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Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996

Appendix A:
Chronology of Significant Terrorist Incidents, 1996

1 January

• Iraq
  Three individuals attempted to leave a vehicle containing explosives near UN offices in Irbil. The driver abandoned the vehicle after a security guard ordered him to move it.

8 January

• Indonesia
  Two hundred Free Papua Movement (OPM) guerrillas abducted 26 individuals in the Lorenta nature preserve, Irian Jaya Province. The hostages were on a research expedition for the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Among the hostages were seven persons from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. The OPM demanded the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from Irian Jaya, compensation for environmental damage and for the death of civilians at the hands of the military, and a halt to Freeport Indonesia mining operations. On 15 May Indonesian Special Forces members rescued the last nine hostages after locating them with a pilotless drone.

16 January

• Turkey
  Seven Turkish nationals of Chechen origin hijacked a Russia-bound Panamanian ferry in Trabzon. The hijackers initially threatened to kill all Russians on board unless Chechen separatists being held in Dagestan, Russia, were released. On 19 January the hijackers surrendered to Turkish authorities outside the entrance to the Bosporus. The passengers were unharmed.

18 January

• Ethiopia
  A bomb exploded at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa, killing at least four persons and injuring 20 others. The injured included citizens from the United Kingdom, Mali, India, and France. In March, al-Ittihaad al-Islami (The Islamic Union), an ethnic Somali group, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

19 January

• Colombia
  Six suspected Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas kidnapped a US citizen and demanded a $1 million ransom. The hostage was released on 22 May.

26 January

• Yemen
  Al-Aslam tribesmen kidnapped 17 elderly French tourists in the Ma'rib Governate to pressure authorities into releasing one of their tribesmen. The kidnappers released the hostages unharmed on 29 January.

31 January

• Sri Lanka
  Suspected members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rammed an explosives-laden truck into the Central Bank in the heart of downtown Colombo, killing 90 civilians and injuring more than 1,400 others. Among the wounded were two US citizens, six Japanese, and one Dutch national. The explosion caused major damage to the Central Bank building, an American Express office, the Intercontinental Hotel, and several other buildings.

6 February

• Colombia
  National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels kidnapped three cement industry engineers including a Briton, a Dane, a German, and their Colombian companion in San Luis; they were abducted from their vehicle at a makeshift roadblock. The hostages were freed later.

9 February

• United Kingdom
  A bomb detonated in a parking garage in the Docklands area of London, killing two persons and wounding more than 100 others, including two US citizens. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility.

11 February

• Bahrain
  A bomb exploded at the Diplomat Hotel in Manama, injuring a British guest and two employees and causing significant damage to the hotel. The London-based Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain claimed the bombing, but later denied responsibility.

15 February

• Greece
  Unidentified assailants fired a rocket at the US Embassy compound in Athens, causing minor damage to three diplomatic vehicles and some surrounding buildings. Circumstances of the attack suggest it was a 17 November operation.

16 February

• Colombia
  Six alleged National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas kidnapped a US citizen in La Guajira Department. No ransom demand was made. The hostage was released on 15 November.

17 February

• Venezuela
  Two alleged National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas killed two Venezuelan guards at a gasoline station near the Colombian-Venezuelan border in La Victoria. The two men took the guards' rifles and fled in a small boat down the international waters of the Arauca River.

20 February

• Turkey
  Two members of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian dissident group, were found dead in their Istanbul apartment. In April 1996 authorities apprehended three Islamic militants and several Iranian and Turkish nationals in connection with the killing. The militants later claimed they had received their orders from Iranian diplomats stationed in Turkey.

25 February

• Jerusalem
  A suicide bomber blew up a bus, killing 26 persons, including three US citizens, and injuring some 80 persons, including three other US citizens. HAMAS's Izz al-Din al-Qassem Battalion claimed responsibility for the bombing in retaliation for the Hebron massacre two years before, but later denied involvement. HAMAS also issued a leaflet assuming responsibility for the bombing signed by the Squads of the New Disciples of Martyr Yahya Ayyash, the Engineer, claiming the bombing was in retaliation for Ayyash's death on 5 January 1996.

3 March

• Jerusalem
  Another suicide bomber detonated an explosive device on a bus, killing 19 persons, including six Romanians, and injuring six others. The Students of Yahya Ayyash, a splinter group of HAMAS, claimed responsibility for the attack.

4 March

• Israel
  A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 persons and injuring 75 others, including two US citizens. HAMAS and the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) both claimed responsibility for the bombing.

14 March

• Bahrain
  Assailants poured gasoline at the entrance to a restaurant in Sitrah and threw Molotov cocktails inside, killing seven Bangladeshi employees and destroying the restaurant.

23 March

• Venezuela
  Suspected National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas killed one policeman and injured another policeman and a civilian in La Victoria.

26 March

• Cambodia
  Suspected Khmer Rouge guerrillas abducted 26 Cambodian mine disposal experts, their British supervisor, and his translator near the Angkor Wat temple complex. Six of the hostages escaped, leaving the British national and his interpreter captive. At least five police officers and soldiers were killed by landmines while searching for the hostages.

27 March

• Algeria
  Armed Islamic Group (GIA) extremists kidnapped seven French monks from their monastery in the Medea region. On 26 April the GIA offered to free the monks in exchange for the release of GIA members held in France. On 21 May the group stated that they killed the monks in response to the French Government's refusal to negotiate with them.

31 March

• Venezuela
  Four guerrillas from the Colombian People's Liberation Army (EPL) kidnapped a rancher from a store in La Gabarra. The rancher had been warned he would be kidnapped if he didn't pay $50,000 in protection money. The four abductors, who opened fire on security forces as they fled, were killed and the hostage escaped.

18 April

• Egypt
  Four al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (IG) militants opened fire on a group of Greek tourists in front of the Europa Hotel in Cairo, killing 18 Greeks and injuring 12 Greeks and two Egyptians. The IG claimed they intended to attack a group of Israeli tourists they believed were staying at the hotel, as revenge for Israeli actions in Lebanon.

24 April

• Poland
  A bomb placed at a Shell gas station in Warsaw detonated, killing one policeman who was preparing to defuse the device. A group calling itself GN 95 later claimed responsibility and demanded $2 million from the Royal Dutch Shell Group. The group justified the attack by stating its opposition to expansion of foreign investment in Poland.

5 May

• India
  Islamic separatists killed eight Hindu Nepalese migrant workers near Srinagar. No group claimed responsibility.

8 May

• Cambodia
  Forty Khmer Rouge militants kidnapped seven Thai quarry workers in the Kampong Spoe Province and demanded $350,000 in ransom. The quarry is owned by three Thai companies: ASCO, Seaboard, and the Italian-Thai Construction Co., a subcontractor for the US Fischbach International Company. On 9 May the militants released the hostages after the companies each paid a $100,000 ransom.

13 May

• West Bank
  Arab gunmen opened fire on a bus and a group of Yeshiva students near the Bet El settlement, killing a dual US/Israeli citizen and wounding three Israelis. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but HAMAS is suspected.

16 May

• Peru
  Sendero Luminoso (SL) terrorists detonated a car bomb, injuring at least four persons and destroying a portion of the joint Shell-Mobil offices and warehouse in Lima. The explosion at a Shell gas station also destroyed five automobiles and damaged six Shell tankers. Three days earlier, the Peruvian Government had announced an agreement with a consortium led by the US Mobil Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell to develop the expansive Camisea gas reserves. SL terrorists left leaflets at the scene lauding the group and the armed struggle and proclaiming "No to the sale of the country."

28 May

• France
  Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a former Iranian deputy education minister under the Shah at his home in Paris. No one claimed responsibility for the killing.
  Greece
  A bomb exploded at a building housing the main offices of IBM in Athens, causing extensive structural damage but no injuries. The group Fraxia Midheniston (Nihilist Faction) claimed responsibility in a call to a local television station.

31 May

• Nicaragua
  A gang of former Contra guerrillas kidnapped a US employee of USAID who was assisting with election preparations in rural northern Nicaragua. She was released unharmed the next day after members of the international commission overseeing the preparations intervened.

4 June

• Tajikistan
  Gunmen shot and killed two Russian servicemen's wives while the victims were visiting a cemetery in Dushanbe. No one claimed responsibility. The Tajikistan Internal Affairs Ministry believes the gunmen were members of "Muzlokandov's Gang," an Islamic extremist group.

8 June

• Venezuela
  In Apure State, just over the Colombian border, 10 Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) gunmen killed a Venezuelan man whom they believed was an informant for Venezuela's national guard.

9 June

• Israel
  Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a car near Zekharya, killing a dual US/Israeli citizen and an Israeli. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is suspected.

15 June

• United Kingdom
  A truck bomb detonated at a Manchester shopping center, wounding 206 persons, including two German tourists, and causing extensive property damage. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility.

25 June

• Saudi Arabia
  A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the US military's Khubar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 US military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240 US personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack, which remains under investigation.

27 June

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Assailants detonated a bomb at a building in Zvornik that houses the Socialist Party of the Serb Republic, the International Police Task Force, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Community Monitoring Mission. The explosion caused major damage but no injuries.

8 July

• Ethiopia
  Two Somali gunmen opened fire on the Minister of Transport and Communications as he arrived at his office in Addis Ababa, wounding him and killing two guards and two passersby. Al-Ittihaad al-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack.

12 July

• Austria
  Four Kurdish militants occupied a Reuter news agency office in Vienna and held two employees hostage for several hours before surrendering. The attackers are suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) sympathizers.

14 July

• Colombia
  Armed men forced an Italian engineer out of his vehicle and took him hostage in Antioquia Province. No ransom demand was made. Authorities suspect the National Liberation Army (ELN) or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

20 July

• Spain
  A bomb exploded at Tarragona International Airport in Reus, wounding 35 persons, including British and Irish tourists. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) is suspected.

24 July

• Germany
  Turkish leftist militants seized a German Social Democratic Party (SPD) office in Frankfurt for several hours, taking four party officials hostage. The activists demanded improved conditions for political prisoners in Turkey and SPD support for their plight. Police forces stormed the office and arrested them.

26 July

• Germany
  Armed assailants briefly occupied a Turkish consulate office in Berlin. The attackers tied up four staffers and painted leftist slogans on the walls. The Turkish Communist Party Marxist/Leninist (TKP-ML) is suspected.
  Tajikistan
  Two gunmen arrived at a Dushanbe airport in a taxi, shot the driver, and went to the airport's military section where they shot two Russian soldiers. Several others were wounded in the attack. Russian military personnel immediately arrested the gunmen.

1 August

• Algeria
  A bomb exploded at the home of the French Archbishop of Oran, killing him and his chauffeur. The attack occurred after the Archbishop's meeting with the French Foreign Minister. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is suspected.

5 August

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  After receiving a telephoned bomb threat, security officers evacuated two buildings in Sarajevo that house the offices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Authorities located and defused the bomb. No one claimed responsibility.
  Ethiopia
  A bomb exploded in the lobby of the Wabbe Shebelle Hotel in Addis Ababa, killing two persons and injuring 17 others, including a Belgian citizen. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
  France
  Unidentified assailants killed the local chief representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party at his Paris residence. No one claimed responsibility for the killing.

9 August

• Colombia
  Suspected leftist guerrillas kidnapped an Italian restaurateur and longtime Colombian resident.

10 August

• Panama
  Some 50 suspected Colombian guerrillas kidnapped the former representative for the Democratic Revolutionary Party in Boca de Cupe, Darien. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas are suspected.

11 August

• Somalia
  Suspected Al-Ittihaad al-Islami gunmen killed two Ethiopian businessmen in Beledweyne to avenge Ethiopia's two-day military incursion into Somalia earlier that month.

14 August

• Colombia
  Suspected National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels kidnapped two Brazilian engineers working on a highway in Meta Department.
  Sri Lanka
  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels bombed the offices and residences belonging to two South Korean companies, Korea Telecom International and Samsung Electronics, causing serious damage but no injuries. This was the first LTTE attack against foreign investors in Sri Lanka.

15 August

• Tajikistan
  A remote-controlled explosive device--placed in a drainage culvert under a road in Dushanbe--detonated as a Russian troop transport vehicle passed over it, killing the driver and wounding a passenger. No one claimed responsibility.

17 August

• France
  A bomb exploded at the construction site for a McDonald's restaurant in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, causing extensive structural damage. Basque separatist groups are suspected.
  Sudan
  Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels kidnapped six missionaries in Mapourdit, including a US citizen, an Italian, three Australians, and a Sudanese. The SPLA released the hostages on 28 August.

21 August

• Colombia
  Gunmen kidnapped an Italian engineer working on an oil pipeline in northern Colombia.

25 August

• Bahrain
  Three Bahrainis shot and wounded a Pakistani policeman guarding the Russian Consulate. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

27 August

• Germany
  Turkish leftist militants shot at a vehicle carrying two members of a rival exiled-leftist organization, killing one of the occupants and injuring the other.

11 September

• Iraq
  Kurdish refugees seized nine UN employees near Sairanbar. A World Food Program official, a UNICEF official, and a UNHCR employee were among those taken. A crowd of refugees demonstrating near the UN offices seized the workers as thousands chanted anti-US slogans and threw rocks at UN employees. The refugees later released all the hostages.

13 September

• Iraq
  Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) militants kidnapped four French workers for Pharmaciens Sans Frontieres (Pharmacists Without Borders), a Canadian UNHCR official, and two Iraqis.

14 September

• Bahrain
  Three assailants threw a flammable liquid into a parts shop in An Nuwaydirat and set it on fire. The attackers then pulled the rolling metal door down, preventing an Indian employee from escaping. The employee died from his burns the next day.
  Venezuela
  National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas opened fire on a military post in Los Bancos, killing one soldier and wounding two civilians.

1 October

• Russia
  In Vladivostok, two or three assailants attacked and killed a South Korean consul near the victim's apartment. He reportedly died of a head wound. No one claimed responsibility. South Korean authorities believe that the attack was carried out by professionals and that the assailants were North Koreans. North Korean officials denied the country's involvement in the attack.

5 October

• Ethiopia
  Unidentified assailants shot and killed a German botanist near a shopping area called the Taiwan Market in Dire Dawa. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

10 October

• Venezuela
  Suspected National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas kidnapped a Venezuelan cattleman at the border with Colombia. A few hours later the victim was found dead in Libertador.

16 October

• Ethiopia
  In two separate incidents, unknown assailants shot and killed a French national and a Yemeni national near the Taiwan Market in Dire Dawa.

20 October

• Cambodia
  Approximately 40 suspected Khmer Rouge militants abducted three Frenchmen and five Cambodians who were traveling by motorcycle in Kampong Chhnang Province. The kidnappers released the hostages unharmed about 24 hours later.
  Yemen
  Assailants abducted a French diplomat while he was driving in Sanaa. On 26 October the diplomat was turned over to local tribe members who then detained him until 1 November, when the government agreed to their conditions for his release.

24 October

• Uganda
  Several gunmen attacked a Sudanese refugee camp in Palorinya, western Moyo, killing 16 Sudanese refugees and wounding five others. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

26 October

• Colombia
  Leftist rebels abducted a French geologist and a Colombian engineer in Meta Department after attacking the convoy in which the pair was traveling. No one claimed responsibility, but authorities suspect the National Liberation Army (ELN) or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
  France
  Gunmen assassinated the international treasurer of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a companion in Paris. Authorities believe the LTTE killed the official for misappropriating funds for personal use.

1 November

• Sudan
  A breakaway group from the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) kidnapped three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers, including a US citizen, an Australian, and a Kenyan. On 9 December the rebels released the hostages in exchange for ICRC supplies and a health survey for their camp.

12 November

• Bahrain
  Two propane gas cylinders exploded behind a strip mall near the Shia village of Wattyan, damaging the Gulf Motors Agency Hyundai dealership and injuring a security guard.

15 November

• Algeria
  Unidentified assailants beheaded a Bulgarian businessman who was the former Bulgarian defense attache to Algeria. The victim was found at the entrance to Bainem Forest, west of Algiers. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

17 November

• Turkey
  A fire broke out at the Tozbey Hotel in Istanbul, killing 17 Ukrainians and injuring more than 40 persons. On 22 November the group Turkish Islamic Jihad (TIJ) claimed responsibility for starting the fire, although authorities believed it may have been caused by faulty wiring and negligence by the hotel's guests.

3 December

• France
  A bomb exploded aboard a Paris subway train as it arrived at the Port Royal station, killing two French nationals, a Moroccan, and a Canadian, and injuring 86 persons. Among those injured were one US citizen and a Canadian. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Algerian extremists are suspected.

8 December

• Tajikistan
  Guerrillas attacked a jointly owned Tajik-British gold mine in Darvaz, abducting four employees, including a Briton and a South African. The assailants occupied the mine for five days. After negotiations with representatives from the UN, the Red Cross, British diplomats, and an inter-Tajik joint commission monitoring the current peace accord, the hostages were released on 28 December in Childara village.

11 December

• Colombia
  Five armed men claiming to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnapped a US geologist at a methane gas exploration site in La Guajira Department. (The geologist was killed, and his body was retrieved by Colombian authorities in February 1997.)

17 December

• Peru
  Twenty-three members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) took several hundred people hostage at a party given at the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima. Among the hostages were several US officials, foreign ambassadors and other diplomats, Peruvian Government officials, and Japanese businessmen. The group demanded the release of all MRTA members in prison and safe passage for them and the hostage takers. The terrorists released most of the hostages in December but still held 81 Peruvians and Japanese citizens at the end of the year.
  Russia
  Gunmen broke into a residential area for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Novyy Atagi, Chechnya, fatally shooting six staff employees and wounding a seventh. The victims included two Norwegians, a Dutch national, a Canadian, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, and a Swiss national. No group claimed responsibility.

20 December

• Tajikistan
  An armed group stopped a convoy between Fayzabad and Gharm and seized 23 hostages, including seven foreign national UN military observers and Tajik Government officials. The group claimed it was loyal to Rezvon Sodirov, the leader of an armed gang, and demanded that several of their supporters be returned to them. The hostages were subsequently released.

27 December

• Eritrea
  Unknown assailants ambushed and killed five Belgian tourists and their Eritrean driver as they returned to Asmara from a field trip. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

31 December

• Bahrain
  Eight assailants surrounded a building in a Shia village, set several tires on fire, and threw Molotov cocktails inside, killing an Asian man and injuring two others.

[end of document]

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