1983–1988 Kuwait terror attacks

Terror attacks across Kuwait in 1983–1988 May 2020 1983–1988 Kuwait terror attacks the spillover of the Iran–Iraq War Kuwait Infrastructure (government buildings, embassies, airport, oil tankers, coffehouses, etc) 1983–1988 Suicide bombings, airplane hijackings, missile attacks 25 175+ Multiple The 1983–1988 Kuwait terror attacks were various pro-Iran terror attacks during the Iran–Iraq War. 25 people were killed and more than 175 people were wounded. Following the attacks, Kuwait's economy significantly suffered.Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites V_uTkJTa4NAC 205 yes Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley & Sons 240 205 978-1-118-74411-6 Narottam P. Bansal Jitendra P. Singh Song Ko Ricardo Castro Gary Pickrell Navin Jose Manjooran Mani Nair Gurpreet Singh 1 July 2013 1983 Kuwait bombings The 1983 Kuwait bombings were attacks on six key installations on 12 December 1983, two months after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. The 90-minute coordinated attack on two embassies, the country's main airport, and petro-chemical plant was more notable for the damage it was intended to cause than what was actually destroyed. What might have been "the worst terrorist episode of the twentieth century in the Middle East" killed only six people because of the bombs' faulty rigging.Wright Robin Robin Wright (author) 2001 Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam Simon and Schuster 112 9780743233422 https://archive.org/details/sacredragewratho00wrig_0 registration sacred rage. 23 October 2010 The perpetrators of the bombing were unknown but were purported to be connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The motivation of the bombing is suspected to have been punishment against Kuwait for its military and financial assistance to Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon (1997), p. 117 Bombings On 12 December 1983, a truck laden with 45 large cylinders of gas connected to plastic explosives broke through the front gates of the American Embassy in Kuwait City and rammed into the embassy's three-story administrative annex, demolishing half the structure. The shock blew out windows and doors in distant homes and shops. Five people were initially killed (two Palestinians, two Kuwaitis, and one Syrian).Associated Press article, 30 January 1984 The death toll was not higher in large part because the driver did not hit the more heavily populated chancellery building and more importantly, only a quarter of the explosives ignited. An American diplomat told journalist Robin Wright: "If everything had gone off, this place would have been a parking lot".Wright Robin 112 Sacred Rage 4 December 2001 Simon and Schuster 9780743233422 https://books.google.com/books?id=PnSsF-hADhUC&q=sacred%20rage&pg=PA112 Five other explosions were attempted within an hour. An hour later, a car parked outside the French embassy blew up, leaving a massive 30 ft hole in the embassy security wall and injuring five people. The target intended to get the most powerful explosion was Kuwait's main oil refinery and water desalination plant, the Shuaiba Petrochemical Plant. 150 gas cylinders on a truck carrying 200 cylinders exploded 150 meters from the No. 2 refinery and only a few meters from a highly flammable heap of sulfa-based chemicals. Had that bombing been successful, it would have crippled the oil production of one of the world's major oil exporters and shut down most of the water supply of the nation.Wright Robin Wright (author) 113 Sacred Rage 4 December 2001 Simon and Schuster 9780743233422 https://books.google.com/books?id=PnSsF-hADhUC&q=sacred%20rage&pg=PA113 Other car bombs exploded at the control tower at the Kuwait International Airport, the Electricity Control Center, and the living quarters for American employees of the Raytheon Corporation, which was installing a missile system in Kuwait. Two bombs at Raytheon went off, the first intended to bring the residents outside and the second intended to kill. The attempt failed as the residents did not emerge. An Egyptian technician was killed in the control tower bombing,Incident profile but none of the other bombings resulted in fatalities. The bombing of the American embassy was an early instance of suicide bombing in the Middle East, along with the Hezbollah's bombing of the American Embassy and the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon earlier that year in which Hezbollah is suspected to be the orchestrator.Chronology of terrorism against Americans, 1979–1988 Responsibility Islamic Jihad Organization and Islamic Dawa Party were reported at the time to be involved in the bombing.The Lebanese Dawa party is thought to have been absorbed into the "umbrella"-like Hezbollah movement in the early 1980, (Wright, Sacred Rage, (2001), p.95) and Islamic Jihad is thought to have been a nom de guerre of Hezbollah. (Ranstorp, Hizb'allah (1997), p.63) Shortly after the blasts, Islamic Jihad called Kuwaiti authorities to take responsibility for the blast. The claim was taken seriously after the callers' boast that there was a "seventh bomb" was verified by the discovery of a car bomb in front of the Immigration Bureau. Islamic Dawa was connected to the bombing when the remains of a human thumb were found and its thumbprint identified as that of Raad Murtin Ajeel, a 25-year-old Iraqi Shia member of Dawa. Ultimately, 21 other defendants were put on trial (17 captured in a nationwide manhunt and 4 tried in absentia). After a six-week trial, six were sentenced to death (three of those were in absentia), seven to life imprisonment, seven to terms between five and fifteen years.Wright Robin Wright (author) 125 Sacred Rage 4 December 2001 Simon and Schuster 9780743233422 https://books.google.com/books?id=PnSsF-hADhUC&q=sacred%20rage&pg=PA125 One of those convicted by a court in Kuwait in February 2007 was Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, more commonly known by his nom de guerre as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was a member of Kata'ib Hezbollah and Iraq's parliament and military commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces.Glanz James Santora Marc Fathi Nazila Mazzetti Mark Kiffner John Iraqi Lawmaker Was Convicted in 1983 Bombings in Kuwait That Killed 5 Americans The New York Times 8 7 February 2007 https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/world/middleeast/07bomber.html 6 March 2013Michael Weiss (journalist) Weiss Michael Pregent Michael https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/28/the-united-states-is-providing-air-cover-for-ethnic-cleansing-in-iraq-shiite-militias-isis/ The U.S. Is Providing Air Cover for Ethnic Cleansing in Iraq Foreign Policy 2015-03-28 2017-05-26 Motivation Analysts believe the bombings were the work of Iran in cooperation with Shia allies from Iraq and Lebanon.Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon (1997), p.91, 117 Kuwait had given considerable support to Iraq in the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War.Shireen T. Hunter, Iran and the World: Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990), p.117 Between 1983 and 1984, Kuwait provided $7 billion in financial assistance and was second to Saudi Arabia in aiding Iraq,Bahman Baktiari, "Revolutionary Iran's Persian Gulf Policy: the Quest for Regional Supremacy", in Iran and the Arab World, Hooshang Amirahmadi and Nader Entessar, Macmillan, (1993), p.77 Massive destruction and loss of life in Kuwait would also have provided an example to the other oil-rich, population-poor, Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf, also helping Iraq against its larger, non-Arab, anti-monarchist revolutionary Islamic neighbor. In 1985, the Arab States of the Persian Gulf provided Iraq with financial contributions, totaling in the range of $40 to 50 billion."Iran and Iraq: the Next Five Years" (The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 1987), p.20. Americans and the French are thought to have been targets in Kuwait because of their assistance to Iraq and lack of help to Iran. America had halted all shipments of arms to Iran, and extended $2 billion in trade credit to Iraq in "Operation Staunch" in 1983.Anthony H. Cordesman, The Iran–Iraq War and Western Security, 1984–1987: Strategic Implications and Policy Options, Janes Publishing Company, 1987, p.79 Response The blasts were said to have taken the Kuwaiti government "completely by surprise" and left it dumbfounded, terrified and shaken to their core that such a well-organized terrorist operation could have taken place under their noses.Wright Robin Wright (author) 113 Sacred Rage 4 December 2001 Simon and Schuster 9780743233422 https://books.google.com/books?id=PnSsF-hADhUC&q=sacred%20rage&pg=PA113Jaber, Hala. Hezbollah : born with a vengeance, New York : Columbia University Press, c1997, p.127-129 According to the Monday Morning gazette, the hitherto relaxed nation was transformed into a "police state," with roundups of foreign workers, numerous roadblocks, identity checks, and guardsmen under orders to "shoot whoever refused to stop or be searched."Monday Morning Magazine, 19 December 1983 Pressure on Kuwait to free the bombers Of the "Kuwait 17", 12 were Iraqis in al-Dawa,Bombs, Hostages: A Family Link https://web.archive.org/web/20200405150016/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:S25JY0-B485: 5 April 2020 , The Washington Post, 24 July 1990. and 3 were Lebanese. One was Mustafa Badreddine, who was sentenced to death. He was also a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, Imad Mugniyah.https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/cron.html Terrorist Attacks On Americans, 1979–1988 – Target America Frontline PBS 21 April 2015 "Analysts say,... there is little doubt Mugniyeh and Al Din helped plan December 1983 bombings in Kuwait against the U.S. and French embassies there...."Another source, Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, 1997, p.91, lists another name, Elias Fouad Saab, as that of the brother-in-law and cousin to Imad Mughniya. Both the organization of Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran and the location of Dawa's headquarters helped free their fellow Shia revolutionaries in Kuwait. In Lebanon, Western hostages, including American Frank Regier and Frenchman Christian Joubert, were held by Shia radicals demanding the release of the al-Dawa terrorists as the price of the hostages' release. On 27 March 1984, following the conviction of the al-Da'wa defendants, the hostage takers threatened to kill their hostages if the Kuwaiti government carried through with the planned execution of the al-Dawa prisoners.Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, (1997), p.92 A month later, American Benjamin Weir was kidnapped by actors demanding the same. Anglican hostage negotiator Terry Waite appealed to the emir of Kuwait and tried to obtain a visa to come to Kuwait. His failure to make progress in freeing the convicted terrorists is thought to be the reason that he himself was kidnapped and spent five years as a hostage.Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, (1997), p.99 Although those sentenced to death were to be hanged within 30 days, the emir of Kuwait did not sign their death sentence.Hezbollah: Born with a vengeance by Hala Jaber, p.127-129 The executions were delayed for yearsWright Robin Wright (author) 133 Sacred Rage 4 December 2001 Simon and Schuster 9780743233422 https://books.google.com/books?id=PnSsF-hADhUC&q=sacred%20rage&pg=PA133 until the men escaped. Iran Chief Kuwaiti government spokesman Abdel Aziz Hussein called the bombings "the first concentrated Iranian operation to export the revolution and destabilize the Persian Gulf after Iran failed to infiltrate the Iraqi [war] front."New York Times, 12 December 1983 Kuwait was threatened with further attacks if the defendants were not released,Reuters, 9 February 1984 with Tehran Radio regularly broadcasting warnings from Dawa that Kuwait would face "serious consequences" if the "heroes" standing trial were harmed. Hezbollah Over the next several years, Hezbollah perpetrated a string of kidnappings and bombings with the goal of forcing the Kuwaiti government to free the al-Dawa prisoners. Hostage Terry Anderson was told that he and the other hostages kidnapped in Beirut had been abducted "to gain the freedom of their seventeen comrades in Kuwait." The Kuwait 17 then played a role in the Iran-Contra scandal: the principals of Iran-Contra offered to sway Kuwait to release the Kuwait 17 as one of several incentives to free American hostages in Lebanon. However, when U.S. president Ronald Reagan learned of this offer, he allegedly responded "like he had been kicked in the belly."Excerpts from the Walsh Report https://web.archive.org/web/20070713072737/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst203/documents/irancontra.html 13 July 2007 on the Iran-Contra affair. 1984 oil tanker attacks Because Iraq had become landlocked during the course of the Iran-Iraq War, they had to rely on Kuwait to transport their oil. In 1984, Iran started attacking Kuwaiti tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait. The Iran–Iraq War: 1980–1988 1–8, 12–16, 19–82 Karsh Efraim Efraim Karsh Osprey Publishing 2002 978-1-84176-371-2 Iran also began attacking Kuwaiti ships (unrelated to Iraq). Iranian speedboat attacks on Kuwaiti shipping eventually led Kuwait to formally petition foreign powers on 1 November 1986 to protect its shipping. 1985 attempted assassinations Ahmed Al-Jarallah On April 23, 1985, Ahmed Al-Jarallah was subjected to an assassination attempt when a gunman opened fire on him outside his offices. He was shot six times, and was rushed to the nearby Al-Razi Hospital by his driver, seriously injured. An organization under the name Arab Revolutionary Brigades claimed responsibility. It was suspected that Palestinian militant group Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) was behind the assassination attempt. Leaked US diplomatic cables describe observers connecting this assassination attempt to some of Al-Jarallah's political views.Seale, Patrick. Abu Nidal: a gun for hire. Random House, 1992. p. 130CIA Terrorism Review (U). Directorate of Intelligence. 5/6/1985. p.33. Declassified document.Najeeb Al-Wagayan, Sabah al-Shemmari. Major Political Crimes in Kuwait. 1997. p. 203Melman, Yossi. The master terrorist: the true story of Abu-Nidal. p. 206. Adama Books, 1986 Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad By May 1985, Islamic Jihad had accumulated six hostages in Lebanon, four Americans and two French, and on 16 May, it released photos of them promising a "horrible disaster" if the jailed terrorists in Kuwait were not released.UPI, 16 May 1985 On 25 May 1985, a suicide car bomber attacked the motorcade of Kuwaiti ruler Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, killing two bodyguards and a passerby, wounding Jaber. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility and again demanded the terrorists' release.The New York Times 26 May 1985 1985 Kuwait City bombings 1985 Kuwait City bombings On 11 July 1985, two bombs exploded in two cafés in Kuwait City, Kuwait, killing 11 people and wounding 89 others.https://books.google.com/books?id=ynNsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA199 Chronologies of Modern Terrorism 199 Barry Rubin Judith Colp Rubin Routledge 2015 9781317474654https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4r1DwAAQBAJ&dq=%221985%22+kuwait+bombings&pg=PT225 Michael Stohl The Politics of Terrorism, Third Edition CRC 225 2020 9781000147049https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1985/07/12/bombs-wreck-2-cafes-in-kuwait-killing-9-and-wounding-56/ BOMBS WRECK 2 CAFES IN KUWAIT, KILLING 9 AND WOUNDING 56 Orlando Sentinel 12 July 1985 1986 oil installation attack In 1986, one year after an attack on Emir Jaber's motorcade,Emir of Kuwait's motorcade bombed on highway https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19850524&id=l3o1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=9uAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1282,3749546 24 October 2014 Kentucky New Era AP 24 May 1984 there was an attack on an oil installation, which almost caused the shutdown of Kuwait's oil industry.Zahlan, Rosemarie Said. Making of the Modern Persian Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989. Print. p. 44 1987 Kuwait City bombings In January 1987, a bomb exploded in a shopping district on the eve of the Organization of Islamic Conference meeting. In July 1987, car bombs exploded in a fashionable shopping district, killing two people and blowing the facades off several stores.15 July 1987 Car Bomb Kills 2 in Kuwait https://apnews.com/article/f7aedfd76aad52e45317c92b7655686a Associated Press News https://web.archive.org/web/20210307193719/https://apnews.com/article/f7aedfd76aad52e45317c92b7655686a 7 March 2021 1987 missile attacks In October 1987, Kuwait's oil terminal was hit by an Iranian Silkworm, which was observed to have originated from the Faw peninsula. The attack prompted Kuwait to deploy a Hawk missile battery on Failaka Island to protect the terminal."The Gulf Punch, Counterpunch". Time. In December 1987, another Iranian Silkworm was fired at the terminal, but it struck a decoy barge instead."Iranian Silkworm strikes decoy barge"; Daniel J. Silva. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: December 8, 1987. p. 14.A. Prior to these attacks the missile's range was thought to be less than 80 km mi, but these attacks proved that the range exceeded 100 km mi with Kuwaiti military observers seeing that the missiles originated from the area and tracking them on radar along with US satellite imagery of the launch sites.Counter-memorial and Counter-claim submitted by the United States of America https://web.archive.org/web/20140331230923/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/90/8632.pdf 2014-03-31 . June 23, 1997. Aircraft hijackings (1984–1988) Kuwait Airways Flight 221 On 3 December 1984, a Kuwait Airways flight from Kuwait City to Karachi, Pakistan was hijacked by four Lebanese Shi'a hijackers and diverted to Tehran. The hijackers demand was the release of the Kuwait 17, which was not met. During the course of the standoff women, children and Muslims were released and two American officials from the US Agency for International Development, Charles Hegna and William Stanford, were shot dead and dumped on the tarmac. The few dozen passengers left on board, particularly Americans were threatened and tortured. "Every five minutes there was a frightening incident. There was no letup at all," British flight engineer Neil Beeston told the BBC.BBC World Service 24 Dec. 1984 Paradoxically, the hijackers released a statement, claiming, "We do not have any enmity toward anyone and we do not intend to deny the freedom of anyone or to frighten anyone...." On the sixth day of the drama, Iranian security forces stormed the plane and released the remaining hostages. Authorities said they would be brought to trial, but the hijackers were released and allowed to leave the country. Some passengers and officials suggested complicity by Iran in the hijacking and that the hostage rescue had been staged. One Kuwaiti and two Pakistani passengers claimed that the hijackers received additional weapons and equipment once the plane had landed, including handcuffs and nylon ropes used to tie passengers to their seats.The New York Times, 23 December 1984 One American official wondered if the surrender was not preplanned: "You do not invite cleaners aboard an airplane after you have planted explosives, promised to blow up the plane, and read your last will and testament."Time, 23 December 1984 The US State Department announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of those involved in the hijacking but made no military response. Later press reports linked Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyah to the hijackings. TWA Flight 847 On 14 June 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked en route from Athens to Rome. One of the demands of the hijackers was the release of the 17 prisoners held in Kuwait. Kuwait Airways Flight 422 On 5 April 1988, Kuwait Airways Flight 422 was hijacked from Bangkok to Kuwait with 111 passengers and crew aboard, including three members of the Kuwaiti Royal Family. Six or seven Lebanese men"1988: Hijackers free 25 hostages." BBC. Retrieved on 4 March 2009. (including Hassan Izz-Al-Din, a veteran of the TWA 847 hijackingRanstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, (1997), p.95) armed with guns and hand grenades forced the pilot to land in Mashhad, Iran, and demanded the release of 17 Shiite Muslims guerrillas held in Kuwait. Lasting 16 days and traveling 3,200 mi from Mashhad in northeastern Iran to Larnaca, Cyprus, and finally to Algiers, it is the longest skyjacking to date. Two passengers, Abdullah Khalidi, 25, and Khalid Ayoub Bandar, 20, both Kuwaitis, were shot dead by the hijackers and dumped on the tarmac in Cyprus.Greenwald, John, Sam Allis, and David S. Jackson. "Terrorism Nightmare on Flight 422." TIME. Monday 25 April 1988. Retrieved on 4 March 2009. Kuwait did not release the 17 prisoners, and the hijackers were allowed to leave Algiers. Aftermath Eventually, the "Kuwait 17" prisoners gained freedom, reportedly during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, when 1,300 prisoners escaped from Kuwait's Saidia central prison. The 15 al-Da'wa prisoners were taken into custody and "released to Iran" by Iraqi officials.Ranstorp, Hizb'allah, (1997), p. 105 Al-Dawa has insisted that the attacks in Kuwait were perpetrated by agents "hijacked" by Iran.Dossier: Al-Daawa (June 2003) https://web.archive.org/web/20030715202301/http://www.meib.org/articles/0306_iraqd.htm 15 July 2003 In February 2007, journalists reported that Jamal Jaafar Muhammad, who was elected to the Iraqi parliament in 2005 as part of the SCIRI/Badr faction of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), was also sentenced to death in Kuwait for planning the al-Dawa bombings.http://www.nola.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-36/1170775511148050.xml&storylist=international NOLA.com: The Wire 21 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20080223121802/http://www.nola.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Finternational-36%2F1170775511148050.xml&storylist=international 23 February 2008 dead See also 1985 Kuwait City bombings References Bibliography Jaber, Hala. Hezbollah : born with a vengeance, New York : Columbia University Press, c1997 Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, 1997 Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage : the wrath of militant Isam, Simon and Schuster, 2001 Bombings Category:1983 in international relations 1983 bombings Category:20th-century mass murders in Asia Category:Terrorist attacks on airports in Asia Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1983 1983 bombings Category:Attacks on diplomatic missions of France Category:Attacks on diplomatic missions of the United States 1983 bombings Category:1983 crimes Category:December 1983 in Asia Category:Hezbollah attacks 1983 bombings Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in the 1980s Category:1983 mass murders 1983 bombings Category:Suicide bombings in 1983 Category:Suicide car and truck bombings in Asia Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1983 1983 bombings Category:Building bombings in Asia Category:1980s in Kuwait Category:Iran–Iraq War