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List of terrorist incidents in 2016
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This is a list of terrorist incidents which took place in 2016, including attacks by violent non-state actors for political motives. Note that terrorism related to drug wars and cartel violence is not included in these lists. Ongoing military conflicts are listed separately.
List guidelines
[edit]- To be included, entries must be notable (have a stand-alone article) and described by a consensus of reliable sources as "terrorism".
- List entries must comply with the guidelines outlined in the manual of style under MOS:TERRORIST.
- Casualties figures in this list are the total casualties of the incident including immediate casualties and later casualties (such as people who succumbed to their wounds long after the attacks occurred).
- Casualties listed are the victims. Perpetrator casualties are listed separately (e.g. x (+y) indicate that x victims and y perpetrators were killed/injured).
- Casualty totals may be underestimated or unavailable due to a lack of information. A figure with a plus (+) sign indicates that at least that many people have died (e.g. 10+ indicates that at least 10 people have died) – the actual toll could be considerably higher. A figure with a plus (+) sign may also indicate that over that number of people have died.
- If casualty figures are 20 or more, they will be shown in bold. In addition, figures for casualties more than 50 will also be underlined.
- In addition to the guidelines above, the table also includes the following categories:
- 0 people were killed/injured by the incident.
- 1–19 people were killed/injured by the incident.
- 20–49 people were killed/injured by the incident.
- 50–99 people were killed/injured by the incident.
- 100+ people were killed/injured by the incident.
List
[edit]Total Incidents: 144
| Date | Type | Dead | Injured | Location | Article | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Mass shooting | 3 | 7 | Tel Aviv, Israel | January 2016 Tel Aviv shooting | A gunman fired into a crowded pub and several other businesses in Dizengoff Street. The attacker then took a cab and then shot the driver dead.[1][2] before he was found by counter-terrorism forces in his hometown of Ar'ara on 8 January and killed during a shootout. | Nasha'at Melhem | ISIL-inspired |
| Jan 2 | Mass shooting | 8 (+6) | 20 | Pathankot, India | 2016 Pathankot attack | Militants disguised as soldiers attacked an Indian air base killing seven security force members, including Subedar Fateh Singh, who won gold and silver medals in the first Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in 1995, before being killed after a 15-hour gunfight. A civilian was also killed.[3] | Jaish-e-Mohammed | Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir |
| Jan 7 | Car bombing | 60 | 200 | Zliten, Libya | Zliten truck bombing | A suicide truck bomb detonated at the al-Jahfal police training camp while around 400 young policemen were being trained.[4] | ISIL (suspected) | Libyan Civil War |
| Jan 7 | Melee attack | 0 (+1) | 0 | Paris, France | January 2016 Paris police station attack | An asylum seeker shouted "Allahu Akbar!" outside a police station in Goutte d'Or, near Montmartre, where police shot and killed him while a by-passer was shot. Reports say he was wielding a knife and fake suicide vest.[5] | Tarek Belgacem (ISIL-inspired) | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jan 7 | Shooting | 0 | 1 (+1) | Philadelphia, United States | 2016 shooting of Philadelphia police officer | In West Philadelphia, a gunman shot police officer Jesse Hartnett, who was driving a marked police car. Hartnett survived and was able to shoot the attacker.[6] | Edward Archer | Islamic terrorism |
| Jan 8 | Melee attack | 0 (+1) | 2 (+1) | Hurghada, Egypt | 2016 Hurghada attack | Two militants armed with a melee weapon and a signal flare, arrived by sea and stormed Bella Vista Hotel, stabbing three foreign tourists from Sweden and Austria. One of the assailants was shot dead and the other was wounded by security forces.[citation needed] ISIL claimed responsibility.[7] | ISIL | Insurgency in Egypt |
| Jan 11 | Car bombing, hostage taking | 106 (+6) | 19+ | Baghdad, Iraq | January 2016 Iraq attacks | Attack on the al-Jawhara mall after a car bomb exploded outside. Hostages were taken by six gunmen.[8] | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jan 11 | Suicide bombing | 20 | Unknown | Miqdadiyah, Iraq | January 2016 Iraq attacks | Double blast at a cafe. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle after people gathered at the scene.[9] | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jan 11 | Bombings | 100+ | Unknown | Sharaban, Iraq | January 2016 Iraq attacks | Two huge bomb blasts, one at a tea shop and the other at a mosque. | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jan 12 | Suicide bomber | 13 (+1) | 9 | Istanbul, Turkey | January 2016 Istanbul bombing | A suicide bomber blew himself up near Hippodrome of Constantinople near the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.[10] | ISIL | Turkey–ISIL conflict |
| Jan 13 | Suicide bombing | 15 (+1) | 25 | Quetta, Pakistan | January 2016 Quetta suicide bombing | A suicide bomber detonated himself near security personal vehicles close to a polio centre.[11][12][13] | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or Jaishul Islam | Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkwa |
| Jan 14 | Suicide bombings, shootout | 4 (+4) | 24 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 2016 Jakarta attacks | Several explosions followed by gunfire occurred with a Starbucks and a police station appearing to be the main targets. The attack involved seven participants.[14] | ISIL | Islamic terrorism |
| Jan 15 | Siege | 63 | Unknown | Eel-Adde, Somalia | Battle of El Adde | Massive attack on a Kenyan-run African Union base in Gedo.[15] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Jan 15–16 | Mass shooting, arson, hostage-taking, siege | 30 (+4) | 56+ | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | 2016 Ouagadougou attacks | Gunmen with heavy weapons attacked the Cappuccino restaurant and the Hotel Splendid in the city centre, where more than 100 hostages were taken.[16] al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack.[17][18] | AQIM | Insurgency in the Maghreb |
| Jan 16 | Massacre | 135–300+ | Unknown | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Deir ez-Zor offensive (January 2016) | Militants attacked the neighbourhoods of Begayliya and Ayash, killing dozens in an execution-style mass murder. International sources reported that the attack was against Syrian Army personnel and killed 85 Syrian soldiers along with 50 civilians, while Syrian sources said over 300 people were killed, most of whom were children and women.[19][20][21] | ISIL | Syrian Civil War |
| Jan 20 | Mass murder | 20 (+4) | 60 | Charsadda, Pakistan | Bacha Khan University attack | Several gunmen, some equipped with suicide vests, opened fire on Bacha Khan University. At least four of the attackers were also killed during the attack. More than 200 students were rescued from the building.[citation needed] | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan | Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Jan 22 | Suicide bombing, mass shooting | 20 (+4) | 17 | Mogadishu, Somalia | January 2016 Mogadishu attack | Al-Shabaab militants struck with a suicide car bomb at the gate of a seafood restaurant overlooking Lido Beach. Another blast struck about an hour later as government soldiers laid siege to the restaurant. After the blasts, militants entered the near crowded hotel, some of them by boat, and attacked civilians within.[22][23] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Jan 25 | Suicide bombing | 28 (+4) | 65 | Bodo, Cameroon | 2016 Bodo bombings | Four suicide bombers attacked a busy market close to the Nigerian border.[24] | Boko Haram (suspected) | Boko Haram insurgency |
| Jan 27 | Car bomb | 55 | Unknown | Ramadi, Iraq | 2016 Ramadi attack | Up to a dozen car bombs were set off attacking the tenth Iraqi Army division.[25] | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jan 30 | Bombing | 86 | Unknown | Dalori, Nigeria | 2016 Dalori attack | Boko Haram[26][27] | Boko Haram insurgency | |
| Jan 31 | Bombing | 60+ | 110 | Damascus, Syria | 2016 Sayyidah Zaynab bombings | Twin blasts in the mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood of Sayeda Zeinab.[28] | ISIL | Syrian Civil War |
| Feb 2 | Bombing | 0 (+1) | 2 | Somalia | Daallo Airlines Flight 159 | 20 minutes after take-off, a passenger in Daallo Airlines Flight 159, detonated an explosive device in the Airbus A321, opening a hole in the fuselage behind the R2 door. The crew turned the plane around and successfully performed an emergency landing at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. Two injuries were reported and a body, believed to be that of the perpetrator was found on the ground. | al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Feb 8 | Execution | 300 | 0 | Mosul, Iraq | 2016 Mosul attack | Islamic State executed over 300 police and army personnel, as well as civil activists by firing squad.[29] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Feb 11 | Shooting | 0 (+1) | 4 | Columbus, Ohio, United States | 2016 Ohio restaurant machete attack | Machete attack at a restaurant; the attacker was shot and killed by police at the end of a car chase. | Islamic terrorist (suspected) | |
| Feb 17 | Suicide car bombing | 30 | 61 | Ankara, Turkey | February 2016 Ankara bombing | Attack on army buses near the central square of Kizilay, home to many ministries, army headquarters and the Turkish parliament.[30] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Feb 18 | Bombing | 6 | 1 | Diyarbakır, Turkey | 2016 Diyarbakır bombing | A bomb killed at least 6 soldiers and another was injured.[31] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Feb 21 | Bombing | 57 | 100+ | Homs, Syria | February 2016 Homs bombings | Two bombings occurred in pro-Government, mainly Shia inhabited, Zahraa neighbourhood. The first blast was caused by a car bomb and the second one was a result of a car bomb or a suicide bombing.[32][33] | Islamic State | Syrian Civil War |
| Feb 21 | Bombing | 134 (+2) | 180 | Sayyidah Zaynab, Syria | February 2016 Sayyidah Zaynab bombings | Militants detonated a car bomb and later launched two suicide bombings about 400 meters from Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, a Shia shrine, believed to contain the grave of Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter. The attack occurred when pupils were leaving school in the area. At least 60 shops were damaged as well as cars in the area.[34][35] | Islamic State | Syrian Civil War |
| Feb 26 | Suicide bombing, shooting | 14 (+5) | Unknown | Mogadishu, Somalia | February 2016 Mogadishu attack | A suicide bomber blew the entrance of the SYL hotel allowing gunmen to storm the hotel and clash with the hotel guards. Government forces arrived and ended the attack.[36] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Feb 28 | Bomb | 78 (+2) | 100+ | Sadr City Baghdad, Iraq | February 2016 Baghdad bombings | Two bombs went off at a crowded market selling mobile phones in the mainly Shiite Muslim district.[37] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Mar 7 | Clashes, raid | 17 (+36) | Unknown (+6) | Ben Guerdane, Tunisia | Battle of Ben Guerdane | Attackers from Libya attacked a barracks. 36 attackers were killed by the army.[38] | Islamic State | Second Libyan Civil War |
| Mar 8 | Melee attack | 1 (+1) | 11 | Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel | 2016 Tel Aviv knife attack | A Palestinian man from Qalqilya stabbed three people at the Jaffa Port and then stabbed others near a restaurant in Charles Clore Park. One American tourist was killed and nine others were wounded. The assailant was shot dead by police.[39] US Vice President Joe Biden was at a visit, one mile (1.6 km) from the incident. | Bashar Massalha (Palestinian lone wolf) |
Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Mar 13 | Shooting | 19 (+3) | 33 | Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast | 2016 Grand-Bassam shootings | Gunmen attacked two hotels at a beach resort popular with Western tourists. Witnesses say the gunmen were shouting "Allahu akbar" during the gunfire.[40][41] | AQIM | Insurgency in the Maghreb |
| Mar 13 | Car bombing, shooting | 37 (+1) | 125 | Ankara, Turkey | March 2016 Ankara bombing | Car bombing in the Kizilay area. Gunfire was heard after the blast.[42] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Mar 16 | Bombing | 15 | 25 | Peshawar, Pakistan | 2016 Peshawar bus bombing | A bomb detonated in a bus carrying government employees.[43] | Unknown | War in North-West Pakistan |
| Mar 16 | Suicide bombings | 22 | 18 | Maiduguri, Nigeria | 2016 Maiduguri suicide bombings | Two female suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayers.[44] | Boko Haram | Boko Haram insurgency |
| Mar 19 | Suicide bombing | 4+ (+1) | 36 | Istanbul, Turkey | March 2016 Istanbul bombing | A suicide bomber hit a busy tourist area.[45] | Islamic State | Turkey–ISIL conflict |
| Mar 19 | Mortar attack, shooting | 13 (+5) | 0 | Arish, Egypt | 2016 Arish attack | Mortar attack on a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula. Security officials said five attackers were killed in clashes near the checkpoint after the attack.[46] | Wilayat Sayna | Sinai Insurgency |
| Mar 22 | suicide bombing | 32 (+3) | 340 | Brussels and Zaventem, Belgium | 2016 Brussels bombings | Four coordinated nail bombings: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. The fourth bomb did not go off.[47] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Mar 25 | Suicide bombing | 41 (+1) | 65 | Iskandariya, Iraq | Iskandariya suicide bombing | A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd after a football game in a mixed Sunni-Shiite area. The mayor of the town was among those killed.[48][49] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Mar 25 | Car bombing | 26 | Unknown | Aden, Yemen | 2016 Aden car bombing | Triple suicide car bomb that hit roadblocks manned by loyalist forces. Two car bombs exploded in the al-Shaab area in the west of Aden and an ambulance exploded against a checkpoint near Mansoura in the center of the city.[50] | Islamic State | Yemeni Civil War |
| Mar 27 | Suicide bombing | 72 | 200 | Lahore, Pakistan | 2016 Lahore suicide bombing | Suicide bombing that hit the main entrance of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park.[51] | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan | War in North-West Pakistan |
| Mar 31 | Car bomb | 7 | 27 | Diyarbakir, Turkey | March 2016 Diyarbakır bombing | Seven police officers were killed and twenty seven wounded when the minibus they were travelling in was hit by a car bomb.[52][53] | PKK | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Apr 10 | Ambush | 11 | 6 | Santo Domingo de Acobamba District, Peru | Hatun Asha ambush | The ambush began at approximately 5:00 (a.m.), when guerrillas targeted a military convoy along a rural road transporting election ballots and related materials and also serving as guards for polling stations. The ambush left a total of nine government soldiers and two civilian contractors dead.[54] Two hours after the attack, a second attack occurred in Mayapo, on the Llochegua District in Ayacucho, where one police officer was injured and taken to a hospital in Pichari. | Shining Path | Internal conflict in Peru |
| Apr 18 | Bombing | 0 (+1) | 21 | Jerusalem, Israel | 2016 Jerusalem bombing | Explosion on board a bus.[55][56] | Hamas | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Apr 19 | Suicide car bombing, shooting | 64 (+1) | 347 | Kabul, Afghanistan | 2016 Kabul attack | Suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security building during morning rush hour.[57][58] | Taliban | War in Afghanistan |
| Apr 27 | Suicide bombing | 0 (+1) | 13 | Bursa, Turkey | 2016 Bursa bombing | A suicide bomber blew herself up in the 14th century Grand Mosque.[59][60] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Apr 30 | Suicide car bombing, bombing | 38 (+1) | 86 | Baghdad, Iraq | April 2016 Baghdad bombing | A suicide bomber driving a car attacked a group of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in a southeastern suburb of Baghdad. A second explosion struck near a Shi'ite militia checkpoint in the Dora district.[61][62] | Islamic State and Unknown | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 1 | Car bomb | 2 | 23 | Gaziantep, Turkey | May 2016 Gaziantep bombing | Two policemen were killed and 22 others (four being civilians) were wounded after a car bomb exploded outside police headquarters.[63] | Islamic State | Turkey–ISIL conflict |
| May 1 | Suicide bombing | 33+ (+2) | 75 | Samawa, Iraq | 2016 Samawa bombing | [64] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 10 | Car bombing | 3 | Diyarbakir, Turkey | May 2016 Diyarbakır bombing | Car bomb targeting a police vehicle.[65] | PKK | Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) | |
| May 11 | Suicide and car bombings | 103 | 165+ | Baghdad, Iraq | 11 May 2016 Baghdad bombings | [66] | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 12 | Massacre | 49+ | Unknown | Zara'a, Syria | Zara'a massacre | Militant attack on an Alawite village in Hama Governorate.[67] Around 70 other civilians, including women and children were kidnapped and taken to Al-Rastan.[67] | Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham | Syrian civil war |
| May 13 | Shooting | 16+ | 30+ | Balad, Iraq | Real Madrid Fan Club massacre | Real Madrid fans were killed in an attack on their clubhouse.[68] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 15 | Suicide bombing | 14+ (+9, maybe more) | 20+ | Taji, Iraq | 2016 Iraq Gas Plant attack | Suicide bomb attacks in a state owned cooking gas plant.[69] | ISIL | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 15 | Suicide bombing | 47+ (+1)[70][71] | 60+ | Mukalla, Yemen | May 2016 Yemen police bombings | Islamic State | Yemeni Civil War | |
| May 17 | Suicide and car bombings, shooting | 101+ | 194+ | Baghdad, Iraq | 17 May 2016 Baghdad bombings | Series of eight attacks.[72][73][74][75][76] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 23 | Suicide bombing | 45+ | 60+ | Aden, Yemen | 23 May 2016 Yemen bombings | Army recruits are killed and 60 others injured in a suicide car bomb attack.[77] | Islamic State | Yemeni Civil War |
| May 23 | Suicide bombing | 184 (5)[78] | 200 | Jableh and Tartus, Syria | 23 May 2016 Syrian bombings | Series of car bomb and suicide attacks in government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases.[79] | Islamic State | Syrian Civil War |
| May 29 | Suicide bombing | 12+ (+1) | ~15 | Balad, Iraq | Real Madrid Fan Club massacre | Real Madrid fans were killed and more injured when watching the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final. | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| May 31 | Kidnapping and execution | 17+ (+6) | Around 220 kidnapped | Kunduz-Takhar highway, Afghanistan | Kunduz-Takhar highway hostage crisis | The Taliban executed at least 17 people after kidnapping around 220 people on buses and in cars at a fake checkpoint. 6 people were killed by Afghan forces when they attempted to flee the scene. Around 20 hostages were moved to Char Dara District.[80] | Taliban | War in Afghanistan (2001–present) |
| Jun 1 | Suicide car bombing, hostage-taking | 16 (+3)[81] | 55 | Mogadishu, Somalia | June 2016 Mogadishu attack | A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the Ambassador Hotel after which two gunmen opened fire on the hotel and took hostages before being killed by police. | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Jun 5–6 | Spree shooting, shootouts | 10 (+13) | 37+ | Aktobe, Kazakhstan | 2016 Aktobe shootings | Over 20 militants attacked a military facility and two firearm stores. The attacks killed a clerk, a military officer and a serviceman at a national guard facility. Another nine servicemen were wounded. The police launched a counter-terrorism operation in which it managed to kill four militants and detain seven but others escaped.[82][83] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism |
| Jun 7 | Bombing | 11 | 36 | Istanbul, Turkey | June 2016 Istanbul bombing | A bomb exploded on a police bus in the Vezneciler district | TAK | Kurdish-Turkish conflict |
| Jun 8 | Car bombing | 5 | 30 | Midyat, Turkey | June 2016 Midyat car bombing | PKK (Suspected) | Kurdish-Turkish conflict | |
| Jun 8 | Shooting | 4 | 18 (+1) | Tel Aviv, Israel | June 2016 Tel Aviv shooting | Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire in a Max Brenner restaurant killing diners.[84] Both perpetrators were arrested.[85][86] | Khalid al-Mahmara and Muhammad Ahmad Moussa Mahmara (inspired by the Islamic State) | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Jun 8 | Kidnapping, shooting, and execution | 16+ | 42+ more kidnapped | Kunduz, Afghanistan | Kunduz-Takhar highway hostage crisis | In a continuation of a prior event, 12 hostages were executed, and 42 more people were kidnapped. Four more people were also killed during the new kidnappings.[87][88][89] | Taliban | War in Afghanistan |
| Jun 12 | Shooting | 49 (+1) | 53 | Orlando, Florida, United States | Orlando nightclub shooting | An alleged lone-wolf gunman entered the Pulse gay nightclub. The perpetrator was shot dead by SWAT units.[90] | Lone wolf/Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to Islamic State during attack. | Islamic terrorism |
| Jun 13 | Melee attack, hostage-taking | 2 (+1) | 0 | Magnanville, France | June 2016 Paris police stabbing | A man shouting "Islamist slogans" stabbed his neighbor, a 42-year-old police officer, to death before taking the officer's wife and son hostage. Police raided the house and killed the attacker and discovered the officer's wife dead but his son alive.[citation needed] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jun 15 | Armed Assault | 41 | 5 | Raja, South Sudan | Assailants opened fire on SPLA soldiers in Raja. The assailants also set fire to the residence of the local governor. At least 41 people, including seven soldiers, 20 civilians, and 14 assailants, were killed and five other people were injured in the ensuing clash. | Islamic Movement for the Liberation of Raja and the Lord's Resistance Army (suspected) | South Sudanese Civil War | |
| Jun 16 | Shooting and stabbing | 1 | 1 | Birstall, United Kingdom | Murder of Jo Cox | Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox was assassinated by a neo-Nazi constituent.[91] | Thomas Mair | |
| Jun 20 | Suicide bombing | 16 (+1) | 9 | Kabul, Afghanistan | Kabul attack on Canadian Embassy Guards | Afghan, Nepali, and Indian security contractors were killed when a suicide bomber detonated outside the minibus they were in.[citation needed] The people killed were security guards at the Canadian embassy.[92] | Islamic State (claimed), Taliban (claimed) | War in Afghanistan |
| Jun 25 | Suicide car bombing, hostage-taking | 15+ | 25+ | Mogadishu, Somalia | June 2016 Mogadishu attacks | Terrorists detonated a car bomb outside a hotel popular with foreigners and tourists before storming the building and taking hostages. | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Jun 25 | Armed Assault | 43 | 0 | Wau, South Sudan | Assailants attacked Wau city in Lol, South Sudan. At least 43 people, including four police officers, were killed in the assault. | Islamic Movement for the Liberation of Raja | South Sudanese Civil War | |
| Jun 27 | Bombings | 43+ to 50 (+8) | 37 | Mukalla, Yemen | June 2016 Mukalla attacks | At least seven bombings were simultaneously targeted checkpoints in the port city, followed by a fourth that struck the entrance to a military camp.[93][94] | Islamic State | Yemeni Civil War |
| Jun 28 | Grenade | 0 | 8 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 2016 Movida Bar grenade attack | Grenade attack on patrons at the Movida nightclub watching a UEFA European Championships match. The bombing is believed to be the first IS-related attack on Malaysia. Two people were arrested in July.[95] However, Muhammad Wanndy denied that he ordered the attack and said that the two arrested men are Islamic State supporters.[96] | Islamic State | |
| Jun 28 | Suicide bombings, shooting | 45 (+3) | 239 | Istanbul, Turkey | 2016 Atatürk Airport attack | Three suicide attackers opened fire and blew themselves up at Atatürk Airport. | Islamic State | Turkey–ISIL conflict |
| Jul 1 | Shooting, hostage-taking | 24 (+5) | 50 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | July 2016 Dhaka attack | Gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in the wealthy Gulshan Thana area.[97] | Islamic State | Internal conflict in Bangladesh, Attacks by Islamic extremists in Bangladesh |
| Jul 3 | Bombing | 342+ (+1) | 246+ | Baghdad, Iraq | 2016 Karrada bombing | Series of coordinated bomb attacks. Early in the evening, a large car bomb exploded in the middle of a busy market.[98] The blast occurred in the Baghdad neighborhood of Karrada, which contains Shia Muslims and a large Christian minority. A second car bombing in the district of Sha'ab killed at least 5 people and injured 16, while two more bombings killed at least two more people.[99][100] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jul 4 | Suicide bombing | 4 (+4) | 7 | Jeddah, Qatif and Medina, Saudi Arabia | 2016 Saudi Arabia bombings | A man blew himself up after police tried to arrest him near the United States consulate. Two Saudi police officers were injured.[101] Two suicide bombers targeted a Shia mosque in Qatif, but failed to harm anyone but themselves.[102] A suicide bomber targeted security forces outside the Prophet's Mosque in Medina killing 4 and wounding 5 others.[103] | Islamic State | Terrorism in Saudi Arabia |
| Jul 7 | Suicide bombing, shooting | 56+ to 100+ (+3) | 75+ | Balad, Iraq | Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum attack | A suicide car bomb blew up at the gate of the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi. Gunmen then entered the mausoleum and started shooting.[104][105] Islamic State claimed that they killed over 100 people. | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Jul 14 | Vehicular Assault | 86 (+1) | 434 | Nice, France | 2016 Nice truck attack | A 19 tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais.[106] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jul 18 | Shooting | 10 (+1) | 10+ | Almaty, Kazakhstan | 2016 shooting of Almaty police officers | Attack on a police station. One of the attackers was detained.[citation needed] | Ruslan Kulikbayev | |
| Jul 18 | Melee attack | 0 (+1) | 5 | Würzburg, Germany | 2016 Würzburg train attack | A 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker attacked passengers on a train with an axe and a knife. The attacker was killed by police.[107] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jul 18 | Shooting | 17 | 35 | Nampala, Mali | 2016 Nampala attack | Gunmen attacked a Malian Army base close to the border with Mauritania.[108][109] 17 soldiers were killed and 35 others were wounded in the attack, which was jointly claimed by three separate groups.[110] | Macina Liberation Front AQIM Ethnic Peul militants |
Northern Mali conflict |
| Jul 22 | Shooting | 9 (+1) | 36 | Munich, Germany | 2016 Munich shooting | A gunman opened fire on a shopping mall before committing suicide. The shooter was a bullied man who was said to be obsessed with mass shootings. The massacre was conducted on the anniversary of the 2011 Norway attacks. The suspect was described as being a "very nationalistic" racist, with him boasting about similarities with Adolf Hitler. | David Sonboly | Terrorism in Germany |
| Jul 23 | Suicide bombing | 80+ (+2) | 260+ | Kabul, Afghanistan | July 2016 Kabul bombing | Two suicide bombers targeted ethnic Hazaras at a rally.[111][112] | Islamic State[113] | War in Afghanistan |
| Jul 24 | Suicide bombing | 0 (+1) | 12 | Ansbach, Germany | 2016 Ansbach bombing | A 27-year-old Syrian refugee detonated a bomb at a wine bar, killing only himself. He had previously been denied entry to a nearby music festival.[114] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jul 26 | Melee Attack, hostage-taking | 1 (+2) | 1 | Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, France | 2016 Normandy church attack | Two assailants killed a priest and seriously wounded a woman in a church. The assailants were killed by French Special Forces.[115][116] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Jul 27 | Suicide bombing | 57+ (+2) | 171+ | Qamishli Syria | 27 July 2016 Qamishli bombings | A terrorist detonated his van packed with explosives at a checkpoint.[117][118][119] | Islamic State | Syrian Civil War |
| Jul 31 | Shootings | 3 | 77 (+3) | Yerevan, Armenia | 2016 Yerevan hostage crisis | About 20 gunmen took control of a police station, killing two officers. 77 people were injured and 100 others were arrested. 3 gunmen were also injured. Hostages were taken. The gunmen surrendered on July 31, two weeks after seizing the police station.[120] | Daredevils of Sassoun | Nagorno-Karabakh conflict |
| Aug 5 | Shooting, bombing | 14 | 15 | Kokrajhar, India | 2016 Kokrajhar shooting | Six terrorists, suspected to be Bodo militants, attacked the Balajan Tinali market area with AK-47s and grenades.[121] | National Democratic Front of Bodoland (suspected)[122] | Assam separatist movements |
| Aug 6 | Melee attack | 0 (+1) | 2 | Charleroi, Belgium | 2016 Charleroi attack | Two policewomen were attacked by man wielding a machete and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar'. The assailant was shot and killed by a third officer.[123] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Aug 8 | Shooting and suicide bombing | 93+ (+1) | 130+ | Quetta, Pakistan | August 2016 Quetta attacks | Suicide bomb attack at a hospital.[124] | Taliban | War in North-West Pakistan |
| Aug 14 | Melee attack | 64+ to 101 | Unknown | Beni City, Democratic Republic of the Congo | Beni massacre | Allied Democratic Forces (Suspected) | Allied Democratic Forces insurgency | |
| Aug 14 | Attack | 11–15 (+8) | Unknown | Tshimbulu, Democratic Republic of the Congo | Tshimbulu incident | Policemen intervened in an attack by a militia. 11 policemen were killed and 8 terrorists were also killed, with 40 militants being captured. The leader of the militia was also killed. Four policemen went missing. | "Militia" | Kivu Conflict |
| Aug 15 | Suicide bombing | 50 | 50 | Idlib, Syria | 2016 Atmeh attack | Suicide bombing on a bus carrying opposition fighters at the entrance of Atmeh camp.[125][126] | Unknown | Syrian Civil War |
| Aug 17 | Shooting and stabbing | 1 (+2 attackers) | 1 | Moscow oblast, Russia | 2016 Shchelkovo Highway police station attack | Two men with firearms and axes attacked the police station on 20th kilometer of Shchelkovo Highway near Moscow. Two traffic police officers were seriously injured, one of them died in hospital.[127] Attackers, natives of the Chechen Republic, were killed during the attack. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.[128] | ISIL | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Aug 20 | Suicide bombing | 54+ (+1) | 66 | Gaziantep, Turkey | August 2016 Gaziantep suicide bombing | Suicide bomb attack at a Kurdish wedding ceremony near the Syrian border. The suicide bomber was aged 12 to 14, reports say. | Islamic State | Turkey–ISIL conflict |
| Aug 21 | Suicide car bombing | 20 (+2) | 30 | Galkayo, Somalia | 2016 Galkayo bombings | Double suicide car bombing in the semi-autonomous Puntland region.[129] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Aug 24 | Bombing, shooting | 17+ | 50+ | Kabul, Afghanistan | American University of Afghanistan attack | Bombing and shooting at the American University of Afghanistan. | Taliban (suspected) | War in Afghanistan |
| Aug 29 | Bombing | 71+ (+1) | Unknown | Aden, Yemen | August 2016 Aden bombing | Suicide car bombing at a military facility.[130] | Islamic State | Yemeni Civil War |
| Aug 30 | Suicide car bombing | 0 (+1) | 3 | Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | Chinese Embassy in Bishkek bombing | A car rammed through the gates of the Chinese Embassy and exploded, killing the driver.[citation needed] | East Turkistan Islamic Movement (suspected) | Xinjiang conflict |
| Sep 2 | Bombing | 15 | 70 | Davao City, Philippines | 2016 Davao City bombing | A bomb exploded at a night market.[131][132][133] | Islamic State | Moro conflict |
| Sep 5 | Bombing | 48-70+ (+1) | Unknown | Tartus, Homs, Damascus and Hasakah, Syria | 5 September 2016 Syria bombings | A car bomb detonated on a coastal highway in Tartus, killing more than 5 people, followed by a suicide bomber exploding in the crowd gathering in the area. A car bomb then hit a Syrian Army checkpoint in the Zahra district of Homs and killed 2 soldiers. A motorcycle bomb detonated near an Asayish checkpoint in Hasakah and killed at least 5 people, with an explosion in the capital city of Damascus following soon after.[134][135][136] | Islamic State | Syrian civil war |
| Sep 5 | Suicide bombings | 58 (+5) | 109 | Kabul, Afghanistan | September 2016 Kabul attacks | Double suicide attack in rush hour near the Ministry of Defence.[137] A third explosion caused one death.[138] Other attacks also occurred that lasted overnight. | Taliban | War in Afghanistan |
| Sep 10 | Car bombings | 40 (+2) | 60 | Baghdad, Iraq | 9 September 2016 Baghdad bombings | Two car bombs exploded outside a crowded shopping center. Most of the victims were Shi'a Muslims.[citation needed] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Sep 16 | Suicide Bombing | 35 (+1) | 34 | Mohmand Agency, Pakistan | 2016 September Pakistan mosque bombing | A suicide bomber attacked a Sunni mosque.[139] | Jamaat-ul-Ahrar | War in North-West Pakistan |
| Sep 17–19 | Bombings, shootout | 0 | 32 (+1) | New York and New Jersey, United States | 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings | Around 9:30 am, a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can in Seaside Park, New Jersey, but no one was injured. Later that day, at around 8:30 pm, a homemade pressure cooker bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, injuring 29 people. A second pressure cooker bomb was promptly discovered four blocks away, but did not detonate. The following day, two homeless men discovered a backpack containing several pipe bombs in Elizabeth, New Jersey. On September 19, the perpetrator was captured in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout with police which left three officers and the suspect wounded. | Ahmad Khan Rahami (suspect) | Islamic terrorism |
| Sep 17 | Stabbing | 0 (+1) | 10[140] | Minnesota, United States | 2016 St. Cloud, Minnesota knife attack | 22-year-old lone wolf Dahir Adan committed a mass stabbing inside a mall in St. Cloud Minnesota using two steak knives. 10 people were injured before Dahir was fatally shot by an off-duty law enforcement officer | Dahir Adan | Suspected Islamic terrorism, Perpetrator said multiple phrases about Allah including "Allahu Akbar" |
| Sep 18 | Shooting | 19 (+4 Attackers) | 30 | Uri, India | 2016 Uri attack | Seventeen soldiers were killed in an attack on a base in Kashmir.[141] | Unknown | Kashmir conflict |
| Oct 5 | Melee attack | 0 | 3 (+1) | Brussels, Belgium | 2016 stabbing of Brussels police officers | Three police officers were attacked by a man wielding a machete in the Schaerbeek neighborhood. Two of them suffered stab wounds, while the third was assaulted but otherwise uninjured. Several stations and the anti-terrorism prosecution office was also evacuated due to a bomb-alert.[142] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Oct 6 | Car bombing | 0 | 10 | Istanbul, Turkey | October 2016 Istanbul bombing | Car bomb near a police station.[143][144] | PKK (suspected) | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Oct 9 | Shooting | 2 (+1) | 6 | East Jerusalem | 2016 Jerusalem shooting | A Palestinian arrived at a tram stop in his car and shot "randomly" at passers-by. A 60-year-old woman and a police officer were killed; the attacker himself was pursued by police and later shot dead.[145] | Palestinian lone wolf | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Oct 9 | Car bombing | 15[146] | 27 | Şemdinli, Turkey | 2016 Şemdinli bombing | PKK | Kurdish–Turkish conflict | |
| Oct 15 | Suicide bombing, Shooting | 53+ (+ at least 6) | 44+ | Baghdad, Iraq | October 2016 Baghdad attacks | Suicide bomber targeted a mourning tent.[147] In a second incident, the wife and three children of Numan al-Mujamaie, the leader of the Ishaqi Mobilization militia, were killed when gunmen stormed his house in the town of Ishaq in his absence.[148] | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Oct 16 | Stabbing | 1 | 1 | Hamburg, Germany | 2016 Hamburg stabbing attack | Islamic State[149] | Islamic terrorism in Europe | |
| Oct 24 | Hostage taking, shooting, suicide bombing | 62 (+3) | 117+ | Quetta, Pakistan | 2016 Quetta police training college attack | At least five militants stormed a police training center and took between 200 and 500 cadets hostage.[150] Three of the attackers were killed and at least 60 people were killed and 120 were injured. Several hostages escaped as well.[151][152][153] | Islamic State and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi | Sectarianism in Pakistan |
| Oct 25 | Shooting | 1 (+1) | 3 | Virginia, United States | 2016 FreightCar America shooting | A 53-year-old Kenyan refugee who was former employee of FreightCar America shot 4 people in a Freightcar America building killing one and injuring the three other people before committing suicide. Terrorism is a suspected motive in the shooting.[154] | Getachew Fekede | Suspected terrorism |
| Nov 4 | Car bombing | 11[155] | 100+ | Diyarbakir, Turkey | November 2016 Diyarbakır bombing | Islamic State | Turkey–ISIL conflict | |
| Nov 8 | Executions | 300+ | Unknown | Mosul, Iraq | Hamam al-Alil massacre | Killing of civilians who refused to fight for ISIL. | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
| Nov 10 | Suicide car bombing | 6 (+1) | 119 | Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan | German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif attack | A truck bomb exploded outside the German consulate. | Taliban | War in Afghanistan |
| Nov 12 | Suicide bombing | 5 (+1) | 16 | Bagram, Afghanistan | 2016 Bagram Airfield bombing | A suicide bomber exploded outside the U.S. air base.[156] | Taliban | War in Afghanistan |
| Nov 12 | Suicide bombing | 55 (+1) | 102+ | Khuzdar, Pakistan | 2016 Khuzdar bombing | A suicide bomber detonated in the crowded Shah Noorani Shrine in Hub town, Lasbela District, Balochistan.[157][158][159][160] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism |
| Nov 13 | Bombing | 1 | 3 (+1) | Samarinda, Indonesia | 2016 Samarinda church bombing | Explosion outside a church.[161][162] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism |
| Nov 24 | Suicide truck bombing | 125 (+1)[163] | 95 | Hillah, Iraq | November 2016 Hillah suicide truck bombing | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War | |
| Nov 26 | Car bombing | 20 | Unknown | Mogadishu, Somalia | November Mogadishu car bombing | Car bomb near a market.[164][165] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Nov 26–30 | Clash | 0 (+63) | 30 (+17) | Butig, Philippines | November 2016 Butig clash | The Maute Group briefly seized control of parts of the town, in retaliation of an offensive launched by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Government forces killed at least 63 militants and recaptured the town. | Maute Group | Moro conflict |
| Nov 28 | Vehicular assault, stabbing | 0 (+1) | 11 | Columbus, United States | 2016 Ohio State University attack | A student who was a Somali refugee rammed his car into a group of students at the Ohio State University. The perpetrator then stabbed several others before he was killed on the scene.[166] | Abdul Razak Ali Artan | Islamic terrorism |
| Nov 29 | Shooting | 7 (+3) | Unknown | Nagrota, India | 2016 Nagrota army base attack | Attack on an Indian Army base.[167] | Pakistan sponsored terrorists | Kashmir conflict |
| Dec 9 | Suicide bombings | 57 (+2) | 177 | Madagali, Nigeria | Madagali suicide bombings | 2 explosions.[168] | Boko Haram | Boko Haram insurgency |
| Dec 10 | Suicide bombing | 50+ (+1) | 70+ | Aden, Yemen | December 2016 Aden suicide bombings | Soldiers killed.[169] | Islamic State – Yemen Province | Yemeni Civil War |
| Dec 10 | Car bombing, suicide bombing | 46 (+2) | 155 | Istanbul, Turkey | December 2016 Istanbul bombings | Two bombs.[170] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Dec 11 | Suicide bombing | 29 (+1) | 50+ | Mogadishu, Somalia | December 2016 Mogadishu suicide bombing | Suicide bombing on a police station near the port.[171] | Al-Shabaab | War in Somalia |
| Dec 11 | Suicide bombing | 27 (+1) | 47 | Cairo, Egypt | Botroseya Church bombing | Explosion in a Coptic cathedral.[172][173] | Islamic State – Sinai Province | Insurgency in Egypt |
| Dec 16 | Shooting | 12 | Unknown | Nassoumbou, Burkina Faso | 2016 Nassoumbou attack | Several dozen heavily armed gunmen attacked an army outpost near the border with Mali.[174] | Ansar ul Islam | Insurgency in the Maghreb |
| Dec 17 | Suicide car bombing | 14 (+1) | 55 | Kayseri, Turkey | 2016 Kayseri bombing | A suspected car bombing killed soldiers aboard a bus.[175] | Kurdistan Freedom Falcons | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
| Dec 18 | Suicide bombing | 52+ (+1) | 63 | Aden, Yemen | December 2016 Aden suicide bombings | Soldiers collecting their salaries at a base were killed when a suicide bomber detonated.[176] | Islamic State – Yemen Province | Yemeni Civil War |
| Dec 18 | Shooting | 16 (+5) | 37 | Al-Karak, Jordan | 2016 Al-Karak attack | Insurgents attacked police and civilians then took shelter in Kerak Castle.[177] | Islamic State | Spillover of the Syrian Civil War in Jordan |
| Dec 19 | Assassination | 1 (+1) | 3 | Ankara, Turkey | Assassination of Andrei Karlov | A gunman killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey. Three bystanders were also injured.[178] According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabea, the Army of Conquest claimed responsibility for the assassination.[179] | Army of Conquest | Spillover of the Syrian Civil War in Turkey |
| Dec 19–23 | Vehicular attack, stabbing, and shooting | 13 (+1) | 55 | Berlin, Germany | 2016 Berlin truck attack | A truck ploughed into a Christmas market.[180][181][182] The perpetrator was found by police in Milan, Italy four days later and was killed in a shootout with police. One officer was wounded.[183] | Islamic State | Islamic terrorism in Europe |
| Dec 23 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Luqa, Malta | Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209 | A commercial jet that took off from Libya was hijacked by individuals with explosives. The plane landed in Malta. The hijackers were pro-Gaddafi militants who demanded recognition of their group.[184] | Brigade 93 | Second Libyan Civil War |
| Dec 28 | Bombings | 0 | 33 | Hilongos, Philippines | 2016 Hilongos bombings | Two bombs at an amateur boxing match.[185] | Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (suspected) | Moro conflict |
| Dec 31 | Suicide bombing, bombing | 25 (+1)[186] | 50 | Baghdad, Iraq | December 2016 Baghdad bombings | Islamic State | Iraqi Civil War |
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- ^ "Kurdistan24 English on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
- ^ "Islamic State suicide bomber, gunmen attack Baghdad". Thenewdaily.com.au. 2016-10-15. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ^ "Messerattacke auf Jugendlichen: IS reklamiert Angriff in Hamburg für sich - n-tv.de". Mobil.n-tv.de. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
- ^ "Quetta attack: Death toll rises to 59 as security forces eliminate threat | Pakistan". Thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ "Pakistan militants attack Quetta police college". BBC News. 24 October 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ Masood, Salman (24 October 2016). "At Least 59 Die as Militants Storm Police College Near Quetta, Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ "Pakistan: au moins 60 morts dans un attentat contre une école de police". i24news (in French). Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ "Roanoke police identify FreightCar America shooter". WDBJ. 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Turkey: deadly explosion rocks major Kurdish city of Diyarbakır | World news". The Guardian. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
- ^ "L'attacco alla base americana di Bagram - Il Post". Il Post. 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "At least 52 killed, 102 injured in blast at Khuzdar shrine - Pakistan". Dawn.com. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "Daish claims responsibility bombing Shrine Sufi Saint Baba Shah Noorani". Dnd.com.pk. 12 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ Baloch, Zafar (2016-11-09). "At least 45 dead, over 100 injured in Khuzdar's Shah Noorani shrine explosion - The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "At least 52 killed, 102 injured in blast at Khuzdar shrine - Pakistan". Dawn.com. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "Indonesia police: 2-year-old girl dies in attack on church". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "Blast outside Indonesian church injures 4". Aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "Suicide truck bomb kills more than 80 in Iraq, most of them Iranian pilgrims". Reuters. 24 November 2016.
- ^ "Somali Forces Arrest Suspect in Deadly Market Attack Website=Garoweonline.com". Retrieved 2016-11-28.
- ^ "Somali Forces arrest suspect in deadly Market attack". Goobjoog.com. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ Blau, Max; Grinberg, Emanuella; Prokupecz, Shimon (29 November 2016). "Investigators believe Ohio State attacker was inspired by ISIS and Al-Awlaki". CNN. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "Insurgents killed at least 7 soldiers in India". Reuters. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "Two suicide bombing killed 56 people in Nigeria". Reuters. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- ^ "Suicide bomber kills at least 50 Yemeni troops in Aden". Reuters. 10 December 2016.
- ^ "Istanbul terror attack death toll increases to 44". The Daily Sabah. 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Suicide bomb kills at least 29 at Somalia's main port: police". Reuters. 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Islamic State claims responsibility for Cairo church bombing". The Guardian. Associated Press Cairo. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Sisi says suicide bomber behind church attack in Egypt". Reuters. 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Burkina Faso militant attack: Twelve soldiers killed". Reuters. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ "Turkey's Erdogan blames Kurdish militants after bomb kills at least 13, wounds 56". Reuters. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ "Blast Kills at Least 52 Outside Yemen Military Camp". ABC News. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "Jordan declares end of castle siege, says four gunmen killed". Reuters. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "A gunman killed Russian ambassador in Turkey". Reuters. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Media: Jaish al-Fatah claims responsibility for murder of Russian ambassador". Russian News Agency TASS. 21 December 2016.
- ^ "Michael Horowitz on Twitter". Retrieved 13 January 2017.
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- ^ "Berlin attack: First aider dies 5 years after Christmas market murders". BBC. 26 October 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "Ucciso a Milano Anis Amri, l'attentatore di Berlino. Merkel: grazie all'Italia". Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Libya Malta hijack: Hijackers arrested as drama ends peacefully". BBC News. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Plusieurs explosions font une quarantaine de blessés aux Philippines". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2016-12-29. ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
- ^ "Bombings left at least 25 people dead and 50 others were injured in Iraq". Reuters. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
List of terrorist incidents in 2016
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Definitions and Scope
Definition of Terrorism
Terrorism refers to the premeditated use or threat of violence by non-state actors against non-combatants to achieve political, ideological, religious, or social objectives through the creation of fear and intimidation disproportionate to the immediate physical harm inflicted.[3] This conceptualization emphasizes intentionality, subnational perpetrators, and the intent to coerce broader audiences beyond direct victims, distinguishing terrorism from criminal violence or warfare.[4] Empirical databases such as the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), maintained by the University of Maryland's START consortium, operationalize it as "the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation," requiring incidents to demonstrate apparent intent to coerce or intimidate for such aims.[5] In the United States, federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines terrorism as activities involving acts dangerous to human life that violate U.S. criminal laws, intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence government policy through intimidation or coercion, or affect government conduct via mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping, with domestic incidents occurring primarily within U.S. jurisdiction.[6] This statutory approach prioritizes legal violations and coercive intent but applies mainly to prosecutorial contexts rather than global incident tracking. Internationally, no comprehensive treaty-based definition exists, as evidenced by the United Nations' repeated failures to adopt one due to disputes over scope—particularly whether to include state-sponsored violence or exclude "freedom fighters" resisting occupation—leading to reliance on ad hoc resolutions condemning specific acts without uniform criteria.[7] Such definitional ambiguity can introduce classification biases, with academic and government databases like the GTD applying consistent, evidence-based filters to mitigate subjective influences from media or ideological narratives.[8] For enumerating incidents, definitions exclude legitimate military actions, accidental harms, or purely criminal acts lacking broader coercive aims, focusing instead on verifiable evidence of perpetrator intent from claims of responsibility, manifestos, or patterns of similar attacks.[4] This methodological rigor counters tendencies in some institutional sources—such as mainstream media or certain academic outlets—to underclassify ideologically inconvenient violence (e.g., left-wing extremism) as terrorism while overemphasizing others, ensuring lists reflect empirical patterns rather than narrative preferences.[9]Scope and Inclusion Criteria
Incidents are included in this list if they occurred between January 1 and December 31, 2016, and meet the empirical criteria established by the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), a comprehensive open-source repository documenting over 200,000 terrorist attacks worldwide since 1970.[10] The GTD defines terrorism as "the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation."[11] This scope covers both domestic and transnational events, prioritizing verified acts resulting in fatalities, injuries, or significant threats, while excluding unexecuted plots or conspiracies without attempted violence.[10] To qualify, an incident must satisfy four principal characteristics: (1) it is an intentional act by perpetrators with agency; (2) it involves violence or an immediate threat of violence, including against property; (3) it is carried out by subnational actors, excluding state-sponsored or military operations; and (4) it targets political, economic, religious, or social objectives rather than purely criminal or personal motives like profit or revenge.[11] Additionally, evidence must indicate intent to intimidate or coerce a broader audience beyond immediate victims, and the act must fall outside legitimate warfare parameters, such as indiscriminate attacks on non-combatants prohibited under international humanitarian law.[11] These criteria align closely with the U.S. legal definition used in the Department of State's Country Reports on Terrorism for 2016, which describes terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents."[12] Borderline cases, such as those involving insurgent groups in ongoing conflicts or unclear perpetrator motivations, are included only if core criteria are met, with notations on ambiguities like the "Doubt Terrorism Proper" designation in GTD data, which flags potential overlaps with guerrilla warfare or state involvement.[11] Exclusions encompass state terrorism, conventional military actions, and non-ideological violence, though classifications can be contentious due to varying national interpretations and source reporting biases in media or academic institutions. Verification relies on cross-referenced open-source intelligence, favoring primary reports from governments, NGOs, and eyewitness accounts over secondary analyses to minimize distortion.[10]Data Sources and Methodology
Primary Databases and Reports
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD), maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, constitutes a foundational open-source repository of empirical data on terrorist incidents worldwide, encompassing over 200,000 attacks since 1970 with systematic recording of both domestic and transnational events.[5] The database applies inclusion criteria centered on the intentional use or threat of violence by non-state actors to attain political, economic, religious, or social objectives through intimidation or coercion of broader populations, thereby excluding incidents like interpersonal violence or state-perpetrated acts lacking such intent.[5] For 2016, GTD data—released in 2017—document more than 13,400 attacks yielding over 34,000 total fatalities, including over 11,600 perpetrators, reflecting a concentration in regions like the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.[1] While START's academic affiliation introduces potential institutional biases toward Western analytical frameworks, the GTD's transparency in methodology and reliance on media reports, official statements, and court documents enables verifiable cross-checking, positioning it as a core empirical tool despite occasional underreporting in censored environments.[5] The U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, mandated by U.S. law (22 U.S.C. § 2656f), compiles country-by-country assessments of terrorist threats, incidents, designated groups, and global counterterrorism efforts, drawing from intelligence, diplomatic, and open-source inputs.[2] The report records a net decline in terrorist attacks and fatalities for 2016 relative to 2015, primarily from diminished operations by groups like ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and others in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, though it notes persistent high-impact events such as vehicle-ramming assaults in Europe.[2] As a government-produced document, it prioritizes U.S. national security interests, which may emphasize threats to American assets while underweighting intra-state conflicts absent direct U.S. involvement; nonetheless, its aggregation of verified incidents from multiple agencies provides a state-level complement to nongovernmental databases.[2] Europol's European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2016 delivers focused statistical and qualitative analysis of terrorism across EU member states, based on data submissions from national authorities, covering attacks, foiled plots, arrests, and convictions categorized by jihadist, separatist, left/right-wing, and other motivations.[13] Issued annually since 2006, the 2016 edition highlights a surge in jihadist-inspired incidents, including high-profile attacks in France, Belgium, and Germany, alongside over 700 arrests, but its EU-centric scope limits global applicability and may reflect harmonized definitions that exclude certain lone-actor or preparatory acts not meeting prosecutorial thresholds.[13] Europol's law enforcement orientation enhances reliability for European data through direct access to investigations, though supranational coordination can introduce inconsistencies in ideological labeling influenced by prevailing policy narratives.[13] These resources, while overlapping in coverage, diverge in granularity and focus—GTD offering event-level universality, State Department reports emphasizing geopolitical patterns, and TE-SAT prioritizing EU operational trends—necessitating cross-verification to mitigate definitional variances and source-specific gaps in underreported regions.[5][2][13]Verification and Classification Challenges
Verification of terrorist incidents in 2016 faced significant hurdles due to reliance on open-source media reports, which often provided incomplete or delayed information, particularly in conflict zones like Iraq and Syria where access was restricted and multiple actors contested narratives.[14] [15] The Global Terrorism Database (GTD), a primary resource, codes incidents based on systematic review of such sources but acknowledges variations in availability by region, leading to potential undercounting in areas with limited coverage, such as parts of Central Asia or sub-Saharan Africa.[11] Retrospective corrections were common, but initial reports could include unverified claims, hoaxes, or conflations with ongoing insurgencies, complicating real-time tallies.[14] Classification challenges stemmed from subjective criteria for intent and perpetrator status, with the GTD requiring evidence of sub-national actors pursuing political, economic, religious, or social goals through coercive violence against non-combatants, excluding pure crime or legitimate warfare.[11] Uncertainty often arose in lone-actor or inspired attacks, such as those linked to ISIS in 2016, where distinguishing ideological motivation from personal grievances demanded perpetrator statements or affiliations that were not always verifiable or claimed promptly.[14] The GTD employs "doubt" codes for ambiguous cases—flagging alternatives like insurgency, intra-group conflict, or lack of intentionality—but these still required judgment calls, and methodological shifts (e.g., post-2012 inclusion of state actors in some doubts) could introduce inconsistencies across datasets.[11] Politicization exacerbated issues, as definitions varied across databases and governments, sometimes excluding state-sponsored acts or downplaying certain ideologies to fit narratives, with media-dependent sources prone to selective emphasis influenced by institutional biases in reporting.[14] For instance, attacks without explicit claims might be reclassified as criminal rather than terrorist, underrepresenting unorganized extremism, while over-reliance on Western outlets risked skewing toward high-profile events in Europe or the U.S. over those in less-accessible regions.[15] The cessation of unclassified data from the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center around this period further limited cross-verification against intelligence, heightening dependence on potentially flawed public metrics.[14]Statistical Overview
Incident and Casualty Totals
In 2016, the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, recorded 13,400 terrorist incidents worldwide, marking a 9% decline from 2015. These incidents resulted in more than 34,000 total fatalities, including over 11,600 perpetrators killed during the attacks, with the remainder—approximately 22,400—comprising civilian and security force victims. The GTD defines terrorist incidents as the intentional use or threat of violence by non-state actors against non-combatants to achieve political, economic, religious, or social objectives through intimidation or coercion, excluding acts of legitimate warfare or undefined motivations.[1] The Institute for Economics and Peace's Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2017, utilizing GTD data with supplementary analysis, reported 25,621 deaths from terrorist attacks in 2016, a 22% decrease from 2015, attributed largely to territorial losses by ISIS in Iraq and Syria and diminished capacity of Boko Haram in Nigeria. This figure focuses on non-perpetrator fatalities and highlights concentrations in conflict zones, with 87% of attacks and 97% of deaths occurring in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa across 108 countries. Comprehensive global injury totals are not uniformly aggregated in these sources, though individual high-profile attacks, such as the July 14 truck ramming in Nice, France, caused dozens of injuries alongside fatalities. Variations between databases stem from differences in perpetrator fatality inclusions and verification thresholds, underscoring challenges in precise casualty enumeration amid underreporting in unstable regions.[16][1]Geographic and Ideological Distributions
In 2016, terrorist incidents were predominantly concentrated in conflict-affected regions, with over 75% of global attacks occurring in just five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.[17] The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region accounted for the largest share, hosting around 4,700 to 4,900 incidents and over 9,500 to 13,500 deaths, driven by instability in Iraq and Syria.[16] South Asia followed with approximately 2,600 to 3,100 incidents and 5,900 to 9,300 deaths, primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Sub-Saharan Africa saw 1,400 to 3,400 incidents and 4,700 to 5,800 deaths, concentrated in Nigeria and Somalia.[16] Europe and other regions experienced far fewer incidents, with Western countries recording isolated high-profile attacks but comprising less than 1% of global totals.[17]| Country | Incidents | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Iraq | 2,965 | 9,764 |
| Afghanistan | 1,340 | 4,561 |
| India | 927 | N/A |
| Pakistan | 734 | 955 |
| Syria | N/A | 2,088 |
| Nigeria | N/A | 1,832 |
Chronological List of Incidents
January
On January 2, a group suspected to be Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in Punjab, India, killing 8 security personnel and 1 civilian, with 5 attackers killed by security forces in response.[18] On January 4, the Taliban detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) near Camp Sullivan in Kabul, Afghanistan, damaging buildings and the outer wall, though specific casualty figures were not detailed.[18] On January 8, ISIS-affiliated Syrian militants conducted a drive-by shooting near Aarsal, Lebanon, killing 1 Lebanese Internal Security Forces officer in retaliation for undercover operations against ISIS.[18] On January 12, an ISIS suicide bomber targeted tourists in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district, Turkey, killing 13 (mostly foreign nationals) and injuring 14.[18] On January 14, four militants linked to Jemaah Ansharut Daulah attacked a police post and a U.S.-franchise coffee shop in central Jakarta, Indonesia, using small arms and homemade bombs, killing 4 (3 Indonesians and 1 dual Algerian-Canadian national) and injuring 23; all attackers were killed, with subsequent arrests of planners.[18] On January 15, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) assailants attacked the Café Cappuccino and Hotel Splendid in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, killing 30 and wounding 70 in a soft-target assault.[18] On the same day, an additional cross-border attack in Tin Akoff, Burkina Faso, killed 2 security personnel.[18] In mid-January, Al-Shabaab raided a Kenyan forward-operating base in El Adde (also reported as Ceel Adde in Gedo region), Somalia, killing over 140 Kenyan soldiers and hundreds of AMISOM and Somali forces combined.[18] During January, ISIS conducted near-daily car bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, killing over 120.[18] Also in January, Boko Haram carried out personnel-borne IED attacks on civilians in Guite and Miterine, Chad, killing 3 and injuring 56.[18] An Israeli Arab gunman, Nasha’at Melhem, conducted shootings in Tel Aviv, Israel, in January, killing 3 civilians and wounding 7, before being killed by security forces after a manhunt.[18] On January 28, Boko Haram deployed six suicide bombers (male and female) in Chibok, Nigeria, killing 16.[18] On January 29, an ISIS-affiliated Saudi national conducted a suicide bombing at the Shia Imam Rida Mosque in al-Ahsa, eastern Saudi Arabia, killing 4 worshippers; a second bomber was arrested.[18] On January 30, Boko Haram launched a multi-pronged assault in Dalori, Nigeria, using three female suicide bombers and dozens of conventional attackers, killing at least 85.[18]| Date | Location | Perpetrator | Casualties (Killed/Injured) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2 | Pathankot, India | Jaish-e-Mohammed (suspected) | 9/0 | Assault on air force station[18] |
| January 4 | Kabul, Afghanistan | Taliban | Not specified | VBIED near military camp[18] |
| January 8 | Near Aarsal, Lebanon | ISIS affiliates | 1/0 | Drive-by shooting[18] |
| January 12 | Istanbul, Turkey | ISIS | 13/14 | Suicide bombing on tourists[18] |
| January 14 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Jemaah Ansharut Daulah | 4/23 | Gun and bomb attack on police and café[18] |
| January 15 | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AQIM | 30/70 | Hotel and café assault[18] |
| January 15 | El Adde, Somalia | Al-Shabaab | 140+/0 | Base raid on Kenyan/AMISOM forces[18] |
| January (unspecified) | Baghdad, Iraq | ISIS | 120+/0 | Multiple car bombings[18] |
| January 28 | Chibok, Nigeria | Boko Haram | 16/0 | Multiple suicide bombings[18] |
| January 29 | Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia | ISIS affiliate | 4/0 | Mosque suicide bombing[18] |
| January 30 | Dalori, Nigeria | Boko Haram | 85+/0 | Suicide and conventional assault[18] |
February
On February 17, a suicide car bombing targeted military shuttle buses transporting off-duty personnel in central Ankara, Turkey, detonating amid rush-hour traffic and killing 29 people—28 civilians and 1 soldier—while injuring 61 others. Turkish authorities identified the perpetrator as Abdulbaki Somer, a Turkish national linked to the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a militant splinter group associated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); TAK later claimed responsibility, stating the attack was retaliation for Turkish military operations against Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey. The explosion damaged nearby buildings and vehicles, marking the second major bombing in Ankara within six months.[19][20][21] On February 28, the Islamic State conducted coordinated bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, including two vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) at a bustling market in Sadr City, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood, killing at least 36 civilians and wounding over 80. ISIS claimed the attacks via its Amaq News Agency, framing them as strikes against Shiite civilians; a separate suicide bombing that day at a checkpoint in Muqdadiya, east of Baghdad, killed 13 and injured 25, also attributed to ISIS. These incidents contributed to a pattern of sectarian-targeted violence amid ongoing ISIS insurgent activities in Iraq.[22][23][24]| Date | Location | Dead | Injured | Perpetrator | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17 | Ankara, Turkey | 29 | 61 | TAK (PKK-linked) | Suicide car bomb on military buses |
| Feb 28 | Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq | 36+ | 80+ | Islamic State | Twin VBIEDs at market |
| Feb 28 | Muqdadiya, Iraq | 13 | 25 | Islamic State | Suicide bombing at checkpoint |
March
On March 13, a suicide car bomb exploded in a busy central square in Ankara, Turkey, killing 37 people and injuring at least 125 others, primarily civilians.[25] The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a splinter group associated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed responsibility, stating the attack targeted Turkish security forces amid ongoing conflict in southeastern Turkey.[25] On March 19, a female suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in Istanbul's Taksim Square tourist area, killing 5 people—including 4 German tourists—and injuring 36 others.[26] TAK again claimed the attack, framing it as retaliation for Turkish military operations against Kurdish militants.[26] On March 22, coordinated suicide bombings struck Brussels Airport in Zaventem and a metro station near the European Union headquarters, killing 32 civilians and injuring more than 300.[27] The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility through its Amaq News Agency, describing the operation as revenge for losses in Iraq and Syria; the attackers included Belgian nationals linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[27] Belgian authorities raised the national threat level to maximum and conducted widespread arrests in response.[27] On March 27, a suicide bomber attacked Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan, during Easter celebrations, targeting Christian families and killing at least 75 people while injuring over 300.[28] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed the bombing as punishment for Pakistani military actions against militants in tribal areas.[28] Pakistani authorities responded with nationwide security operations and executions of convicted militants.| Date | Location | Perpetrator(s) | Deaths | Injuries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 13 | Ankara, Turkey | TAK (PKK-linked) | 37 | 125+ | Suicide car bomb in public square.[25] |
| March 19 | Istanbul, Turkey | TAK (PKK-linked) | 5 | 36 | Suicide bombing in tourist area.[26] |
| March 22 | Brussels, Belgium | ISIS | 32 | 300+ | Coordinated airport and metro bombings.[27] |
| March 27 | Lahore, Pakistan | Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (TTP splinter) | 75 | 300+ | Park bombing during Easter.[28] |
April
A suicide bombing targeted a checkpoint in the Pul-e-Mahmud Khan neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 19, during morning rush hour near government buildings including the National Directorate of Security headquarters. The attacker detonated explosives in a truck, initiating a fierce gun battle with security forces and followed by an additional improvised explosive device detonation. The assault killed 28 people—mostly civilians, including soldiers and security personnel—and wounded 329 others, with the blast shattering windows up to 1.6 kilometers away. The Taliban claimed responsibility, framing it within their annual spring offensive against Afghan government and security targets.[29] Smaller-scale attacks continued in ongoing conflict zones such as Iraq and Yemen, where ISIS-affiliated groups conducted bombings against security forces and civilians, though no single incident matched the Kabul attack's immediate impact in reported casualties for the month.[12]May
On May 11, 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) detonated multiple vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) in Baghdad, Iraq, targeting predominantly Shiite areas including a fuel tanker in the Sadr City district, resulting in at least 93 deaths and over 200 injuries.[30][31] The primary blast at a crowded market in Sadr City was the deadliest, with ISIS claiming responsibility via its Amaq news agency, framing the attacks as retaliation against Shiite militias.[32] Two additional bombings struck other neighborhoods, exacerbating sectarian tensions amid ongoing military operations against ISIS-held territories.[33] On May 17, 2016, ISIS executed further bombings across Baghdad, Iraq, including VBIEDs and suicide attacks in commercial districts, killing at least 20 civilians and security personnel while wounding dozens more.[34] These strikes highlighted ISIS's shift toward urban asymmetric warfare as Iraqi forces advanced on its strongholds like Fallujah, with the group aiming to sow fear and undermine government control.[35] On May 23, 2016, ISIS conducted coordinated suicide bombings in the Syrian coastal cities of Jableh and Tartus, Alawite-majority strongholds loyal to the Assad regime, detonating at least six devices including VBIEDs at a bus station, hospital, and markets, killing 148 people and injuring over 200.[36] ISIS claimed the attacks via Amaq, explicitly targeting Alawites as apostates to provoke sectarian strife and divert resources from its besieged positions in eastern Syria.[37] Concurrently on May 23, 2016, ISIS's Yemen branch carried out twin suicide bombings outside an army recruitment center in Aden, Yemen, killing at least 40-71 recruits and wounding scores, in an assault aimed at government forces amid the Houthi conflict.[38][39][40] The blasts underscored ISIS's competition with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for influence in southern Yemen's security vacuum.[41]June
On June 7, a car bomb exploded in Istanbul's Vezneciler district, targeting a police bus and killing 11 people, including seven police officers and four civilians, while injuring 36 others.[42] The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a militant splinter group from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed responsibility, citing opposition to Turkish military operations against Kurdish forces in southeastern Turkey.[43] On June 8, two Palestinian gunmen from Hebron opened fire at the Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv, Israel, killing four Israeli civilians and wounding seven others before being subdued by security personnel.[44] The attackers, armed with concealed pistols smuggled from the West Bank, were motivated by Palestinian nationalist grievances amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian tensions, and the incident was classified as a terrorist attack by Israeli authorities.[45] The June 12 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, United States, resulted in 49 deaths and 53 injuries when Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, attacked the venue hosting a Latin-themed event primarily attended by LGBTQ individuals.[46] Mateen, who was killed in a police shootout, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the assault and had previously expressed radical Islamist views, though investigations revealed no direct operational ties to foreign terrorist groups.[47] On June 13, in Magnanville, France, Larossi Abballa, a previously convicted jihadist, stabbed to death a police captain and his partner in their home, taking their young son hostage before being killed by police.[48] Abballa broadcast the attack live on Facebook, claiming it in the name of the Islamic State and citing calls to target law enforcement as "infidels."[49] The June 28 attack at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport involved three assailants—two detonating suicide vests after opening fire in the terminal—who killed 41 people and injured over 230, with victims including Turkish citizens and foreigners.[50] The Islamic State claimed responsibility, marking it as a coordinated operation aimed at a high-profile international target amid Turkey's conflicts with both Kurdish militants and jihadist networks.[51]July
On July 1, 2016, five militants affiliated with the Islamic State attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, taking approximately 35 hostages and engaging in a siege that lasted until July 2. The attackers killed 20 hostages, primarily foreigners, by slitting throats or shooting those unable to recite Quran verses, while 13 local hostages were released after complying. Two Bangladeshi police officers were killed in the ensuing raid, and all six attackers were shot dead by security forces. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault, which targeted a popular expatriate venue in an upscale neighborhood.[52][53] On July 3, 2016, a suicide truck bombing by the Islamic State struck the Karrada district shopping area in Baghdad, Iraq, during evening hours when crowds were dense. The explosion killed at least 292 people and wounded over 200, marking the deadliest single attack in Baghdad since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The bomb, hidden in a refrigerated truck, targeted a commercial street lined with cafes and stores, causing widespread destruction including the collapse of a building. Iraqi authorities later confirmed the Islamic State's role through claims and forensic evidence.[54][55] On July 4, 2016, the Islamic State conducted four coordinated suicide bombings across Saudi Arabia, targeting security sites in Medina, Jeddah, and Qatif. In Medina, a bomber detonated near the Prophet's Mosque, killing four security personnel; two other blasts in Qatif killed a suicide bomber and a bystander, while a Jeddah attack caused no fatalities but damaged a mosque near a security facility. Saudi officials reported the incidents as part of a broader ISIS campaign against the kingdom, with arrests following intelligence leads.[56] On July 14, 2016, Tunisian resident Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, killing 86 people and injuring 434, many critically. Bouhlel, who had no prior terrorism convictions but showed recent radicalization via ISIS propaganda, exited the vehicle and fired at police before being killed. French investigators linked the attack to ISIS inspiration, noting Bouhlel's acquisition of weapons and vehicle through accomplices later convicted of aiding. The incident highlighted vulnerabilities in vehicle-ramming tactics against soft targets.[57][58]August
On August 8, a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the emergency ward of Civil Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, targeting lawyers, journalists, and others who had gathered following an earlier bombing that killed a prominent lawyer. The attack killed at least 72 people and injured more than 100, predominantly civilians including members of the Shia Hazara community.[59] [60] The banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), known for sectarian violence against Shias, was widely implicated, though both the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and ISIS also claimed responsibility.[61] This incident highlighted ongoing sectarian tensions in Balochistan province, where LeJ has conducted multiple anti-Shia operations.[59] On August 20, a suicide bomber attacked a Kurdish wedding party in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. The explosion killed 54 people, including at least 11 children, and wounded 69 others.[62] [63] Turkish authorities identified the perpetrator as a boy aged 12 to 14 recruited by ISIS, marking one of the group's deadliest assaults in Turkey that year amid its cross-border operations from Syria.[62] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attributed the bombing to ISIS, which had intensified attacks on Turkish soil in response to Ankara's military incursions against the group.[63] The targeting of civilians at a social gathering underscored ISIS's tactic of using child bombers to maximize psychological impact and evade security.[64] On August 29, ISIS conducted a suicide car bombing at a military camp in Aden, Yemen, killing at least 54 Yemeni soldiers gathered for payday. The group claimed responsibility via its Amaq news agency, framing the strike as retaliation against Yemeni forces aligned with the Saudi-led coalition combating both ISIS and Houthi rebels. This attack occurred amid Yemen's multifaceted civil war, where ISIS exploited governance vacuums in southern provinces to establish local affiliates and launch opportunistic strikes on security forces. On August 30, al-Shabaab militants detonated a truck bomb outside the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, a site frequented by government officials and frequented by civilians. The blast killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more.[65] Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate seeking to overthrow the Somali government, claimed the operation as part of its campaign to disrupt urban centers and international support for Mogadishu's fragile administration.[65] The attack demonstrated the group's persistent capability for vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) despite African Union and Somali military pressure.[65]September
On September 5, two suicide bombings struck Kabul, Afghanistan, targeting a passing military convoy of foreign troops in the first attack and a nearby police checkpoint in the second, resulting in at least 15 deaths—including two U.S. service members—and over 40 injuries.[66] The Taliban claimed responsibility for the initial blast, which involved a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, while the second explosion occurred minutes later amid the chaos.[66] On September 17–18, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent radicalized by online jihadist propaganda from al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, executed a series of bombings across New York and New Jersey.[67] A pipe bomb detonated harmlessly along a charity race route in Seaside Park, New Jersey, shortly before a pressure cooker bomb exploded on 23rd Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 31 people with shrapnel and blast effects but causing no fatalities; an undetonated second pressure cooker device was discovered four blocks away.[68] Rahimi, who documented his inspirations in a journal praising Anwar al-Awlaki and the Boston Marathon bombers, was captured after a shootout with police; he received multiple life sentences in 2018.[67] [68] On September 18, four armed militants infiltrated an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, initiating a four-hour gun battle that killed 17–18 Indian soldiers and injured at least 30 others, with the attackers also perishing.[69] Indian officials attributed the assault to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based Islamist group, citing evidence of cross-border infiltration and specialized training, though Pakistan denied involvement and condemned the violence.[69] [70] The incident heightened India-Pakistan tensions, prompting Indian surgical strikes across the Line of Control days later.[70]October
On October 6, a motorcycle bomb exploded near a police station in the Yenibosna district of Istanbul, Turkey, injuring 11 people including police officers and civilians.[71] The blast damaged nearby vehicles and building windows but caused no fatalities.[72] On October 8, two Israeli border police officers were killed in an ambush shooting at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by two Palestinian attackers armed with smuggled firearms.[73] The assailants, Israeli citizens from East Jerusalem, initiated the attack from within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before being killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.[73] On October 14, Islamic State militants attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint in Bir al-Abed, North Sinai, Egypt, using gunfire and suicide car bombs, killing at least 12 soldiers and wounding others.[74] The assault targeted military personnel in a region plagued by ongoing insurgency.[2] On October 21, Islamic State conducted coordinated assaults across Kirkuk, Iraq, including suicide bombings at a power station and attacks on police stations, killing approximately 80 people including security forces and civilians.[75] The offensive involved dozens of fighters emerging from sleeper cells, timed to divert resources from the Mosul campaign.[76] On October 24, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militants stormed the Balochistan Police College in Quetta, Pakistan, using gunfire and suicide vests, killing 61 people mostly cadets and injuring over 100.[77] The group, a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan splinter, claimed the attack as retaliation for military operations.[78] Pakistani forces eliminated the three attackers after a prolonged siege.[79]November
On November 12, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the Shah Noorani shrine in Khuzdar district, Balochistan province, Pakistan, during a religious gathering, killing at least 52 people and wounding more than 100 others.[80][81] The Islamic State claimed responsibility via its Amaq News Agency, targeting Sufi worshippers deemed apostates by the group.[82][83] On November 21, a suicide bomber attacked the Baqir ul-Uloom Shia mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, during evening prayers commemorating Arbaeen, killing at least 32 people and injuring over 60.[84][85] The Islamic State claimed the assault, framing it as targeting Shia heretics.[86] The Taliban denied involvement and condemned the bombing.[84] On November 26, a car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint adjacent to a busy market in Mogadishu's Waberi district, Somalia, killing at least 11 civilians and security personnel while wounding dozens more.[87][88] No group immediately claimed responsibility, though al-Shabaab frequently conducted similar vehicle-borne attacks in the capital that year.[2] Somali authorities arrested a suspect linked to the bombing.[88] On November 28, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a 20-year-old Somali-born student and legal permanent U.S. resident, rammed a vehicle into a crowd of students at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, then exited to stab victims with a butcher knife, injuring 11 before being shot dead by police.[89][90] The FBI investigated the incident as terrorism, citing Artan's Facebook post moments before the attack praising the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and referencing "dozens of muslims" killed abroad as motivation.[91][89] Artan had arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2014.[89]December
On December 10, 2016, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at an army base in Aden, Yemen, targeting soldiers queued for payday, resulting in at least 45 deaths and over 50 injuries. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.[92] On December 11, 2016, a suicide bombing struck St. Peter and St. Paul Church (also known as Botroseya Church) in Cairo, Egypt, during a Sunday mass, killing 25 people—primarily women and children—and injuring 49 others. The Islamic State claimed the assault, describing it as revenge against Egypt's participation in the U.S.-led coalition against the group.[93][94][95] On December 18, 2016, gunmen launched coordinated attacks on police stations and a historical castle in Karak, Jordan, sparking a prolonged siege that ended with Jordanian forces killing four assailants. The incident claimed 10 lives, including seven security personnel, two Jordanian civilians, and one Canadian tourist, with 34 others wounded; the perpetrators were local militants suspected of ISIS affiliations, though no group formally claimed it.[96][97][98] On December 19, 2016, Anis Amri, a 23-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker with prior radicalization indicators overlooked by authorities, rammed a hijacked truck into a crowd at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, killing 12 people and injuring 56. Amri fled the scene, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a video, and was killed five days later in a shootout with Italian police in Milan; the Islamic State praised the attack as retaliation for coalition airstrikes.[99][100] On December 31, 2016, Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national trained by the Islamic State, attacked the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year's Eve celebrations, killing 39 people—including 15 foreigners—and wounding 79 by firing over 700 rounds after slaying a police officer outside. The Islamic State claimed responsibility, framing it as vengeance for Turkish military operations in Syria; Masharipov was arrested 17 days later.[101][102][103]Ideological Analysis
Islamist Terrorism Dominance
In 2016, Islamist terrorist groups perpetrated the majority of global terrorist attacks and were responsible for the overwhelming proportion of terrorism-related fatalities, underscoring their dominance in the ideological landscape of terrorism that year. According to data compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Islamist extremism accounted for approximately 60% of the 25,673 total terrorism deaths worldwide, with major jihadist organizations such as the Islamic State (ISIS), the Taliban, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, and Al-Qaeda affiliates driving this toll through coordinated and lone-actor operations across multiple regions.[16] The Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland's START consortium, records over 13,400 terrorist incidents globally, with Islamist perpetrators linked to thousands of these, particularly in high-casualty assaults involving bombings, shootings, and suicide operations.[1] This predominance reflects the ideological coherence and transnational reach of Salafi-jihadist networks, which motivated attacks in diverse locales from the Middle East to Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, often targeting civilians, security forces, and rival factions to advance caliphate-building or anti-Western agendas. The deadliest Islamist groups in 2016 demonstrated varied operational scales but collectively amplified the lethality of jihadist terrorism. ISIS alone conducted 1,132 attacks, resulting in 9,132 deaths—35.6% of the global total—and a 50% increase from 2015, with concentrations in Iraq (e.g., the July Baghdad bombing killing 383) and Syria (e.g., the Palmyra theater massacre killing 433).[16] The Taliban executed 848 attacks in Afghanistan, causing 4,574 fatalities (17.8% globally), including large-scale assaults like the October Kunduz hospital siege (154 deaths). Boko Haram's 192 attacks yielded 1,079 deaths, a sharp 81% decline from prior peaks due to Nigerian military gains, yet still prominent in Nigeria (e.g., Dalori camp attack, 88 deaths). Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda contributed 740 and 1,349 deaths respectively across East Africa and multiple countries, while Fulani extremists—operating under Islamist insurgent banners in Nigeria and Mali—inflicted 3,068 fatalities via 466 attacks, often blending pastoral conflicts with jihadist ideology.[16]| Group | Attacks | Fatalities | % of Global Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISIS | 1,132 | 9,132 | 35.6% |
| Taliban | 848 | 4,574 | 17.8% |
| Fulani Extremists | 466 | 3,068 | 11.9% |
| Al-Qaeda | 539 | 1,349 | 5.3% |
| Boko Haram | 192 | 1,079 | 4.2% |
| Al-Shabaab | N/A | 740 | 2.9% |
