Historica Wiki
Advertisement
1983 Kuwait bombings

The 1983 Kuwait bombings occurred on 12 December 1983 when Hezbollah/Islamic Jihad Organization - under orders from Iran - bombed six foreign and Kuwaiti installations in Kuwait City, Kuwait, killing 5 people and injuring 86. The bombings were planned by Mustafa Badreddine, a senior member of Hezbollah, with the help of his cousin Imad Mughniyah and Iran's IRGC, and the attacks were meant to be retribution for Kuwait, America, and France's assistance to Ba'athist Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. The bombings targeted two embassies, the country's main airport, and a petrochemical plant, but the faulty rigging prevented the bombings from being the worst terrorist episode of the century. 17 people were arrested in connection to the attacks, with 3 being Lebanese and 12 being Shahid al-Sadr members from Iraq. The death sentences handed down to the attackers were delayed for years due to a hostage crisis back in Lebanon, with IJO threatening to kill their hostages if the prisoners were executed; the prisoners eventually escaped from captivity.

Advertisement