeda against US forces.

µ 2005

Cherif is arrested for his role in the Buttes Chaumont network. Said is also questioned but released without charge. Cherif spends 20 months in prison before his trial where he is believed to have met Amedy Coulibaly (above), who would go on to be involved in the recent Paris attacks, and Djamel Beghal, a French-Algerian believed to be Al Qaeda’s leading European recruiter.

2006

Upon his release from prison, Cherif moves into an apartment in Gennevilliers, a northwestern suburb of Paris, where both brothers are seen at a local mosque.

2008 

Cherif goes on trial and is convicted for his role in the Buttes Chaumont network but is sentenced for time served.

2010

Cherif is suspected of taking part in a plot to free Algerian terrorist Smain Ait Ali Belkacem but the charge is dropped due to lack of evidence. Said is questioned but released without charge for a second time. Coulibaly is convicted, however, and receives a five-year sentence.

2011

US authorities alert French intelligence of the brothers’ activities in Yemen, and France begins surveillance. Said, at least, is known to have travelled to Yemen for training with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and to study Arabic. He claims to have briefly shared accommodation there with the “underwear bomber”, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab.

Early 2010s

At some point Said moves to the north-eastern city of Reims, where he is understood to have lived for two years.

Spring 2014

French surveillance of the brothers ends.

November, 2014

Benyettou meets Cherif and says that all he wanted to talk about was fighting.

January 8

Coulibaly shoots dead a policewoman in the southern Parisian suburb of Montrouge.

January 9

Cherif and Said, aged 32 and 34 respectively, are shot dead following an eight-hour stand-off with police. Coulibaly is also shot dead by police after killing four people in an attack on a kosher deli in the capital.

January 17

Said is buried in Reims.

January 18

Cherif is buried in the Gennevilliers suburb of Paris.