The United States maintains numerous embassies and consulates around the world, many of which are in war-torn countries or other dangerous areas.
The Regional Security Office is staffed by Special Agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and is responsible for all security, protection, and law enforcement operations in the embassy or consulate. The Regional Security Officer (RSO) is the senior DSS Special Agent in country and is the principal adviser to the Chief of Mission (generally an Ambassador or Consul General) on all security, law-enforcement, and counter-terrorism issues for that country or region. The RSO is responsible for liaising with the host government's security and law enforcement officials. The RSO is supported by a Marine Security Guard (MSG) Detachment, Assistant Regional Security Officers (ARSOs) and local security guards.
| Date | Location | Details | Type of attack | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 July 1924 | Tehran, Sublime State of Persia | An angry mob led by members of the Muslim clergy and including many members of the Iranian Army beat Consul Robert W. Imbrie to death. The mob blamed America for poisoning a well.[1] | mob | 1 | |
| 24 May 1957 | Mob attack on embassy chancery (see May 24 Incident) | mob | none | ||
| 27 January 1958 | Bombing in embassy compound[2] | none | |||
| 5 March 1964 |  Libreville, Gabon | Two weeks after a failed coup which the U.S. was mistakenly blamed for, a small bomb detonated outside the embassy compound, damaging a sign and cracking windows (see 1964 United States Embassy in Libreville bombings) | bombing | none | |
| 8 March 1964 | Libreville, Gabon | The second of two bomb attacks on the embassy in Gabon. The embassy was also fired on with a shotgun, causing minor damage. | bombing, shooting | none | |
| 4 March 1965 | Moscow, Soviet Union | Protests in front of the embassy related to the Vietnam War turned into rioting, approximately 2000 students had to be cleared away by the Red Army.[3] | mob | none | |
| 30 March 1965 | Saigon, South Vietnam | Viet Cong agents detonated a car-bomb outside the embassy.(Main article: 1965 Saigon bombing) | bombing | 2 Americans (1 CIA employee), 19 Vietnamese and one Filipino | |
| 31 January 1968 | Saigon, South Vietnam | As part of the Tet Offensive, Viet Cong commandos forced their way onto the Embassy grounds and surrounded the building until US reinforcements arrived.(Main article: Tet offensive attack on US Embassy) | armed assault | 5 US security 20 attackers | |
| 26 September 1971 | Attack on embassy softball game | 1 Marine Security Guard1 Army master sergeant1 Young Cambodian girl | |||
| 1972 | Attack by communist group, Marine guard wounded[4] | none | |||
| 19 August 1974 | mob | 2 | |||
| 14 November 1974 |  Tokyo, Japan | Several Japanese youth attacked the embassy with Molotov cocktails, throwing them from a nearby hotel. Afterwards, five stormed the compound where they were arrested. Seven local guards were injured. | armed assault | none | |
| 22 November 1974 | Fukuoka, Japan | Three men wearing red helmets from the Marxist Youth League broke windows and threw an explosive device at the Consulate. The men then attacked and injured a consulate employee. | armed assault | none | |
| 4 August 1975 | Japanese Red Army gunmen stormed the AIA building, containing both the US and Swedish embassies, and took 53 hostages.(main article: 1975 AIA building hostage crisis) | armed assault, hostage crisis | none | ||
| 17 February 1976 | Caracas, Venezuela | Gunmen in a car fire at the Embassy causing minimal damage. | shooting | none | |
| 1979 | Tehran, Iran | Iran hostage crisis | armed assault, hostage crisis | ||
| 21 November 1979 | Riots break out in response to rumors that the US bombed Mecca during the Grand Mosque seizure (see 1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Islamabad) | mob | 2 US security 2 Pakistani personnel 2 attackers | ||
| 2 December 1979 | Islamist riots destroy Embassy (see 1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Libya) | mob | none | ||
| 18 April 1983 | Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy (see April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing) | bombing | 63 (of which 17 were Americans) | ||
| 12 December 1983 | al-Dawa truck bomb outside Embassy (see 1983 Kuwait bombings) | bombing | 6 | ||
| 20 September 1984 | Hezbollah car bomb outside embassy (see 1984 United States embassy annex bombing) | bombing | 24 | ||
| November 1984 | Car bomb outside embassy planted by drug cartel[5] | bombing | 1 | ||
| February 1986 | Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside embassy[6] | bombing | none | ||
| 14 May 1986 | Japanese Red Army members attempt a mortar attack; their mortar shells fail to detonate[7] | bombing | none | ||
| 9 June 1987 | Car bomb set off, two rocket-propelled grenades fired at embassy[8] | bombing | none | ||
| 17 September 1989 | Homemade rocket fired at embassy by unknown assailant, no damage reported[9] | bombing | none | ||
| 27 July 1993 | Car bomb planted by Shining Path, significant damage to embassy building[10] | bombing | none | ||
| 13 September 1995 | RPG fired on Embassy by unknown assailant[11] | bombing | none | ||
| 21 June 1998 | RPGs fired at Embassy by Hezbollah[12] | bombing | none | ||
| 7 August 1998 | bombing | 213, including 10 U.S. personnel and 2 US security | |||
| 11 | |||||
| 19 September 1998 | Liberian security forces opened fire on a warlord speaking with U.S. officials at the Embassy gate and subsequently laid siege to the building, killing or wounding more than 10 people. An Embassy staff member and a government contractor were among the wounded. | armed assault | 10 | ||
| 22 January 2002 | Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami gunmen attacked American cultural centre, which included public affairs office of nearby Consulate (more details) | armed assault | 5 Indian security | ||
| 14 June 2002 | al-Qaeda truck bomb detonated outside Consulate (more details) | bombing | 12 Pakistani civilians | ||
| 12 October 2002 | Consular Office bombed by Jemaah Islamiyah as part of the Bali bombings | bombing | none | ||
| 28 February 2003 | Unknown gunmen attack Consulate (more details) | armed assault | 2 Pakistani security | ||
| 30 June 2004 | Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan bombs Embassy | bombing | none | ||
| 6 December 2004 | al-Qaeda gunmen raid diplomatic compound[13] | armed assault | 5 Saudi personnel 4 attackers | ||
| 2 March 2006 | Car bomb explodes outside Consulate, killing a diplomat (more details) | bombing | 1 US personnel 1 Pakistani personnel 1 Pakistani security 1 attacker | ||
| 12 September 2006 | Gunmen raid Embassy | armed assault | 1 Syrian security 3 attackers | ||
| 12 January 2007 | RPG Fired at Embassy by Revolutionary Struggle | bombing | none | ||
| 14 April 2007 | Two suicide bombers detonated their explosive devices across the street from the Consulate General and in front of the Consulate General’s public diplomacy facility and language center. Only the bombers were killed. | bombing | 2 attackers | ||
| 21 February 2008 | Rioters burn the building of the Embassy. One rioter found dead. (more details) | mob | 1 attacker | ||
| 18 March 2008 | Mortar rounds missed Embassy, hitting nearby school | bombing | 2 Yemeni civilians | ||
| 9 July 2008 | Armed attack against Consulate (more details) | armed assault | 3 Turkish security 3 attackers | ||
| 17 September 2008 | A coordinated attack resulted in a 20-minute battle with security (more details) | armed assault | 6 Yemeni security 5 Yemeni civilians 1 US civilian 6 attackers | ||
| 30 October 2009 |  Managua, Nicaragua | Several hundred supporters from the Sandinista National Liberation Front protesting "U.S. interventionism" swarm the embassy compound, attacking personnel and vandalizing property for four hours. | mob | none | |
| 5 April 2010 | An attack near the Consulate, killed two consulate security guards and at least six others (more details) | armed assault | 2 Pakistani personnel 1 Pakistani security 1 Pakistani civilian 4 attackers | ||
| 22 July 2010 | Unknown individuals fired a rocket that struck an Embassy firing range, killing three Embassy guards and injuring 15 fifteen others, including two Embassy contractors. | rocket attack | 3 | ||
| 25 September 2011 |  Kabul, Afghanistan | An Afghan employee opened fire inside an Embassy Annex compound, killing one American and wounding three others before being shot and killed. | armed assault | 1 American 1 attacker | |
| 28 October 2011 | A Wahhabi Islamist gunman, fired on the embassy, resulting in one local policeman guarding the embassy being wounded in the arm by the gunman, while the shooter was wounded by a police sniper. | armed assault | none | ||
| 11 September 2012 | Protestors scaled the walls of the Consulate and replaced the US flag with an Islamist banner before being driven back by Egyptian security (more details) | mob | none | ||
| A group of terrorists storm the Consulate—killing the Ambassador, one staff member, and two security contractors (more details) | armed assault | 4 US personnel | |||
| 14 September 2012 | Protestors stormed the Embassy and set fire to several vehicles before being driven back by Yemeni security (more details) | mob | 5 attackers | ||
| Tunisian police fought back protestors who attacked the Embassy (more details) | mob | 2 attackers | |||
| 1 February 2013 |  Ankara, Turkey | A suicide bomber attacked the Embassy, detonating himself inside a security entrance to the compound (more details) | bombing | 1 Turkish security 1 attacker | |
| 25 June 2013 | Kabul, Afghanistan | Suicide insurgents initiated a failed assault on the Embassy, engaging Afghan security forces and Local Guard Force personnel in a firefight. All perpetrators were killed. | armed assault | 8 insurgents 7 Afghan security | |
| 13 September 2013 | Herat, Afghanistan | A group of 7 Taliban militants attacked the Consulate using truck bombs, assault rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades, killing 2 Afghan security guards and wounding 20 others (more details) | armed assault | 2 Afghan security | |
| 28 September 2015 | Unidentified man threw two Molotov cocktails or similar improvised explosives over the wall of the Embassy | bombing | none | ||
| 21 February 2018 | A pro-Russian and Serbian-born assailant threw a hand grenade over the wall of the Embassy. Reporting indicated the grenade appeared to detonate as it was thrown into the air, and the man detonated a second device that killed him. The man's body was found from the embassy wall. | bombing | 1 attacker | ||
| 26 July 2018 | Unidentified 26-year-old man set off explosive device outside the Embassy.[14] | bombing | none | ||
| 1 December 2018 | Unidentified assailant threw a grenade at the consulate.[15] | bombing | none | ||
| 31 December 2019 |  Baghdad, Iraq | 2019 attack on the United States embassy in Iraq | mob | ||
| 27 March 2021 |  Yangon, Myanmar | Attack on the embassy in Yangon[16] | shooting | none | |
| 1 December 2022 |  Madrid, Spain | Letter bomb sent to the embassy in Madrid[17] | Bombing | none | |
| 8 December 2023 | Baghdad, Iraq | Approximately seven mortar rounds landed in the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad[18] | mortar attack | none | |