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by Gavin De Becker; Thomas A. Taylor; Jeff Marquart


  Target: Parliament Member Ian Gow

  Location: Hankham, England

  Details: Gow was backing his car out of his carport when an IRA bomb planted underneath exploded, killing him.

  167. Date: July 30, 1990

  Target: PLO Official Younis Awwad

  Location: Sidon, Lebanon

  Details: Awwad was traveling in a two-car motorcade when a remote-controlled bomb planted along the road exploded, wounding him and killing two bodyguards.

  168. Date: September 19, 1990

  Target: Former Governor Peter Terry

  Location: Milford, England

  Details: Terry was reading at home when an IRA gunman fired through his window, wounding him and his wife.

  169. Date: October 12, 1990

  Target: Parliament Speaker Rifaat el-Mahgoub

  Location: Cairo, Egypt

  Details: El-Mahgoub was en route to a meeting when four gunmen on two motorcycles attacked his Mercedes, killing him and two bodyguards. Another bodyguard was killed in the Peugeot follow-up car.

  170. Date: October 21, 1990

  Target: Christian Leader Danny Chamoun

  Location: Baabda, Lebanon

  Details: Five uniformed gunmen armed with silenced 9mm pistols burst into Chamoun's home, killing him, his wife, and two sons. The assassins attacked during the shift change of bodyguards.

  171. Date: December 31, 1990

  Target: Mayor Paul Mariani

  Location: Corsica, France

  Details: Mariana was gunned down outside his home. It was the 17th assassination on the island in 1990, and the third political figure killed in Corsica in three months.

  172. Date: February 15, 1991

  Target: Activist Lawyer Bheki Mlangeni

  Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

  Details: Mlangeni received a tape recorder and headphones in the mail along with a tape entitled "Evidence of Hit Squads." He put on the headphones and turned on the recorder. The booby-trapped headphones exploded, killing him.

  173. Date: March 1, 1991

  Target: Deputy Minister Ranjan Wijeratne

  Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

  Details: A 120-pound bomb, planted in a parked car by Tamil rebels, exploded as Wijeratne drove past en route to work. The blast killed him and 18 others, and wounded 73.

  174. Date: March 20, 1991

  Target: Defense Minister Michel Murr

  Location: Beirut, Lebanon

  Details: Murr was en route to work in an armored Mercedes when a car bomb exploded, killing eight, and wounding 21. Murr survived the attack. It flipped the car upside-down. The 132-pound, remote-controlled bomb was concealed in a parked car. (2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

  175. Date: April 1, 1991

  Target: Economic Official Detlev Rohwedder

  Location: Duesseldorf, Germany

  Details: Rohwedder was shot and killed by members of the Red Army Faction while at his home. His wife was shot and wounded.

  176. Date: April 30, 1991

  Target: President A. Abashhidze

  Location: Batumi, Georgia (Soviet Union)

  Details: Vice President Nodar Imiadze and two others stormed Abashhidze's office with a machine gun and opened fire. Abashhidze and the prime minister were wounded. Bodyguards shot and killed Imiadze.

  177. Date: May 21, 1991

  Target: Prime Minister Candidate Rajiv Gandhi

  Location: Madras, India

  Details: Gandhi arrived to speak at a political rally. Two female members of the Tamil terrorist group approached him. One wore a denim girdle, which contained a pound of plastic explosive and 10,000 metal pellets, wired to a toggle switch. As they approached Gandhi, an alert female constable stopped them, but Gandhi insisted that they be allowed to continue. The bomb-laden terrorist knelt at Gandhi's feet. As he helped her up, she threw the toggle switch, killing herself, Gandhi, and 16 others. In 1998, 18 defendants were convicted in the conspiracy to kill Gandhi.

  178. Date: June 18, 1991

  Target: Judge Nabi Sher Junejo

  Location: Karachi, Pakistan

  Details: Gunmen ambushed Junejo's car as he was being driven to work. Junejo, his bodyguard, and chauffeur were killed. He was hearing a case involving terrorists.

  179. Date: July 16, 1991

  Target: Diplomat Deniz Bolukbasi

  Location: Athens, Greece

  Details: A car bomb exploded as Bolukbasi was driven past, injuring him, his wife, the driver, and a passerby. November 17 terrorists were blamed.

  180. Date: July 18, 1991

  Target: Mayor Andre Cools

  Location: Liege, Belgium

  Details: While getting into his car, Cools was shot through the neck and killed by a lone gunman. A councilwoman was shot in the abdomen and wounded. The gunman escaped.

  181. Date: August 4, 1991

  Target: Party Leader B. Matic-Beli

  Location: Belgrade, Yugoslavia

  Details: Beli arrived home and was locking his car when two masked gunmen fired 40 rounds from machine guns, killing him. The gunmen escaped.

  182. Date: August 8, 1991

  Target: Former Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar

  Location: Paris, France

  Details: Bakhtiar was found with an aide, both stabbed to death, on the first floor of Bakhtiar's heavily guarded home. There was no sign of forced entry; scheduled visitors killed them.

  183. Date: October 7, 1991

  Target: Diplomat Cetin Gorgu

  Location: Athens, Greece

  Details: Gorgu was shot four times by two gunmen with pistols as he entered his car to go to work. The terrorists escaped in another car.

  184. Date: October 28, 1991

  Target: Diplomat Abdul El Kharaby

  Location: Ankara, Turkey

  Details: Kharaby lost a leg when a bomb exploded as he drove past. Islamic Jihad terrorists claimed responsibility.

  185. Date: November 4, 1991

  Target: Former King M. Zaher Shah

  Location: Rome, Italy

  Details: A man, posing as a reporter, gained access to Shah and pulled an ornate dagger, stabbing Shah three times. It cut his face and neck, but he survived.

  186. Date: December 30, 1991

  Target: Prime Minister Shafik Wazzan

  Location: Beirut, Lebanon

  Details: A car bomb with 220 pounds of TNT exploded as Wassan was driven past in his armored limousine. The blast killed 30, and wounded 120. Though injured, Wazzan survived. (2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

  187. Date: February 16, 1992

  Target: Sheik Abbas Musawi

  Location: Beirut, Lebanon

  Details: Israeli helicopter gunships attacked Musawi's motorcade, killing Musawi, his wife, son, and four bodyguards.

  188. Date: March 7, 1992

  Target: Israeli Diplomat Ehud Sadan

  Location: Ankara, Turkey

  Details: A bomb placed on his car by an Islamic Jihad group exploded, killing Sadan, and wounding three others. The attack was in retaliation for Abbas Musawi's death.

  189. Date: March 12, 1992

  Target: Parliament Deputy Salvo Lima

  Location: Palermo, Sicily

  Details: Lima was riding to work in his chauffeur driven car when his tires were shot out by a Mafia gunman on a motorcycle. After his car screeched to a halt, Lima scrambled out and attempted to flee, but the assassin got off the motorbike, shot Lima in the back and then ran over and finished him off with a bullet to the neck. The killer then sped away.

  190. Date: March 17, 1992

  Target: Eliora Carmon (Diplomat's wife)

  Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

  Details: A car bomb parked outside the Israeli Embassy exploded, killing 28, including Carmon, and Zehava Zehavi, wife of the First Secretary. Two hundred and forty were injured by the Islam
ic Jihad attack.

  191. Date: May 5, 1992

  Target: Presidential Candidate Gilchrist Olympio

  Location: Lome, Togo

  Details: Gunmen with submachine guns opened fire on Olympio's motorcade as he was being driven cross-country. He was wounded and three opposition leaders were killed.

  192. Date: May 23, 1992

  Target: Judge Giovanni Falcone

  Location: Palermo, Sicily

  Details: Falcone was driving his armored Fiat in a three-car motorcade from the airport to his home. Mafia terrorists had placed over 1000 pounds of explosives in a culvert under the highway, and were watching his motorcade from a small airplane overhead. They detonated the device, throwing Falcone's car 300 yards, killing him, his wife, and three bodyguards, and wounding nine others.

  193. Date: May 29, 1992

  Target: President Sib Mojaddidi

  Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

  Details: Guerrillas fired three rockets at his jet after it had landed at the airport and was taxiing. One struck the cockpit, injuring the copilot, and two rockets missed.

  194. Date: June 8, 1992

  Target: PLO Leader Atef Bseiso

  Location: Paris, France

  Details: A gunman shot Bseiso seven times with a silenced pistol as he was getting out of a taxi in front of his hotel. The gunman escaped.

  195. Date: June 29, 1992

  Target: Council Leader Mohamed Boudiaf

  Location: Algiers, Algeria

  Details: Boudiaf was making a speech when a gunman, dressed like a policeman, opened fire with a submachine gun. Boudiaf was struck in the back and head, killing him. A second gunman also opened fire and threw grenades. Bodyguards killed the first gunman and wounded the second. Forty-one people were wounded. The first gunman was later said to be an Islamist who was part of Boudiaf's bodyguard detail.

  196. Date: June 30, 1992

  Target: PLO Commander Anwar Madi

  Location: Sidon, Lebanon

  Details: One gunman opened fire on Madi's BMW with a submachine gun and another shot him in the ear with a pistol. Both gunmen escaped. Three bodyguards were wounded.

  197. Date: July 9, 1992

  Target: Activist Khalil Abul-Hana

  Location: Talabaya, Lebanon

  Details: Gunmen overtook Abul-Hana's BMW and blocked its path. They opened fire with automatic weapons, killing him.

  198. Date: July 19, 1992

  Target: Judge Paolo Borsellino

  Location: Palermo, Sicily

  Details: Borsellino was walking outside his mother's apartment when a car bomb exploded, killing him and five bodyguards, and wounding 20 others. The blast destroyed his armored limousine and two police cars.

  199. Date: July 27, 1992

  Target: Mafia Investigator Giovanni Lizzio

  Location: Catania, Italy

  Details: Lizzio was driving home when two motorcycles pulled alongside and gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons. Lizzio was killed and the assassins escaped.

  200. Date: September 17, 1992

  Target: Party Leader Sadiq Sharafkindi

  Location: Berlin, Germany

  Details: Sharafkindi was killed with three other Kurds while sitting in the Mykonos Restaurant. Three gunmen entered the restaurant and opened fire with submachine guns.

  201. Date: September 18, 1992

  Target: Judge Miriam Perez

  Location: Medellin, Colombia

  Details: Four gunmen with submachine guns killed Perez, her driver, and two bodyguards as she was being driven to work. She was about to sentence a drug lord.

  202. Date: October 20, 1992

  Target: PLO Officer Mustafa Ibrahim

  Location: Sidon, Lebanon

  Details: Masked gunmen burst into a crowded cafe and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing Ibrahim and his two bodyguards. The Abu Nidal Group was blamed.

  203. Date: November 16, 1992

  Target: Naval Commander Clancy Fernando

  Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

  Details: Fernando was en route to his office when a bomb-laden motorcycle pulled alongside and exploded. Fernando, his driver, a bodyguard, an aide, and the Tamil terrorist were all killed.

  204. Date: December 5, 1992

  Target: Party Leader Jiri Svoboda

  Location: Prague, Czechoslovakia

  Details: A masked man rang Svoboda's doorbell, then stabbed him in the chest when he answered the door. Svoboda survived the attack.

  205. Date: January 8, 1993

  Target: Deputy Prime Minister Hakija Turajlic

  Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzogovenia

  Details: Turajlic was shot and killed by Serb gunmen while sitting in a U.N. armored car with its door open at a Serb checkpoint.

  206. Date: February 9, 1993

  Target: Provincial Governor Nasrullah Mansouri

  Location: Gardez, Afghanistan

  Details: A car bomb, apparently attached to Mansouri's car, exploded, killing him, another senior official, and three bodyguards.

  207. Date: March 16, 1993

  Target: Opposition Official Mohammed Nagdi

  Location: Rome, Italy

  Details: Nagdi was en route to work when two men on a motorbike pulled alongside and opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing him.

  208. Date: March 24, 1993

  Target: Archbishop Oscar Romero

  Location: San Salvador, El Salvador

  Details: Romero was shot and killed by a sniper. He was an outspoken critic of the government.

  209. Date: April 10, 1993

  Target: Secretary General Chris Hani

  Location: Boksburg, South Africa

  Details: Hani was shot four times at about 10:15 a.m. as he stepped out of the car he had just parked in the driveway of his home. A survivor of two previous assassination attempts, Hani normally traveled with bodyguards but had given them Easter Saturday off. Janusz Walus, a right-wing extremist, fled the scene, but was apprehended within hours.

  210. Date: April 11, 1993

  Target: Security Chief Mohamed el-Sheimy

  Location: Assiut, Egypt

  Details: El-Sheimy was killed along with his bodyguard and driver in a machine gun attack.

  211. Date: April 20, 1993

  Target: Information Minister Safwat Sharif

  Location: Cairo, Egypt

  Details: While leaving his home, Sharif was wounded slightly in a machine gun attack that also wounded his driver and bodyguard.

  212. Date: April 23, 1993

  Target: Opposition Leader L. Athulathmudali

  Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

  Details: Athulathmudali was shot and killed by a Tamil gunman at a political rally. The assassin was shot and killed by bodyguards, while fleeing.

  213. Date: April 30, 1993

  Target: Tennis Star Monica Seles

  Location: Hamburg, Germany

  Details: During a break in her tennis match, Gunter Parche leaned over the railing, withdrew a serrated boning knife, and stabbed Seles in the back between the shoulder blades. He was stopped as he raised his arm to stab her again. Seles was rushed to the hospital and survived. Parche stated that he wanted competing tennis player Steffi Graf to be the top player.

  214. Date: May 1, 1993

  Target: President Ranasinghe Premadasa

  Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

  Details: Premadasa was riding in a May Day parade when a man with a bomb strapped to his chest crashed his bicycle into him and set off the bomb. Premadasa and 11 others were killed, and 60 were injured.

  215. Date: May 14, 1993

  Target: TV Talk Show Host Maurizio Costanzo

  Location: Rome, Italy

  Details: Costanzo was departing his studio when a car bomb exploded. Twenty-three were injured, including Costanzo, his driver, and bodyguards. The Sicilian Mafia was blamed.

  216. Date: June 2, 1993

  Target: Former Supreme Court Justice Jairo D
uque Perez

  Location: Medellin, Columbia

  Details: Three hit men with automatic weapons gunned down Perez as he drove through town. The gunmen escaped in a minibus.

  217. Date: June 6, 1993

  Target: Opposition Leader Mohammed H. Arbab

  Location: Karachi, Pakistan

  Details: Arbab was sitting outside his home in his car when gunmen raked him with automatic weapons fire. Abu Nidal terrorists were blamed.

  218. Date: August 1, 1993

  Target: Governor Viktor Polyanichko

  Location: Vladikavkaz, Russia

  Details: Gunmen on horseback ambushed Polyanichko's motorcade with automatic weapons, killing him, his bodyguard, and a general. Three other bodyguards were wounded.

  219. Date: August 8, 1993

  Target: U.S. Diplomat Fred Woodruff

  Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

  Details: Woodruff was killed by a sniper's bullet while riding in a car with his bodyguard. He had been training bodyguards for President Eduard Shevardnadze.

  220. Date: August 18, 1993

  Target: Interior Minister Hassan el-Alfy

  Location: Cairo, Egypt

  Details: A remote-controlled bomb on a motorcycle was detonated, and then automatic weapons were fired at el-Alfy's motorcade. Four were killed and 15 wounded, including el-Alfy.

  221. Date: September 11, 1993

  Target: Party President Maninder Singh Bitta

  Location: New Delhi, India

  Details: Bitta was departing his office by car when a car bomb exploded, killing eight, including two bodyguards. Thirty-six were wounded, including Bitta.

  222. Date: September 21, 1993

  Target: PLO Official Abu Shaaban

  Location: Gaza Strip, Israel

  Details: Two carloads of gunmen forced Shaaban's car off the road and shot him to death when he got out. His son, brother, and two bodyguards escaped.

  223. Date: September 29, 1993

  Target: Party Leader Samuel Motha

  Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

  Details: Motha was shot in the head and killed outside his home as he was leaving for work. The gunmen escaped.

  224. Date: October 9, 1993

  Target: Military Prosecutor Taha el-Sayed

  Location: Cairo, Egypt

  Details: Four gunmen shot and wounded el-Sayed as he walked near his house. He had prosecuted the terrorists who tried to assassinate President Mubarak.

  225. Date: October 14, 1993

  Target: Justice Minister Guy Malary

  Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

  Details: Malary was leaving his office when gunmen opened fire, killing him, his driver, and two bodyguards. He had received death threats.

 

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