The US National Security Agency 's ( NSA ) alleged interception of an incriminatory message from Libya to its embassy in East Berlin provided US President Ronald Reagan with the justification for Operation El Dorado Canyon on 15 April 1986 , with US Navy and US Marine Corps warplanes launching from three aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Sidra and US Air Force warplanes launching from two British bases — the first US military strikes from Britain since World War II — against Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya . The Libyan government claimed the air strikes killed Hana Gaddafi , a daughter Gaddafi claimed he adopted ( her reported age has varied between 15 months and seven years ) . To avenge his daughter 's supposed death ( Hana or Hanna 's actual fate remains disputed ) , Gaddafi is said to have sponsored the September 1986 hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi , Pakistan
Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 103