Monday, Sep. 14, 1981
An Epidemic of Bombings
How did you spend your summer? It almost seemed, reading the bulletins, that terrorists of every persuasion around the globe could answer: Building bombs. The assassination bomb in Iran was but one in a worldwide flurry of terrorist attacks in the past fortnight directed at targets as diverse--and often as senseless--as the fanaticisms that triggered them. A bombing Baedeker:
Vienna, Aug. 29. Two Arab terrorists, wielding automatic weapons and hand grenades, assaulted worshipers outside the city's main synagogue. Two people were killed, 18 injured. The Palestine Liberation Organization denied responsibility and blamed the assault on a dissident faction based in Baghdad.
Paris, Aug. 30. An explosion ripped through and heavily damaged the lobby of the Inter-Continental Hotel. Eighteen guests and employees were injured. There was no credible claim of responsibility.
Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, Aug. 30. A bomb was apparently planted under a cart and wheeled into the city's marketplace. It exploded, killing a teen-age girl and injuring 14 passersby, all Arabs. The Israelis have accused the P.L.O.; local residents charge that Israeli extremists were responsible for the attack.
Ramstein, West Germany, Aug. 31. Two bombs were detonated in front of U.S. Air Force headquarters, causing extensive damage and injuring 20 people, 18 of them American soldiers. The Red Army Faction, once known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, claimed responsibility for the strike against "imperialism." Next day at Wiesbaden, several cars at an estate for U.S. servicemen were torched.
Lima, Aug. 31. The U.S. embassy, the American ambassador's residence, and facilities of four companies with U.S. connections were damaged by bombs. No one was injured; no one claimed responsibility.
Frankfurt, Sept. 1. The regional office of the Social Democratic Party was firebombed and gutted. The Red Army Faction claimed responsibility.
Beirut, Aug. 31. A bomb exploded in an empty Middle East Airlines Boeing 720. There were no casualties. Lebanese officials suspected that the device was planted by Lebanese Shi'ite groups protesting the 1978 disappearance of their leader, Iranian-born Imam Musa Sadr.
Maseru, Lesotho, Sept. 2. A bomb tore off the roof of the terminal building at Maseru airport and shattered windows in an adjoining restaurant and airline offices. Next day bombs exploded in a crowded bar and outside the U.S. International Communication Agency. The attacks were presumed to be the work of the Lesotho Liberation Army.
Damascus, Sept. 3. A bomb hidden in a parked car in front of Syria's air force headquarters blew up, killing 20 and wounding 50. The air force building and an adjacent hospital were heavily damaged. A man who drove the car to the building was shot to death while trying to flee. No one claimed responsibility.
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