This is a list of terrorist incidents which took place in 2012, 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.
Total Incidents:
| Date | Type | data-sort-type="number" | Dead | data-sort-type="number" | Injured | Location | Article | Details | Perpetrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January | Suicide bombings, bombings | 73+ | 149 | Nasiriyah and Baghdad, Iraq | 5 January 2012 Iraq bombings | A wave of bombings targeting Shia Muslims across Iraq. A suicide bomber blew himself up in Nasiriyah, killing 44 and injuring 81. In Baghdad at least 4 bombs exploded in the districts of Kadhimiya and Sadr City, killing 29 and injuring 68.[1] | Islamic State of Iraq (suspected) | ||
| 6–7 January | Shootings, mortar attacks, IEDs | 8 | 50 | Baghdad, Mosul and Balad, Iraq | 5 January 2012 Iraq bombings | A string of shootings and bombings followed the wave of bombings two days earlier. Most of the attacks appeared to target Shia Muslims and there was a mortar attack directed at the Green Zone during a military parade.[2] [3] | |||
| 6 January | Suicide bombing | 26+ | 63+ | Damascus, Syria | January 2012 al-Midan bombing | A suicide bomber blew his explosive vest in the Al-Midan district near a police station and a bus full of recruits. The Syrian National Council, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Free Syrian Army accused the government of orchestrating this to reduce attention on its crackdown and to justify its alleged brutality.[4] | Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant | ||
| 10 January | Car bombing | 29 | 50 | Jamrud, Khyber Agency, Pakistan | 2012 Khyber Agency bombing | Suspected car bombing near a fueling station. The city, which lies 25 km west of Peshawar, is considered the gateway to the Khyber Pass used by NATO fuel convoys to bring supplies into Afghanistan.[5] [6] | |||
| 14 January | Suicide bombing, IEDs, car bombing | 55 | 141 | Basra, Iraq | 14 January 2012 Basra bombing | A suicide bomber dressed as a policeman attacked a crowd of Shiite pilgrims and security forces at a checkpoint. The blast coincided with several other small attacks in Tikrit, Mosul and Baqubah.[7] [8] | |||
| 17 January | Shooting, kidnapping | 5 | 3 | Afar Region, Ethiopia | 2012 Afar region tourist attack | Unidentified attackers shot and killed at least 5 foreign tourists and kidnapped 4 people near the Erta Ale volcano. At least three other tourists were injured and two Germans were among the kidnapped together with 2 Ethiopians. The dead included two Germans, two Hungarians and one Austrian. The government placed the blame on "members of a group that was trained and armed by the Eritrean government.[9] [10] | |||
| 10 February | Suicide car bombings | 28 | 235 | Aleppo, Syria | February 2012 Aleppo bombings | Two bombings shook the city, targeting the security and military headquarters. Government sources and state media said the blasts were caused by two suicide car bombs. Among the 28 victims were 24 members of the security forces and 4 civilians. | Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant[11] or Free Syrian Army[12] | ||
| 13 February | Car bomb | 0 | 4 | New Delhi, India | 2012 attacks on Israeli diplomats | An Israeli diplomat's car exploded near the Indian prime minister's residence, injuring the wife of an embassy staff member and at least three other people, in what appeared to be a coordinated, two-pronged attack against Israeli missions in India and Georgia. | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps[13] | ||
| 19 February | Suicide bombing | 19 | 26 | Baghdad, Iraq | 2012 Baghdad police academy bombing | A suicide car bomber killed police officers and cadets in front of an academy.[14] | |||
| 27 February | Stabbings | 24 | 18 | Yecheng, China | 2012 Yecheng attack | Eight Uyghur men led by religious extremist Abudukeremu Mamuti attacked pedestrians with axes and knives on a crowded street. Police fought the group, killing all and capturing Mamuti. One police officer died and four others were injured, while 15 pedestrians died from Mamuti's assault and 14 others were injured.[15] | East Turkestan Islamic Movement (suspected) | ||
| 11–22 March | Shootings | 7 (+1) | 5 | Toulouse and Montauban, France | Toulouse and Montauban shootings | A radical Islamist shot and killed three paratroopers in two separate incidents in and around Toulouse. On March 10 a lone paratrooper was killed in Toulouse and five days later three other soldiers were attacked near a cash machine in Montauban, 50 kilometers south of Toulouse. The attacker, who drove a black motorbike, managed to kill two of them and critically injure the third. In all cases the soldiers were from immigrant families.[16] | Mohammed Merah | ||
| 17 March | Car bombings | 27 | 140 | Damascus, Syria | March 2012 Damascus bombings | Car bombs were detonated in front of the aviation intelligence and criminal security departments. The government blamed the attack on terrorists, while the opposition maintained that the attacks were orchestrated. | Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant[17] | ||
| 20 March | Suicide bombings, car bombs, shootings | 52 | ~250 | Baghdad and 10 other cities, Iraq | 20 March 2012 Iraq attacks | Numerous car bombings and suicide attacks shook Baghdad, as well as Karbala and Kirkuk among others.[18] [19] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 31 March | Bombings | 16 | 321 | Yala and Hat Yai, Thailand | 2012 Southern Thailand bombings | Three bombs went off in the business district around lunchtime, killing at least eleven and injuring more than 110 others. Separately, a blast took place in a high-rise hotel in neighboring Songkhla Province. This second attack killed at least five and left more than 220 wounded.[20] | Patani United Liberation Organisation suspected | ||
| 15 April | Suicide bombings, firefights, sieges | 51 | 44 | Kabul and Nangarhar, Paktia and Logar provinces, Afghanistan | April 2012 Afghanistan attacks | Militants staged highly coordinated attacks in four Afghan provinces and the capital Kabul. Among the targets were the U.S., German, British and Russian Embassies, NATO bases, the Afghan Parliament, airports and a military academy. The siege in Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter started around 1 PM and went on for 18 hours. Among the dead were 8 Afghan soldiers and four civilians.[21] | Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network suspected | ||
| 27 April | Bombings | 0 | 27 | Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine | 2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions | At least four explosions hit the city.[22] | |||
| 10 May | Suicide car bombings | 55 | ~400 | Damascus, Syria | 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings | A pair of suicide bombers detonated two vehicles packed more than 1,000 kilograms of explosives in front of a military intelligence building. The 10-story complex lost its façade.[23] | Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant | ||
| 19 May | School Bombing | 1 | 5 | Brindisi, Italy | Brindisi school bombing | A 68-year-old storekeeper detonated three gas cylinder bombs hidden in a rubbish bin in front of the "Morvillo Falcone" vocational school. The attack killed one student and injured 5 others. The attacker, who was arrested on June 8, justified his deed as a form of protest, giving generic answers.[24] [25] | Giovanni Vantaggiato | ||
| 21 May | Suicide bombing | 120+ | 350+ | Sana'a, Yemen | 2012 Sanaa bombing | A suicide bomber dressed as a soldier blew himself up during a rehearsal for the annual Unity Day parade.[26] [27] | Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula | ||
| 13 June | Car bombings, shootings | 93 | 312 | Baghdad and six other cities, Iraq | 13 June 2012 Iraq attacks | A wave of attacks across Iraq. At least 10 bombings took place across Baghdad, most of them aimed at Shi'ite pilgrims celebrating a religious holiday. In the central and southern parts of the country, attacks took place in Karbala, Balad, Taji and Hillah, where two car bombs killed at least 22 at a local restaurant frequented by policemen. Bombings shook Kirkuk as well, including an explosion at the headquarters for Kurdish President Massoud Barzani that killed a bystander and left several others injured. Separately, unidentified gunmen shot and killed at least three security officers in the capital.[28] [29] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 29 June | Airplane hijacking | 2 | 13 | Hotan, Xinjiang, China | Tianjin Airlines Flight GS7554 | On a flight between Hotan and Urumqi, six ethnic Uyghur men, one of whom allegedly professed his motivation as jihad, announced their intent to violently hijacking. In the ensuing resistance by passengers, two hijackers were killed, and another two hospitalized; 13 passengers and crew were injured by the aluminum crutch and explosive-armed hijackers.[30] [31] [32] | |||
| 18 July | Suicide bombing | 6 (+1) | 30+ | Burgas, Bulgaria | 2012 Burgas bus bombing | A suicide bomber on board a bus killed 5 Israeli tourists and the bus driver.[33] | Hezbollah[34] | ||
| 18 July | Bombing | 4 | 2 | Damascus, Syria | 18 July 2012 Damascus bombing | A remotely operated bomb exploded in the National Security Building on Rawda Square during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. Minister of Defense Dawoud Rajiha was killed along with deputy vice president Hasan Turkmani and Assef Shawkat, President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and deputy defense minister. Several other senior officials were seriously injured, including interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar and intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar, who died two days after the attack.[35] | Free Syrian Army or Liwa al-Islam | ||
| 23 July | Car bombings, suicide bombings, shootings | 116 | 299 | across Iraq | 23 July 2012 Iraq attacks | Bombings and gun attacks across Iraq in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets. The deadliest attacks occurred north of Baghdad, where insurgents attacked an army post near Dhuluiya and set off at least seven car bombs in nearby Taji, killing a total of 48 and leaving scores injured. Explosions rocked the capital's Sadr City neighborhood, as well as Kirkuk, Mosul, Samarra, Dujail, Khan Bani Saad City, Tuz Khormato and Diwaniyah. Militants also attacked various army checkpoints in Diyala Province.[36] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 1 August | Serial bomb blasts | 0 | 1 | 2012 Pune bombings | Series of four coordinated low intensity bombings.[37] [38] | ||||
| 5 August | Shooting | 16 | 7 | Kerem Shalom, Egypt | August 2012 Sinai attack | Attack on a police station in North Sinai on the border between Egypt and Israel.[39] | |||
| 6–7 August | Shooting | 22 | ~20 | Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria | Deeper Life Bible Church shooting | Three men entered a church during evening Bible Study, turning off the electricity and shooting at worshippers. At least 19 were killed and around 20 others injured. Hours later gunmen on a motorcycle attacked an army patrol, killing 2 soldiers and a civilian.[40] | |||
| 16 August | Suicide bombings, car bombs, shootings | 128 | 417 | across Iraq | 16 August 2012 Iraq attacks | Attacks across Baghdad, with most casualties from two car bombings in the predominantly Shi'ite districts of Zaafaraniya and Sadr City. Other attacks took place across the central and northern parts of the country, killing 76 and injuring 240 others.[41] [42] [43] | |||
| 20 August | Car bombing | 9 | 69 | Gaziantep, Turkey | 2012 Gaziantep bombing | A remote-controlled car bomb exploded outside a police station close to the border with Syria.[44] [45] | PKK (suspected) | ||
| 9 September | Bombings, shootings | 108 | 371 | across Iraq | 9 September 2012 Iraq attacks | A wave of attacks across Iraq. Car bombs and shootings erupted across numerous cities, while insurgents assault a small Iraqi Army base near Dujail. Two early blasts in Baghdad killed four, before a late night series of car bombings shook the capital, killing 32 and leaving 102 injured just hours after fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was sentenced to death in absentia for his alleged involvement in "death squads".[46] [47] [48] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 11 September | Coordinated attack, armed assault, arson | 4 | - | Benghazi, Libya | 2012 Benghazi attack | Heavily armed militants stormed and burned the American Consulate, killing the United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others: Sean Smith, a Foreign Service Officer, and Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, both former members of the Navy SEALs who helped protect diplomatic personnel[49] | Ansar al-Shariah | ||
| 19 October | Car bombing | 8 | 110 | Beirut, Lebanon | October 2012 Beirut bombing | A car bomb exploded at Sassine Square. Officials said the target was Wissam al-Hassan, the head of the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces and a prominent Sunni figure in the country.[50] | |||
| 21 November | Bombing | 0 | 28 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing | Explosion on a passenger bus near the defense ministry hours before an Egyptian-brokered truce was called to halt Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip.[51] [52] |