List of terrorist incidents, 1978
This is a timeline of incidents in 1978 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
Date |
Type |
Dead |
Injured |
Location |
Details |
Perpetrator |
Part of
|
February 1 |
Poisoning |
0 |
5 |
Netherlands |
Members of the Arab Revolutionary Council poison Israeli oranges with mercury, injuring five children.[1] |
Arab Revolutionary Council |
Israel-Palestine conflict |
February 13 |
Bombing |
3 |
11 |
Sydney, Australia |
A bomb placed in a garbage bin at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney explodes while the bin was being emptied into a garbage truck. Two garbage collectors and a police officer were killed and eleven others were wounded. The perpetrators were never identified, but the hotel was hosting the first ever Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which was the likely target. |
Unknown |
|
February 17 |
Bombing |
12 |
30 |
County Down, Northern Ireland |
The Provisional Irish Republican Army plants an incendiary bomb outside the La Mon restaurant in Gransha, County Down. The bomb exploded before the restaurant could be evacuated after PIRA phoned in a threat. |
PIRA |
The Troubles |
March 11 |
Massacre |
39 (+9 terrorists) |
71 |
Tel Aviv, Israel |
11 PLO terrorists hijack a bus on Coastal highway and take dozens of civilians hostage. 38 civilians and one Israeli soldier are killed when Israeli police attempt to raid the bus, which burst into flames. |
PLO |
Israel-Palestine conflict |
March 13 - 14 |
Hostage-taking |
2 |
1 |
Assen, Netherlands |
Three South Moluccans take 70 hostage at the province hall of Assen, demanding the release of Molucccan prisoners. Two hostage were killed and a photographer was wounded. |
Free South Moluccan Youths |
|
March 16 - May 9 |
Kidnapping, murder |
6 |
0 |
Italy |
Former Italian prime minister and leader of the Democrazia Cristiana party, Aldo Moro, is kidnapped by Red Brigades terrorists on March 16. The terrorists kill his five bodyguards. Moro is found murdered after 55 days of captivity. |
Red Brigades |
|
May 20 |
Shooting |
1 (+3 terrorists) |
3 |
Paris, France |
Three terrorists fire on El Al passengers in the departure lounge of Orly Airport in Paris, resulting in the death of all three terrorists and one policeman, with three French tourists injured.[2] |
Palestinians |
Israel-Palestine conflict |
August 13 |
Bombing |
175 |
80 |
Beirut, Lebanon |
A bomb destroys an office building in West Beirut housing the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Front, killing more than 175 people and injuring another 80. The bombing was allegedly carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command.[3] |
PFLP-GC |
Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon |
August 19 |
Arson |
400+ |
|
Abadan, Iran |
A group of four Islamist militants barred the doors of a cinema and set the cinema on fire. Hundreds of people had packed into the cinema to watch the film The Deers. The exact number of deaths is unknown with estimates ranging from around 400 to over 800. |
Four Islamists |
Iranian Revolution |
September 1 - 6 |
Bombings |
0 |
2 |
Speedway, United States |
A series of eight bombings occurs in the town of Speedway, Indiana. A Vietnam War veteran and his wife are seriously wounded in the last bombing. A local drug dealer named Brett Kimberlin is convicted of the bombings. The motive for the bombings was never determined but may have be meant to serve as a distraction from a murder in which Kimbelin was allegedly involved with. |
Brett Kimberlin |
|
October 22 |
Shooting |
3 |
1 |
Getxo, Spain |
Four Civil Guards are shot by ETA while returning from a football match. Three die. |
ETA |
Basque conflict |
References