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Details: Nadarajah was being driven to work when gunmen pulled alongside his Toyota van and opened fire with automatic weapons. They sprayed bullets through the van's windows, killing Nadarajah and his driver, and wounding two pedestrians.
318. Date: November 22, 1999
Target: Party Leader Abdelkader Hachani
Location: Algiers, Algeria
Details: Hachani was shot three times and killed after he entered his dentist's office. The gunman shot him with a pistol twice in the head and once in the stomach.
319. Date: December 3, 1999
Target: Oil Company Director Alexander Yashchenko
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: Yashchenko, his two bodyguards, and their driver were shot to death while riding in their car. Unidentified gunmen, standing on an overpass, opened fire on the car. The gunmen then approached the car and fired a few more rounds, killing everyone inside.
320. Date: December 18, 1999
Target: President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: Kumaratunga was injured at an election rally after an assassin detonated explosives that were strapped to her body. The blast occurred as Mrs. Kumaratunga was about to get into her car outside Colombo's town hall after addressing a rally of her People's Alliance party. The bomber tried to embrace Mrs. Kumaratunga, but bodyguards grabbed the terrorist and dragged her several feet before she detonated the explosive. Twenty-six people were killed, including a senior police official, three of Kumaratunga's bodyguards, and her driver. Over 100 others, including Kumaratunga and four ministers, were injured. The president's face was hit and she was hospitalalized immediately after the blast. She also reportedly sustained an eye injury. A finance minister and transport minister were among the injured. Security commandos opened fire immediately after the blast and at least one photographer was injured. An investigation determined that security was lax and ten officers were disciplined. (3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)
321. Date: December 30, 1999
Target: Singer George Harrison
Location: Henley-on-Thames, England
Details: Michael Abram broke into Harrison's home with the intent to kill the singer/songwriter. Abram, psychotic and recently turned away from a mental hospital, thought the Beatles were witches. Harrison struggled with the man and was stabbed eight times in the chest. Harrison's wife, Olivia, intervened and fought the assailant to unconsciousness. She also received injuries in the attack. The assailant sustained several injuries, including a knife wound in the buttock, and many serious cuts to the head and face. When Abram was arrested, he asked police, "Did I kill him?" He had also conducted research to locate former Beatle, Paul McCartney, whom he intended to attack after killing Harrison -- but Mrs. Harrison's interventions ended his plans.
322. Date: January 7, 2000
Target: Justice Mohammad Nawaz Marri
Location: Quetta, Pakistan
Details: Four masked men firing automatic weapons killed Marri as he was riding to work. He was struck with four bullets, one in the heart. His driver and bodyguard were not injured. The gunmen escaped.
323. Date: January 15, 2000
Target: Serb Warlord Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic
Location: Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Details: Arkan was seated in the lobby of the Inter-Continental Hotel with two bodyguards. Dobrosav Gavric, a junior member of police mobile brigade, walked up alone toward his target from behind. Gavric waited for a few minutes, then drew his CZ99 duty pistol, and shot Arkan three times in back of the head. Arkin's companions, business manager Milenko Mandic and police inspector Dragan Garic, were also shot to death by Gavric. Gavric was shot and wounded immediately after by Arkan's bodyguard, Zvonko Mateovic, and fell unconscious. A woman was seriously wounded in a further shoot out between them. Arkan was still alive, despite having been shot in the head. Police officers refused to drive him to the hospital on the basis that they were not authorized to do so until an emergency truck arrived. His bodyguard put him into a car whose driver took him to a hospital. Arkan was declared dead on arrival having died in his wife's arms on the way to hospital. Doctors tried resuscitation for over one hour in vain, although they managed to revive him for a moment. After surgery Gavric survived, but remained disabled in a wheelchair as result of a spinal wound. He pleaded innocent and never admitted that he committed the crime. He was convicted and sentenced to 19 years of jail. His accomplices received from 3 to 15 years each. However the original court verdict was overturned recently, because of a lack of evidence and the vagueness of the first trial process.
324. Date: February 6, 2000
Target: Mayor Oscar Aldaba
Location: San Teodoro, Philippines
Details: Two men armed with pistols shot Aldaba three times in the head as he entered a church with his wife and children. The gunmen then calmly walked away. Aldaba was unescorted by his bodyguards.
325. Date: February 7, 2000
Target: Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic
Location: Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Details: Bulatovic was sitting in a restaurant when gunmen fired automatic weapons through the window, killing him and wounding the restaurant owner and a banker.
326. Date: February 22, 2000
Target: Secretary General Fernando Buesa
Location: Vitoria, Spain
Details: Buesa and his bodyguard were killed as they walked from his house past a car loaded with explosives. The terrorist group ETA was blamed for the explosion, which occurred near the Basque regional headquarters. Buesa had been told that he was on an ETA hit list, which police had recently seized.
327. Date: February 27, 2000
Target: Police Chief Alfredo de la Torre
Location: Tijuana, Mexico
Details: As he was driving himself home from mass, gunmen armed with AK-47s and 9mm pistols pulled alongside de la Torre's Chevy Suburban and opened fire, killing him. He had not told his bodyguards that he was going to church and they were not with him. The windshield had a dozen bullet holes in it, and all the windows on the driver's side were shot out.
328. Date: February 27, 2000
Target: Government Minister Nagen Sharma
Location: Gauhati, India
Details: Guerrillas triggered a remote-controlled land mine as Sharma's vehicle went past, killing him, two police guards, and two state government officials. Sharma's vehicle was in a motorcade of eight cars and jeeps. Gunmen raked the rest of the motorcade with gunfire before escaping.
329. Date: March 22, 2000
Target: President Arkady Gukasyan
Location: Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh
Details: Gunmen in a car pulled alongside Gukasyan's car and opened fire, seriously wounding him, his driver, and a bodyguard.
330. Date: March 22, 2000
Target: Arms Dealer Gerald Bull
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Details: Bull was found shot to death in front of his apartment. Belgium police found $20,000 in cash in his pockets. Many believed he was assassinated by Israeli Mossad agents for his involvement with arming Iraq with a giant artillery gun capable of firing nuclear or chemical shells for hundreds of miles.
331. Date: March 23, 2000
Target: Government Official Cuauhtemoc Herrera Suastegui
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Details: At least four gunmen opened fire as Herrera, his attorney, a bodyguard, and a female drug agent were entering the Mexico City Hotel. The bodyguard was killed, and the others were wounded.
332. Date: March 26, 2000
Target: Deputy Prime Minister Ilyas Umakhanov
Location: Makhachkala, Dagestan
Details: A bomb destroyed Umakhanov's armored car as it moved through the city streets. Though injured, the protectee survived the attack. (2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)
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3. Date: April 3, 2000
Target: Federal Prosecutor Margarita Pulgarin
Location: Medellin, Colombia
Details: A gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on Pulgarin as she stepped outside her house, killing her. The motorcycle, driven by another man, escaped.
334. Date: April 3, 2000
Target: Radio Haiti owner Jean Leopold Dominique
Location: Haiti
Details: Dominique parked his car on the lot at Radio Haiti and was entering the building when an unknown number of gunmen fired several shots, killing him and station security guard Jean-Claude Louissaint. Dominique had been very critical of government malfeasance and corruption.
335. Date: April 4, 2000
Target: Governor Mohammad Arif Khan
Location: Peshawar, Pakistan
Details: A street-side cigarette vendor produced an automatic weapon and opened fire on Khan's vehicle as he drove past. Khan and a bodyguard were killed, and two others in the car were wounded. Khan was vacationing in the town.
336. Date: October 30, 2000
Target: Supreme Court Judge Jose Francisco Querol
Location: Madrid, Spain
Details: As Querol was driven past an intersection near his home, a parked car that was rigged with a bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Ouerol, his driver, and a bodyguard. It injured 66 others and extensively damaged the surrounding neighborhood.
337. Date: November 6, 2000
Target: City Official Malika Gazimiyeva
Location: Gudermes, Russia
Details: A remote-controlled car bomb exploded on a street leading to Gazimiyeva's office, injuring her, her bodyguard, and the driver. She had been targeted by previous attacks.
338. Date: November 29, 2000
Target: Mayor Carlos Julio Rosas
Location: Orito, Colombia
Details: Rosas was leaving his house at 7 a.m. when two men on a motorcycle pulled up, fired four rounds from a pistol into him, and fled, leaving Rosas dead. He was the 17th mayor killed in Colombia in the year 2000.
339. Date: December 4, 2000
Target: Senior City Official Sergei Alyoshin
Location: St. Peterburg, Russia
Details: Alyoshin was getting into his car with his daughter when the car exploded, injuring them both.
340. Date: December 14, 2000
Target: Town Councilor Francisco Cano Consuegra
Location: Viladecavallas, Spain
Details: Consuegra was driving his car when an explosive device attached to the underside of it detonated. He was rushed to a hospital, but died during surgery. The terrorist group ETA claimed credit for the attack.
341. Date: December 15, 2000
Target: Labor Leader Wilson Borja
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Details: Three gunmen with automatic weapons sprayed Borja's vehicle with bullets as he left his home and was about to enter an avenue crowded with rush hour traffic. Borja's bodyguards returned fire. A female street vendor was killed, and Borja, his driver, and one of his bodyguards were wounded. The gunmen fled in a car, and police found it, along with the body of one assassin. Borja was shot in the shoulder and right leg, and a bullet grazed his head. He had received a series of death threats. (3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)
342. Date: December 20, 2000
Target: Deputy Mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: Ordzhonikidze was on his way to work at City Hall in rush hour traffic, when two masked gunmen opened fired on his car, blowing out the windows, severely wounding him and killing his driver. The gunmen fired from both sides of the street, using assault rifles equipped with silencers, and put 26 bullet holes in the car.
343. Date: December 29, 2000
Target: Congressman Diego Turbay
Location: Florencia, Colombia
Details: Turbay was en route to swearing-in ceremony, riding in an armored four-wheel-drive vehicle, when FARC guerillas sprayed the vehicle with automatic weapons fire and forced it to stop. Turbay, his mother, and three bodyguards were forced to get out of the vehicle, and then they were executed.
344. Date: January 16, 2001
Target: President Laurent Kabila
Location: Kinshasa, Congo
Details: Trusted presidential bodyguard Rashidi Kasereka, entered the White House reception room, leaned over Kabila as if he was going to speak to him, then pulled out his service revolver and shot Kabila once in the neck and twice in the abdomen at pointblank range, wounding him. Retreating, Kasereka fired two more shots into Kabila's stomach. Other bodyguards rushed into the room and started shooting at Kasereka, hitting him in the leg. He fell, and they shot him two more times, killing him. Kabila died a few days later.
345. Date: January 17, 2001
Target: Governor Patricio Martinez
Location: Chihuahua, Mexico
Details: Martinez was descending the stairs from his office in the state capitol. Former state police officer Victoria Loya pulled a .32 revolver out of her purse and shot Martinez, grazing his head but not killing him. She was quickly taken into custody. She had been fired from her police job four years ago for trying to shoot her husband, and reportedly suffered from mental problems.
346. Date: January 18, 2001
Target: Mayor Henry Perea Torres
Location: Jurado, Colombia
Details: Two FARC rebels, armed with pistols, burst into Torres's office, dragged him outside, and shot him twice in the head.
347. Date: January 24, 2001
Target: Security Director Gaffar Okkan
Location: Ankara, Turkey
Details: Members of an Islamic terrorist cell opened fire on Okkan's vehicle just as he left his office at 3:25 p.m., killing him, his driver, and four bodyguards. He had run successful operations against Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.
348. Date: January 29, 2001
Target: Chief Administrator Akhmed Kadyrov
Location: Gudermes, Chechnya
Details: An explosion tore apart cars in Kadyrov's motorcade and left him slightly injured. The explosion, the third assassination attempt against him in two months, injured nine of his bodyguards and destroyed two cars.
349. Date: March 20, 2001
Target: Deputy Mayor Froilan Elexpe
Location: Lasarte, Spain
Details: A suspected ETA gunman shot Elexpe twice as he drank wine in his favorite bar. Hundreds of Basque politicians had been given bodyguards, but Elexpe had refused.
350. Date: April 11, 2001
Target: Deputy Interior Minister Khabib Sanginov
Location: Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Details: Three gunmen in sweat suits sprayed Sanginov's car with AK-47 fire as he rode through a suburb at 8 a.m., killing him, his driver, and two bodyguards.
351. Date: April 16, 2001
Target: Youth and Sports Minister Francois Massaquoi
Location: Voinjama, Liberia
Details: Massaquoi was shot and killed during an attack on his helicopter. He was reportedly bringing humanitarian supplies when dissident forces opened fire on the civilian helicopter as it attempted to land. The helicopter managed to escape, but Massaquoi died shortly after arrival at the nearest hospital.
352. Date: May 1, 2001
Target: Politician Hector Polania
Location: Pitalito, Colombia
Details: Polania was traveling along a highway when two men on a motorcycle opened fire, killing Polania and wounding one of his bodyguards. The gunmen were believed to be FARC rebels. In 1999, he survived an apparent kidnap attempt in which a police bodyguard was killed fighting off the assailants.
353. Date: May 11, 2001
Target: Congressman Marcial Punzalan Jr.
Location: Tiaong, Philippines
Details: Punzalan and his bodyguard were shot and killed as they got out of their car to attend a campaign rally for his
wife. Two men emerged from a group of six people, and opened fire on them. Another person accompanying the lawmaker and a passerby were also wounded. There were no immediate arrests.
354. Date: May 18, 2001
Target: Muslim Cleric Maulana Saleem Qadri
Location: Baldia Town, Pakistan
Details: Qadri's vehicle was reportedly ambushed by a team of six assassins, riding three motorbikes. The gunmen sprayed the van on three sides when it slowed down due to a speed-breaker. Qadri, two relatives, his driver, a bodyguard, and a policeman stationed nearby were killed. Three others were wounded, including his six-year-old son and eight-year-old nephew. One of the assailants was also killed when the wounded police guard of Qadri returned fire. The assailants then drove away. Qadri had been provided with four guards, but he had taken only one of them with him, leaving the rest at his residence.
355. Date: May 24, 2001
Target: Newspaper Executive Santiago Oleaga
Location: San Sebastian, Spain
Details: At 8:30 a.m., two ETA gunmen opened fire on Oleaga as he was parking his car across the street from a hospital, where he went each day for physical therapy. He was shot three times in the head, three times in the back, and once in the neck, and killed. He did not have police protection.
356. Date: June 1, 2001
Target: Premier Ezekiel Alebua
Location: Kakabona, Solomon Islands
Details: A man fired a shotgun at Alebua and a relative, as they were about to get into their car. Alebua suffered pellet wounds to the face, chest, and forearm, but was treated and released at a local hospital.
357. Date: June 8, 2001
Target: Regional Minister Magomedsalikh Gusayev
Location: Makhachkala, Dagestan
Details: Gusayev was leaving his home in the morning when a bomb planted under the threshold exploded. He reportedly sustained a break in his left shinbone as well as some lights wounds, but was in good condition after surgery.
358. Date: June 28, 2001
Target: Defense Minister Justo Oreja Pedraza
Location: Madrid, Spain
Details: At 8:30 a.m., when Pedraza stepped from his apartment building, a 4-1/2 lb. bomb in a knapsack strapped to a bicycle was detonated by remote control. The blast blew the facade off the building, and injured 15, including Pedraza, who had serious burns on most of his body. The ETA was blamed. He did not have a bodyguard.