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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
1996 APRIL: PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, 1995
Office of the Secretary
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Philip C. Wilcox, Jr.
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EUROPE AND EURASIA OVERVIEW
CONTENTS
The number of lethal terrorist incidents in Europe declined from 46 in
1994 to 11 in 1995, although the total number of incidents rose from 88
to 272. In Eurasia, however, the total number dropped from 11 in 1994 to
five in 1995. Most of the terrorist incidents that occurred in Europe
and Eurasia were acts of arson or vandalism against Turkish-owned
businesses largely in Germany. These acts are widely believed to be the
work of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); several European nations
permit the PKK to operate known front companies within their borders.
Islamic extremists upset with French Government policy toward the
conflict in Algeria are suspected of being responsible for terrorist
bombings in France during 1995 that left eight dead and 160 wounded. The
bombers targeted subways, markets, and other public places to achieve a
maximum effect. Islamic extremists also probably conducted a car bombing
in front of police headquarters in Rijeka, Croatia, which killed the
driver of the car. The Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group
or IG) claimed responsibility.
Radical nationalism and xenophobia provoked a campaign of letter bombs
directed at foreigners in Austria and in Germany, where neo-Nazi
violence against foreigners continued. The terrorist group Basque
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) continued its campaign of murder and
intimidation in Spain, including an attack on Partido Popular leader
Jose Maria Aznar, and Spanish police in August foiled a plot to
assassinate King Juan Carlos. In Greece the indigenous leftist
Revolutionary Organization 17 November and other domestic terrorist
groups continued to threaten US and Turkish diplomats and to target
Greek business interests.
In Turkey, the PKK continued to engage in terrorism with the goal of
creating a separate state. In addition, Marxist terrorist groups and
Islamist radicals conducted terrorist attacks aimed at official Turkish
interests and progovernment figures. The Marxist Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front, known by the Turkish initials DHKP/C - the
successor to the group formerly known as Dev Sol - apparently continued to
target US interests. The PKK also continued to attack sites frequented
by US and other tourists but at a level sharply reduced from its height
in 1993.
Attacks on foreigners that began in 1993 continued in 1995, killing four
and injuring another 11 persons, including two in neighboring Germany.
In June a third series of letter bombs linked to neo-Nazi elements
included two that were mailed from Austria to an Austrian-born black TV
commentator in Munich and to the mayor of Luebeck, injuring colleagues
of the intended victims. The letters carried the logo of the Bajuwarian
Liberation Front (also known as the Bavarian Liberation Army), an
obscure rightwing group that had claimed responsibility for a number of
attacks in Austria. In December another round of bombings was timed to
try to embarrass Austrian authorities. Two of four letter bombs in a
public mailbox exploded as the trial of two rightwing suspects in the
bombings of December 1993 was wrapping up. (They were acquitted.)
On 20 September a leftwing group called the Red Daughters of Rage
firebombed a German pharmaceutical firm in Vienna that was hosting US
visitors and flying a US flag. The group claimed the firm was affiliated
with a US genetic company that they alleged was involved in forced
sterilization in developing countries. A leftwing group calling itself
the Cell for Internationalism claimed responsibility for a similar
firebombing the next day against the American International School. The
same group claimed it was also involved in a firebombing on 20 December
against an American Express office in Salzburg.
In February, Austrian officials released suspected Abu Nidal terrorist
Bahij Younis from a Vienna prison, where he had served 13 years for
complicity in the murder in 1981 of the president of the Austro-Israeli
Society Nittel in Vienna. Younis is also believed to have masterminded
the attack against a synagogue in Vienna in 1981. In March, Austria
extradited to Belgium Rajeh Heshan Mohamed Baghdad, a PLO terrorist
sentenced to life in 1982 for his role in a murder and terrorist attack
in 1981.
A car bomb detonated outside police headquarters in Rijeka on 20
October, injuring 29 bystanders and killing the driver of the car. The
Egyptian organization al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (also known as the Islamic
Group or IG) claimed responsibility for the bombing. The car bomb was
detonated to press Croatian authorities into releasing IG spokesman
Tala'at Fuad Kassem, who had been detained by Croatian police in Zagreb
on 12 September. After the bombing, Croatian authorities said Kassem was
no longer in the country.
A series of terrorist incidents in France in 1995 appeared to be the
work of Algerian extremists. In July a cofounder of the Algerian
opposition group Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Abdelbaki Sahraoui, was
murdered in Paris. Suspicion focused on another Algerian opposition
group, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which had earlier put Sahraoui on
a "death list" for his supposed conciliatory posture toward the Algerian
Government.
A blast on 25 July in a Paris metro station kicked off a campaign of
eight bombings or attempted bombings in France. Eight people were killed
and 160 wounded in the attacks, which were staged in train stations,
markets, and other public places to maximize civilian casualties.
Although there were various claims of responsibility for the blasts,
suspicions centered on the violent Islamic opposition to the Algerian
Government. Some commentators argued that the GIA wanted to punish the
Government of France for its supposed support for the Algerian
Government; others claimed that the bombings were in retribution for the
killing of four Algerian hijackers of an Air France Airbus in December
1994.
French police achieved a breakthrough in September when they traced
fingerprints found on an unexploded bomb - discovered on high-speed train
tracks near Lyon - to a French citizen of Algerian descent, Khaled Kelkal.
The police killed Kelkal in a shootout later that month. In November
fingerprints found on another unexploded device and other information
led police to arrest several more people of North African descent, two
of whom were formally charged with involvement in the bombings. There
were no additional terrorist blasts in 1995 following these arrests. The
French judiciary may reveal more about its understanding of the
structure behind the crimes when the judicial cases against the accused
come to trial.
In August assailants threw a molotov cocktail at a Turkish sporting and
cultural association in Paris, injuring six and causing minor damage.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) probably is responsible.
On 29 August unidentified assailants attempted to assassinate President
Eduard Schevardnadze by detonating a car bomb near his motorcade as it
left the presidential compound in T'bilisi. Schevardnadze suffered minor
injuries, but four of his bodyguards were injured, one seriously.
Six armed men detonated a small bomb in front of the residence of the
Russian Ambassador to Georgia on 9 April, shattering windows and causing
minor damage to nearby houses. The Algeti Wolves claimed responsibility
for that attack and for an armed assault two hours later on Russian
troops in the city, citing Russian involvement in Chechnya as the reason
for both attacks. There were no injuries.
Authorities continued to pursue and prosecute Red Army Faction (RAF)
members. In September, a German court sentenced RAF member Sieglinde
Hofmann to life imprisonment for assisting in five murders and three
attempted murders, including the bomb attack in 1979 in Belgium on then-
NATO Commander Alexander Haig. In October, Johannes Weinrich, a former
RAF member and alleged deputy to international terrorist Illych Ramirez
Sanchez (Carlos), was indicted in Berlin for transporting explosives
into Germany that were later used to bomb the French cultural center;
Weinrich had been extradited to Germany from Yemen. Germany released
several former RAF terrorists who had served from 11 to 20 years of
their sentences.
Although German officials say the RAF has largely disintegrated, they
worry about successor organizations that have assumed the RAF's
ideological mantle. The emerging Anti-Imperialist Cells (AIZ), for
example, mounted several bombing attacks against German interests in
1995. Among far-right groups, German authorities noted an increasing
tendency to link up with neo-Nazi groups abroad, especially through the
use of electronic communication networks.
The number of arson attacks with proven or probable connections to
foreign extremist groups were more than five times those carried out in
1994, largely because of two waves of attacks in March-April and July-
August by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In more than 200 attacks
on Turkish establishments - some of which may have been "copycat" attacks
perpetrated by antiforeigner Germans rather than the PKK - two foreigners
died and several others were injured. Although Germany banned the PKK
and several associated Kurdish organizations in 1993, new PKK front
organizations appear frequently in Germany, thus presenting a continuing
problem for the government.
Attacks against US interests were rare, although US-owned Chrysler
dealerships were targeted to protest the scheduled execution in the
United States of convicted murderer Mumia Abu Jamal. In Kassel, vandals
smashed car and showroom windows, and, elsewhere, the Anti-Imperialistic
Group Liberty for Mumia Abu Jamal claimed responsibility for firebombing
a vehicle parked outside a dealership.
In November a group calling itself Anti-Imperialist Freedom Connection
for Benjamin claimed responsibility for setting fire to and destroying a
vehicle belonging to a German-Spanish automobile joint venture; the
claim letter protested the deportation trial of Benjamin Ramos-Vega, a
member of the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist group.
Greek leftist and anarchist groups in 1995 again conducted numerous
terrorist attacks against public and private Greek and foreign targets.
The Revolutionary Organization 17 November, for example, fired two
rockets at a MEGA TV station facility in March, causing extensive damage
but no casualties. Greek terrorist groups also conducted several
operations against foreign interests, including the August bombings of
the American Express and Citibank offices in Athens.
Greece had some counterterrorist successes in 1995, including the
successful conviction of Georgios Balafas, a suspected 17 November
terrorist sentenced to 10 years in prison for stockpiling weapons. Greek
counterterrorist efforts, however, could benefit from the passage of
tougher, more comprehensive counterterrorist regulations. Since 1975 no
one has been convicted of any of 17 November's terrorist attacks,
including the murder of four US officials and a Greek employee of the US
Embassy. While official statements indicate the government's resolve to
confront Greece's domesticterrorist problem, frequent turnover of key
personnel involved in the fight against terrorism - three public order
ministers in the past year - hampers these efforts.
Greek authorities continued in 1995 to deny public Turkish charges that
the anti-Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) conducts operational
terrorist training and receives assistance in Greece. As is the case in
certain other European countries, however, Greece permits the PKK to
operate a known front organization in Athens. In May it also allowed the
successor group to Dev Sol, another anti-Turkish and anti-US terrorist
group, to open an office in Athens under its new name, the Revolutionary
People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
In the culmination of what journalists said was a two-year
investigation, Milan police arrested 11 persons on 26 June at Milan's
Islamic Center and made additional arrests a few days later. Police
officials told the press that the group provided support for an
international network of Islamic terrorist organizations, including the
Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group or IG). A police
spokesman also said the arrestees maintained contact with the "Blind
Shaykh," Umar Abd al-Rahman, who was convicted in October for conspiring
to commit terrorism in the United States. Charges against the accused
include conspiracy, extortion, armed robbery, falsifying documents, and
arms smuggling.
On the basis of a French warrant, Italian police arrested former Red
Army Faction member Margo Froehlich in October. A German national, she
was wanted for complicity in a Paris attack in 1982 carried out by
international terrorist Illych Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos) that killed one
person and injured 63.
On the afternoon of 13 September, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the
sixth floor of the US Embassy in Moscow. The grenade penetrated the wall
and exploded inside, causing some damage to office equipment but no
casualties. No group claimed responsibility.
In December 1995, Russia participated in a first-of-its-kind
counterterrorism ministerial conference that was called by the heads of
the G-7 nations plus Russia at their June summit in Halifax.
In 1995, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorists conducted
attacks on Spanish rail lines and stations, banks, police officers, and
political figures - including the assassination of the Partido Popular
mayoral candidate in San Sebastian and the attempted assassination of
the leading contender for the prime ministership. In addition, ETA
targeted French interests in Spain in 1995. In February a suspected ETA
bomb exploded at a French-owned bank. Following a joint Spanish-French
operation that thwarted a plot to assassinate King Juan Carlos while he
vacationed in Majorca last August, suspected ETA members or supporters
tossed molotov cocktails at a Citroen car dealership in Navarre,
destroying five vehicles. In mid-December suspected ETA members
detonated a car bomb in Madrid, one of the worst attacks in years that
claimed at least six lives and wounded 15others.
Turkey continued its vigorous pursuit of several violent leftist and
Islamic extremist groups, especially the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
responsible for terrorism in Turkey.
The PKK launched hundreds of attacks in 1995 in Turkey, including
indiscriminate bombings in areas frequented by Turkish and foreign
civilians, as part of its campaign to establish a breakaway state in
southeastern Turkey. For example, the group set off a bomb outside a
cafe/grocery store in Izmir on 17 September, killing five and wounding
29. The PKK also continued - albeit with less success - its three-year-old
attempt to drive foreign tourists away from Turkey by attacking tourist
sites. In August two US citizens were injured by shrapnel in a bombing
of Istanbul's popular Taksim Square. Moreover, the PKK continued to
expand its activities in Western Europe, especially in Germany, where
its members frequently attacked ethnic Turks and Turkish commercial
establishments.
A successor to the Marxist/Leninist Devrimci Sol (Dev Sol) - known as the
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) - and several
Islamic extremist groups were active in 1995. Dev Sol has been
responsible for several anti-US attacks since 1990, and the DHKP/C
continues to target US citizens. In July the group took over a
restaurant in Istanbul, holding several civilians - including three US
tourists - hostage. All of the hostages eventually were released unharmed.
Loosely organized Islamic extremist groups, such as the Islamic Movement
Organization and IBDA-C, continued to launch attacks against targets
associated with Turkish official facilities and functions. They may have
been responsible for the attempted assassination in June of a prominent
Jewish community leader in Ankara.
On 24 May, an explosive device detonated near the Austrian Airlines
office in the Odessa airport in southern Ukraine. Austrian Airlines is
the only Western airline that flies out of Odessa. Press reports said
the device consisted of about six pounds of plastic explosive. There
were no injuries. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which
may not have been politically motivated.
The cease-fires begun in the autumn of 1994, led by the Provisional
Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and followed by other Republican splinter
groups and the three major Loyalist paramilitaries, still held at year's
end. Nevertheless, sporadic incidents of politically motivated killings,
arson, attempted bombings, punishment beatings, and abductions were
reported. No progress was made on the decommissioning of weapons, and
paramilitaries were combat ready. In November, Irish and British police
forces intercepted a van loaded with hundreds of pounds of explosives in
Ireland near the border with Northern Ireland. Authorities believe a
Republican fringe group known as the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) was intending to attack British security forces in Northern
Ireland. A subsequent police sweep of the area discovered another cache
of explosives and bombmaking equipment at a farm a few miles from the
first operation.
In January an unidentified assailant shot and killed a Sikh newspaper
editor. The victim may have been killed because of his support for an
independent Sikh state in India. No one claimed responsibility.
A British court ruled on 25 July to extradite Kani Yilmaz, European
chief of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to Germany, where he faces
charges of conspiracy to commit arson. The ruling sparked a large crowd
of PKK supporters to battle London police, pelting them with bottles,
bricks, and road signs, injuring more than a dozen police officers and
an unknown number of others. The United Kingdom permits the PKK to
operate a known front organization within its borders.
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