1986 Damascus bombings
The 1986 Damascus bombings were a series of terrorist attacks perpetrated in Damascus, Syria in 1986. They were the deadliest acts of terrorism against civilians since the quelling of the Islamist uprising in Syria in 1982. The bombings appeared to be aimed at destabilizing the Syrian government under Hafez al-Assad with links being between the suspected perpetrators and Iraq.

Bombings
On 13 March 1986, a truck bomb detonated under a bridge in a Damascus suburb, killing 60 people and injuring 100 more. A month later, 144 were killed by a series of bombings in five towns and cities across Syria, including Damascus, with buses being a prime target.

Alleged perpetrators
Immediately after the March bombing, the Syrian government placed the blame on Iraq, citing their desire to destabilize the regime. After the April 1986 bombings claimed the lives of an additional 144 people, a previously unknown group with pro-Iraq sympathies calling themselves the 17 October Group for the Liberation of the Syrian People, claimed responsibility. The BBC reported in 2008 that "pro-Iraqi militants" were "believed" to be responsible for both the March and April bombings.

See also
List of terrorist incidents in 1986
List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

References

External links
Terrorism Comes to Damascus: Syria Faces its Own Islamist Threat

1986 murders in Syria
1986 bombings
20th-century mass murder in Syria
1986 crimes
April 1986 events
April 1986 events in Asia
Attacks on buildings and structures in 1986
1986 bombings
Car and truck bombings in Syria
Improvised explosive device bombings in 1986
1986
March 1986 events
March 1986 events in Asia
Mass murder in 1986
1986 bombings
Terrorist incidents in Syria in 1986
Car and truck bombings in the 1980s
Bus bombings in Asia
Attacks on bridges