1995 Rijeka bombing

Terrorist bombing in Rijeka, Croatia 1995 Rijeka bombing Rijeka, Croatia Police station 11:21 AM CET 45 19 39.7 N 14 26 43.4 E region:AT_type:event inline,title 1995 10 20 y Rijeka-view-2.jpg Rijeka in 2005 Suicide attack terrorism 1 (the perpetrator) 29 John Fawza (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya) Car bomb, 70 kg of TNT Retaliation for the arrest of Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim by the Croatian Defense Council Hassan al-Sharif Mahmud Saad (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya) The 1995 Rijeka bombing was a suicide attack perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist organization al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya against Croatia on 20 October.FOTO Teroristički napad u Rijeci šokirao Hrvatsku: John iz Kuvajta jurio s 70 kg TNT-a https://express.24sata.hr/crni-svijet/foto-teroristicki-napad-u-rijeci-bilo-je-11-22-john-iz-kuvajta-vozio-je-70-kg-tnt-a-31133 2026-06-04 express.24sata.hr hr At 11:21 AM CET, a car with a bomb drove into a local police station in Rijeka. After the car detonated near the stairwell, the driver was immediately killed and 29 civilians were injured. Croatian and U.S. intelligence agencies identified al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya as responsible and many of its senior leaders residing in the region were killed on 14 December. Background In the last days of the Bosnian War, the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), a Bosnian Croat military force, captured Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim when he attempted to illegally enter Bosnia and Herzegovina. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E7DE1E39F931A15753C1A963958260 Islamic Group Hits Croatia 1995-10-22 2008-08-10 The New York Times by Reuters Qasim, an important member of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, was soon transferred to Egypt with the active help of Croatia. The arrest, extradition, and de facto Croatian influence within the HVO were stated motivations for orchestrating the terrorist attack on Croatian soil. Attack At 11:21 AM Central European Time (CET), a Fiat 131 Mirafiori entered the parking lot of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County police headquarters. Due to the 90-degree turn needed to enter the lot, the vehicle moved slowly. Near the entrance, the driver did not park in the parking spaces for civilians, but instead started to accelerate towards the wall at the end of the parking lot. Due to the low security measures, this incident was not noticed before the attack itself took place. After 15–20 meters, passing 8 to 10 available parking spaces in the small lot, the Fiat crashed into the stairs leading to the police station and exploded. The time of explosion was recorded as 11:22 a.m. local time (10:22 UTC). Subsequently, a police investigation found out the car was loaded with 70 kg on of highly explosive TNT. The police also found a part of a Canadian passport inside the remains of the attacker's car. http://www.fhs.se/upload/Webbadmin/Organisation/CATS/Kohlmann.doc The Afghan-Bosnian Mujahideen Network in Europe Kohlmann Evan F Evan Kohlmann 2008-08-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20080809030842/http://www.fhs.se/upload/Webbadmin/Organisation/CATS/Kohlmann.doc 9 August 2008 dead http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/Newsbriefs/9510/10-21/am.html?iref=newssearch https://web.archive.org/web/20110522133021/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/Newsbriefs/9510/10-21/am.html?iref=newssearch dead May 22, 2011 Egyptian group claims responsibility for Croatian bomb 1995-10-21 2008-08-11 CNN The next day, representatives of the al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya terrorist organization from Egypt claimed responsibility for the attack, requesting extradition of Qasim. Due to an error made by the attackers, the bombing did not cause fatalities, aside from the suicide bomber himself. The police headquarters is located on a higher ground than the parking lot itself, requiring the stairs in the first place. The other apparent miscalculation involved the size of the parking lot, where the Fiat 131 had neither the space and velocity, nor the horsepower, to climb the stairs and destroy the police station wall. As a result, the police station remained upright and only 29 injuries were recorded. The bomb carved a large crater in the ground, damaging nearby buildings and vehicles.1995 Patterns of Global Terrorism - Europe and Eurasia Overview https://irp.fas.org/threat/terror_95/tereur.htm 2026-06-02 irp.fas.org Aftermath Croatian and U.S. intelligence agencies examined the video footage of the attack. They jointly concluded that Hassan al-Sharif Mahmud Saad had organized the bombing. Saad had come to live in Bosnia that year; previously, he had been living in Italy. Soon after the attack, Bosnian officials discovered that Saad was planning a new terrorist attack, against NATO forces, planned for December 1995. A few days after that attack failed, he was killed in central Bosnia in a firefight with Croatian HVO forces. Al-Qaida's Bosnian war move http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?id=92320 3 October 2008 2015-09-15 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20151122054502/http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?id=92320 22 November 2015 The leader of El Mujahid, the al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya unit responsible for the training of Muslim fighters for the Bosnian War, was Sheik Anwar Shaaban, a former mujahideen during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Shaaban, along with other four top islamic militants, was shot and killed on 14 December 1995 at a checkpoint set up by the HVO near Žepče. A month after the attack, the group's leader, Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim, was arrested in Croatia.Mayer, Jane, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, 2008. p. 113 He was questioned by Croatian and U.S. authorities via extraordinary rendition and then executed by the Egyptian government. See also 1993 Hidroelektra workers massacre 1997 Mostar car bombing 2015 kidnapping of Tomislav Salopek by ISIL 2020 St. Mark's Square shooting References Category:Car and truck bombings in 1995 Category:October 1995 in Europe Category:History of Rijeka Rijeka bombing Category:Islamic terrorism in Europe Category:Terrorism in Croatia Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 1995 Rijeka bombing Category:Suicide car and truck bombings in Europe Category:Attacks on police stations in the 1990s Category:1995 building bombings Category:1995 crimes in Croatia Category:Building bombings in Croatia Category:Attacks on police stations in Europe Category:Suicides in Croatia Category:Attacks on government buildings and structures in Croatia