1988 Naples bombing

Terrorist attack against a United Service Organizations club 1988 Naples bombing Naples, Italy Americans 14 April 1988 8:00 pm UTC+01:00 Bombing 5 15 Japanese Red Army Car bomb On 14 April 1988, a powerful car bomb exploded in front of the United Service Organizations (USO) military recreational club in downtown Naples, causing the deaths of five people, and injuries to 15 others. The attack was perpetrated by a Japanese Red Army (JRA) member and came on the second anniversary of the 1986 United States bombing of Libya. Victims Four Italian civilians were killed along with an American assigned to the U.S. Navy center in Naples. She was identified as 21-year-old Angela Simone Santos, a Puerto Rican servicewoman raised in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and Ocala, Florida. Four American sailors were also among the wounded, and some North Africans were also hurt. Many sailors at the USO probably escaped injury as they were in basement rooms that were shielded from the blast.https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/16/world/a-japanese-with-lebanese-links-blamed-in-naples-uso-bombing.html A Japanese With Lebanese Links Blamed in Naples U.S.O. Bombing Roberto Surohttps://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/15/world/5-die-in-blast-outside-uso-in-naples.html 5 Die in Blast Outside U.S.O. in Naples Roberto Suro and Special To the New York Times Responsibility Two previously unheard Arab groups claimed responsibility, one of them saying "Imperialist Americans must die two years after their barbarous attack against the Libyan Arab state," referring to the 1986 United States bombing of Libya. Police later identified Junzo Okudaira as the main suspect, a member of the far-left Japanese Red Army (JRA) with links to groups in Lebanon. Okudaira was already wanted in Italy over a rocket and bomb attack against the American and British embassies in Rome in 1987, where nobody was hurt.https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/10/world/rome-explosions-shake-us-and-british-embassies-and-wreck-car.html Rome Explosions Shake U.S. and British Embassies and Wreck Car John Tagliabue and Special To the New York Times Okudaira was staying at a hotel under a false Taiwanese identity. The Libyan ambassador said that the Libyan government had nothing to do with the attack.https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/15/Police-today-were-looking-for-a-suspected-Japanese-terrorist/9518577080000/ Police today were looking for a suspected Japanese terrorist... A few days before the bomb attack, JRA member Yū Kikumura was arrested in the United States.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-16-mn-1263-story.html Japanese Terrorist Sought in USO Blast in Naples WILLIAM D. MONTALBANO 16 April 1988 LA Times Kikumura was thought to be planning a bomb attack on a U.S. Navy centre in New York City in retaliation to the Libya bombing of 1986, and to be simultaneous to the bombing in Naples.https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/nyregion/us-links-man-with-3-bombs-to-a-terror-plot.html U.S. Links Man With 3 Bombs To a Terror Plot Robert Hanley and Special To the New York Times In 1993, Okudaira was convicted in absentia for murder. He has never been caught.https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1993/04/10/jury-indicts-fugitive-in-uso-bombing/ Jury Indicts Fugitive In Uso Bombing See also Rhein-Main Air Base bombing El Descanso bombing Bar Iruna attack References Italy Category:1988 murders in Italy Category:20th century in Naples Category:April 1988 in Europe Category:Attacks on military installations in 1988 Category:Communist terrorist incidents in Europe Category:Crime in Naples Category:1988 building bombings Category:Building bombings in Italy Category:Japanese Red Army Category:1988 mass murders Category:1988 crimes in Italy Category:1988 disasters in Europe Category:1980s disasters in Italy Category:Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1988 Category:Terrorist incidents in Italy in the 1980s Category:20th-century mass murders in Italy Category:Italy–United States military relations Category:United Service Organizations