45 years of terrorist attacks in Europe
From 1970-2015: 4,724 people died from bombings. 2,588 from assassinations. 2,365 from assaults. 548 from hostage situations. 159 from hijackings. 114 from building attacks. Thousands wounded or missing.
Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain and France are among the countries with the highest number of terrorism deaths, according to the database.
Note: Terrorism deaths are limited to attacks that were not classified by the GTD to be wartime tactics. Monthly data for 1993 was not available.
he attacks can happen almost anywhere: In a holiday market outside a historic church in Berlin, on the street during a national holiday in France, in an airplane over Scotland or during the first day of school in a small town in Russia.
Sometimes, a plot fails – a detonator malfunctions or authorities make an arrest – and no one is injured.
Other times, an attack leaves a trail of death and destruction that can shake a nation. Sometimes a continent.
Terrorism in Europe
July 2014
Sept. 2004
339
Sept. 1999
331
Dec.
1988
293
300 deaths
per month
276
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
July 2014
Sept. 2004
339
331
Sept. 1999
Terrorism in Europe
Dec. 1988
293
300
300
300 deaths per month
276
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
July 2014
Sept. 2004
339
331
Sept. 1999
Terrorism in Europe
Dec. 1988
293
300
300
300 deaths per month
276
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Terrorism across Europe has killed 10,537 people in 18,803 reported attacks – excluding those considered military tactics in war zones – between January 1970 and December 2015, according to the University of Maryland’s Global Terrorism Database (GTD).
The database tracks more than 150,000 foreign and domestic terrorism incidents worldwide.
Attacks in 2014 and 2015 have seen the highest number of fatalities, which includes terrorists targeting civilians, government officials, businesses and the media, across Europe since 2004.
Attacks with at least
one death, 1970-2015
One attack
Attacks with at least
one death, 1970-2015
NOR.
One attack
EST.
SWE.
LAT.
RUSSIA
DEN.
LITH.
UNITED
KINGDOM
RUS.
IRE.
BELARUS
POLAND
GER.
UKRAINE
AUS.
Crimea
250 miles
HUN.
FRANCE
ROMANIA
(Disputed)
BULG.
ITALY
TURKEY
POR.
GREECE
SPAIN
IRAQ
SYRIA
ALGERIA
TUN.
MOR.
Terrorist attacks with at
least one death, 1970-2015
NORWAY
SWEDEN
EST.
One attack
Moscow
LAT.
RUSSIA
KAZAKHSTAN
LITH.
DEN.
RUS.
UNITED
KINGDOM
IRE.
BELARUS
NETH.
Berlin
Kiev
London
POLAND
GERMANY
UKRAINE
BELG.
CZECH REP.
Paris
SLVK.
MOL.
Crimea
AZER.
AUS.
GEORGIA
(Disputed)
HUN.
250 miles
FRANCE
SWITZ.
ROMANIA
IRAN
BULG.
ITALY
TURKEY
POR.
Madrid
Rome
Barcelona
SPAIN
GREECE
SYRIA
IRAQ
Athens
ALGERIA
TUN.
MOR.
Western Europe
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Eastern Europe
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
300 deaths per month
300 deaths per month
200
200
100
100
0
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
300 deaths per month
300 deaths per month
200
200
100
100
0
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
The frequency and deadliness of attacks have shifted between Eastern and Western Europe since 2000.
From the 1970s to the ’90s, Western Europe saw a rise in nationalism-inspired terrorist attacks from groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland and Basque Homeland and Freedom, otherwise known as the ETA, in the Basque Country in northern Spain.
While attacks started to become less frequent after 2000 in Western Europe, they remained deadly.
Meanwhile, in East Europe, attacks became more frequent around the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Terrorist groups formed in the ensuing conflicts throughout the former Soviet republics, with some receiving support from Islamist terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.
Historical hot spots
Russia
Terrorism in a post-Cold War era
Attacks with at least one death, 1992-2015
RUSSIA
Caucasus
region
500 miles
RUSSIA
CHINA
Caucasus
region
500 miles
3,541 deaths in 828 lethal attacks
Notable groups: Chechen rebels, Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs, Caucasus Emirate, Special Purpose Islamic Regiment, Islambouli Brigades of al-Qaeda
Sept. 4-16, 1999
Russian apartment bombings
Sept. 1-3, 2004
Beslan school
seige
289
317
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Sept. 1-3, 2004
Beslan school seige
317
300 deaths
per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Sept. 4-16, 1999
Russian apartment bombings
289
Sept. 4-16, 1999
Russian apartment bombings
Sept. 1-3, 2004
Beslan school seige
289
317
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
More people died in terrorism-related attacks in Russia than any other country in Europe, according to the GTD.
The country experienced one of Europe's deadliest attacks in September 2004 when members of the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs, an Islamist force of suicide attackers, took more than 1,000 people hostage during the first day of classes at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in the North Caucasus region.
More than 300 people died at the end of the three-day siege. About half of the victims were children, according to reports.
United Kingdom
From domestic to foreign extremism
Attacks with at least one death, 1970-2015
Northern
Ireland
IRELAND
United
Kingdom
100 miles
2,570 deaths in 1,679 lethal attacks
Notable groups: Provisional Irish Republican Army, Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association, Irish National Liberation Army
Dec. 21, 1988
Lockerbie bombing
300 deaths per month
270
200
July 7, 2005
London bombings
53
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Dec. 21, 1988
Lockerbie bombing
270
300 deaths
per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
July 7, 2005
London bombings
53
Dec. 21, 1988
Lockerbie bombing
300 deaths per month
270
July 7, 2005
London bombings
200
53
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Much of the terrorism deaths in the United Kingdom during the late 20th century came from attacks orchestrated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and other associated factions.
These attacks occurred during The Troubles, a 30-year ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland between loyalists, a majority of which were Protestant who wished to remain part of the United Kingdom, and republicans, who were exclusively Catholic and fought to become part of Ireland.
While the IRA was the deadliest group to be active in the United Kingdom, they were not responsible the country’s most devastating terrorist attack: the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb exploded inside Pan Am Flight 103 as the plane flew over Lockerbie, Scotland. The explosion killed 270 people. Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was convicted in 2001 for the attack. In October, Scottish prosecutors said they wanted to interview two Libyans who they suspect worked with al-Megrahi.
Spain
A fight for independence and explosions in Madrid
Attacks with at least one death, 1970-2015
FRANCE
Basque
Country
POR.
SPAIN
100 miles
1,129 deaths in 659 lethal attacks
Notable groups: Basque Homeland and Freedom, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades (Al-Qaeda), First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Group, Hezbollah, Argentine Anticommunist Alliance
300 deaths per month
March 11, 2004
Madrid bombings
191
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
300 deaths per month
March 11, 2004
Madrid bombings
191
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
March 11, 2004
Madrid bombings
191
300 deaths
per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Similar to the United Kingdom, terrorist attacks from the 1970s to the 2000s in Spain were from pro-national groups.
The most notable was the ETA, also known as Basque Homeland and Freedom, a group that committed kidnappings, assassinations and bombings with a goal to make the Basque Country independent. It was disbanded in 2011.
In March 2004, a series of bombs on trains along the Cercanías railroad system in Madrid killed more than 190 people.
It was the country’s deadliest attack. Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, an Islamic group with ties to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility.
Ukraine
A downed airplane and political unrest
Attacks with at least one death, 1991-2015
BELARUS
RUSSIA
POL.
UKRAINE
Eastern
Ukraine
MOL.
ROMANIA
RUS.
Crimea
(disputed)
100 miles
893 deaths in 185 lethal attacks
Notable groups: Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Right Sector, Pro-Russia Militia, Kharkiv Partisans
July 17, 2014
Malaysia Airline Flight 17
300 deaths per month
298
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
July 17, 2014
Malaysia Airline
Flight 17
298
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
July 17, 2014
Malaysia Airline
Flight 17
298
300 deaths per month
200
100
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
Ukraine experienced more than 180 terrorist attacks that resulted in at least one death since 1992.
However, a majority of the country’s deaths – more than 800 – occurred within the last two years during the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to the database.
The attacks – those targeting civilians, businesses, the media and government officials without any wartime strategic value – have been attributed to the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics.
The deadliest attack in the country’s history occurred on July 17, 2014, when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine. Nearly 300 crew members and passengers died.
In September, a Dutch-led investigation said the missile that brought down the plane originated in Russia and was fired from territory held by pro-Russian separatists.
France
Two shootings and a devastated capital
Attacks with at least one death, 1972-2015
U.K.
BEL.
GERMANY
Paris
SWITZ.
FRANCE
ITALY
SPAIN
100 miles
405 deaths in 180 lethal attacks
Notable groups: Islamic State, Anti-Terrorist Liberation Group, Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, Corsican National Liberation Front
Nov. 13-14, 2015
Paris attacks
300 deaths per month
130
200
Jan. 7, 2015
Charlie Hebdo shooting
12
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Nov. 13-14, 2015
Paris attacks
130
300 deaths per month
Jan. 7, 2015
Charlie Hebdo
shooting
200
12
100
0
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2015
Nov. 13-14, 2015
Paris attacks
130
300 deaths per month
200
100
0
1970
‘80
‘90
2000
‘10
‘15
France’s deadliest year for terrorism deaths was 2015 with more than 140 deaths from two attacks in Paris.
In January 2015, three men who had ties with al-Qaeda in Yemen and the Islamic State shot and killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
Ten months later, the country saw its worst terrorist attack in history when members of the Islamic State coordinated a series of shootings and bombings across Paris that left about 130 people dead.
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