This is a list of assassinations which took place on the continent of Asia.
For the purposes of this article, an assassination is defined as the deliberate, premeditated murder of a prominent figure, often for religious or political reasons.
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 20 February 1919 | Habibullah Khan, emir of Afghanistan | | |
| 8 November 1933 | Mohammed Nadir Shah, king of Afghanistan[1] | Abdul Khaliq Hazara | |
| 17 April 1978 | Mir Akbar Khyber, leftist intellectual and leader in the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan | | His assassination became a catalyst for the Saur Revolution |
| 28 April 1978 | Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan | | Killed in the Saur Revolution |
| 14 February 1979 | Adolph Dubs, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan[2] | | Abducted and killed by an undetermined group |
| 14 September 1979 | Nur Mohammad Taraki, President of Afghanistan | | Said to have been smothered to death with a pillow on the orders of Hafizullah Amin |
| 27 December 1979 | Hafizullah Amin, Prime Minister of Afghanistan | | Killed by Soviet forces in the early stages of the Soviet–Afghan War |
| 4 February 1987 | Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan founder of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan | | |
| 20 March 1995 | Abdul Ali Mazari, warlord and leader of the Hazara community | | Killed by the Taliban during the fall of Kabul |
| 27 September 1996 | Mohammed Najibullah, former President of Afghanistan | | Killed along with his brother by the Taliban during the capture of Kabul |
| 9 September 2001 | Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance | Al Qaeda suicide bombers working for the Taliban posing as journalists | Killed by a bomb hidden in a camera 2 days before the 9/11 attacks. |
| 26 October 2001 | Abdul Haq, Afghan Northern Alliance commander | | Killed by remnants of the Taliban |
| November 2001 | Mohammed Atef, alleged military chief of al-Qaeda | | Killed in a U.S. drone strike |
| November 2001 | Juma Namangani, co-founder of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan | | |
| 6 July 2002 | Abdul Qadir, Vice President of Afghanistan | | |
| 14 February 2002 | Abdul Rahman, Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism | | |
| 12 May 2007 | Dadullah, Taliban senior military commander | | |
| 3 May 2007 | Abdul Sabur Farid Kuhestani, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan | | |
| 27 August 2009 | Tohir Yo'ldosh, co-founder of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan | | Killed in a U.S. drone strike |
| 17 July 2011 | Jan Mohammad Khan, former governor of Uruzgan | | Killed by the Taliban |
| 20 September 2011 | Burhanuddin Rabbani, former President of Afghanistan | | Killed in a suicide bombing by the Taliban or the Haqqani network while leading peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban |
| 12 July 2011 | Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of President Hamid Karzai | Sardar Mohammad | Shot twice in the head and chest by his security guard as he was coming out of his bathroom |
| 5 June 2016 | Shir Wali Wardak, Member of the National Assembly and member of the parliamentary economic committee.[3] | Islamic State and maybe the Taliban.[4] | Killed by a hidden bomb, along with 11 other people, including bodyguards.[5] |
| 18 October 2018 | Abdul Raziq Achakzai, Lieutenant General of the Afghan Border Force | | |
| 31 July 2022 | Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Al-Qaeda | | Killed by a U.S. drone strike in Kabul. See Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri |
| 11 August 2022 | Rahimullah Haqqani, Islamic cleric | | Killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul |
| 2 September 2022 | Mujib Rahman Ansari, Islamic cleric | | Killed in a suicide bombing in Herat |
| 15 January 2023 | Mursal Nabizada, female former MP and Taliban critic | | |
| 6 June 2023 | Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, Governor of Badakhshan Province | | | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 26 September 1907 | Khanlar Safaraliyev, labor organizer and Social Democrat | | |
| April 1993 | Eduard Huseynov, counter admiral | | Assassinated near his home in Baku.[7] |
| 29 September 1994 | Afiyaddin Jalilov, deputy speaker of the National Assembly | | Assassinated near his home in Baku |
| 29 September 1994 | Shamsi Rahimov, intelligence and national security chief | | Assassinated near his home in Baku |
| 17 March 1995 | Rovshan Javadov, the chief of the Special Purpose Police Detachment of Azerbaijan | | Killed in the 1995 Azeri coup d'état attempt |
| 28 May 1996 | Ali Ansukhski, member of the National Assembly | Mahir Ahmadov | Assassinated near his home in Baku |
| 21 February 1997 | Ziya Bunyadov, historian | Unknown, presumed to be Hezbollah | Assassinated near his home in Baku |
| 13 March 2002 | Rovshan Aliyev, criminalist | Haji Mammadov | |
| 14 June 2004 | Fatulla Huseynov, colonel and vice president of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan | Haji Mammadov | Assassinated near his home in Baku |
| 25 March 2005 | Elmar Huseynov, journalist | Unknown, believed to be figures within the government of Azerbaijan | Shot at his home in Baku.[8] |
| 11 February 2009 | Rail Rzayev, commander of the Azerbaijani Air Force | | Assassinated near his home in Baku.[9] | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 238 BC | Lord Chunshen, prime minister of the Kingdom of Chu | Li Yuan | |
| 192 | Dong Zhuo, warlord and de facto ruler of China | Lü Bu, Li Su, Wang Yun | Killed in Chang'an |
| 221 | Zhang Fei, military general of Shu Han | Fan Qiang, Zhang Da | |
| 11 April 618 | Emperor Yang of Sui, second Emperor of the Sui dynasty. | Yuwenji | |
| 13 July 815 | Wu Yuanheng, Chancellor to Emperor Xianzong | | |
| 1207 | Han Tuozhou, Chancellor to Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song Dynasty | Shi Miyuan (disputed) | |
| 10 April 1282 | Ahmad Fanakati, Finance minister to Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty | Wang Zhu and Gao Heshang | Killed in Khanbaliq |
| 4 September 1323 | Sidibala, grand-khan of the Mongol Empire, Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty | | |
| 22 August 1849 | João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, Portuguese Governor of Macau | | |
| 22 August 1870 | Ma Xinyi, Viceroy of Liangjiang | Zhang Wenxiang | |
| 28 March 1894 | Kim Ok-gyun, Korean reformist and pro-Western activist | Hong Jong-u | Killed aboard ship en route to Shanghai |
| 26 October 1909 | Ito Hirobumi, Japanese Resident-General of Korea and former Prime Minister of Japan | An Jung-geun | Killed in Manchuria |
| 22 March 1913 | Song Jiaoren, Prime Minister-elect of the Republic of China | | Killed in Shanghai |
| 18 May 1916 | Chen Qimei, revolutionary activist | | Killed on the orders of Yuan Shikai, probably by Yuan's general Zhang Zongchang |
| 20 August 1925 | Liao Zhongkai, member of the Executive Committee Kuomintang party | | |
| 4 June 1928 | Zhang Zuolin, Manchurian warlord | | Killed by a bomb planted by officers of the Japanese Guandong Army. See Huanggutun incident |
| December 1941 | Fang Zhenwu, military officer | | Assassinated by Kuomintang agents |
| 15 July 1946 | Wen Yiduo, poet and scholar | Tang Shiliang, Li Wenshan | |
| 22 January 2003 | , chairman of Jianlong Steel | Feng Yinliang | | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 682 BC | Ripunjaya, last ruler of the Brihadratha dynasty. | Punika (also known as Pulika) | Punika puts his son Pradyota on the throne. |
| 185 BC | Brihadratha Maurya, last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty | Pushyamitra Shunga | Pushyamitra founds the Shunga Empire. |
| June 1070 | Athirajendra, Raja of the Chola Empire | Vaishnava rebellion | Athirajendra was killed by a Vaishnava uprising. He was succeeded by Kulottunga I. |
| 19 July 1296 | Jalal-ud-din Khalji, first Sultan of the Tughluq dynasty. | | Alauddin succeeded Jalal-ud-din to become the next Sultan of Delhi. | |
| 12 August 1602 | Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, vizier of the Mughal emperor Akbar | Vir Singh Deo | Killed in a plot orchestrated by Prince Salim, because Abu'l-Fazl opposed Salim's accession to the throne |
| 12 August 1602 | Chakdor Namgyal, Chogyal of Sikkim | A doctor hired by Pende Ongmu | Killed in an attempted usurpation by Chakdor's half-sister Pende Ongmu |
| 8 February 1872 | Earl of Mayo (Richard Bourke), Viceroy of India | Sher Ali Afridi | Stabbed while inspecting prisons in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. |
| 30 January 1948 | Mahatma Gandhi, independence leader and key proponent of non-violence | Nathuram Godse | See Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi |
| 6 February 1965 | Partap Singh Kairon, Chief Minister of Punjab | Sucha Bassi, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh 'Fauji' | See Partap Singh Kairon |
| 3 January 1975 | Lalit Narayan Mishra, Union Minister for Railways | Santoshanand, Sudevanand and Gopalji, Ranjan Dwivedi | See Lalit Narayan Mishra |
| 31 October 1984 | Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India | Satwant Singh and Beant Singh | Shot by Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for Operation Blue Star. See Assassination of Indira Gandhi. |
| 10 August 1986 | Arun Shridhar Vaidya, Chief of the Army Staff and Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces | Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda | |
| 8 March 1988 | Amar Singh Chamkila, controversial Punjabi singer/songwriter | | |
| 21 May 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India | Thenmuli Rajaratnam | Killed in an explosion triggered by a LTTE suicide bomber. First politician to be killed by a suicide bomber. See Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. |
| 19 March 1994 | | Criminal gangs | Shot dead while he was going to court by some antisocial youths. |
| 31 August 1995 | Beant Singh, chief minister of Punjab | Dilawar Singh Babbar | |
| 25 July 2001 | Phoolan Devi, bandit queen turned Member of the Lok Sabha | Sher Singh Rana | |
| 21 May 2002 | Abdul Ghani Lone, moderate Kashmiri Muslim separatist leader | |
| 22 April 2006 | Pramod Mahajan, former Minister of Defence, Parliamentary Affairs and Communications and Information Technology | Pravin Mahajan, his brother | |
| 29 May 2022 | Sidhu Moosewala, Punjabi singer/songwriter turned politician | | Shot dead while he was travelling in his Mahindra Thar |
| 9 January 2023 | Naba Das, Odisha State Minister of Health and Family Welfare | | |
| 15 April 2023 | Atique Ahmed, former Member of the Lok Sabha | | Shot dead along with his brother on live television | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 465 BC | Xerxes I, Persian king | Artabanus, commander of the royal bodyguard | |
| 423 BC | Xerxes II, Persian king | Sogdianus, Xerxes' half-brother | |
| 423 BC | Sogdianus, Persian king | Darius II, Sogdianus' half-brother | |
| 23 August 818 | Ali al-Ridha, eighth Imam of Shi'ite Islam | | Ali al-Rida died in Tus (present-day Mashhad) on the last day of Safar 203 (September 818), possibly poisoned[11] [12] or due to Foodborne illness. |
| 14 October 1092 | Nizam al-Mulk, scholar and vizier of the Seljuk Sultanate | Order of Assassins | |
| 29 August 1135 | Al-Mustarshid, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad | Order of Assassins | Al-Mustarshid was in the caliphal tent, he was found murdered while reading the Quran, as is supposed, by an emissary of the Shia Assassins. |
| 6 June 1138 | Al-Rashid Billah, thirtieth Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad | Order of Assassins | Al-Rashid went to Isfahan where he was assassinated by a team of four Assassins. This was celebrated in Alamut for a week.[13] |
| 20 June 1747 | Nader Shah, Shah of Persia | Army officers led by Salah Bey, captain of the guards | Nadar was attacked in his sleep, but was able to kill two of the assassins before dying. |
| 11 February 1829 | Alexander Griboyedov, Russian Ambassador to Persia | | Killed by a mob |
| 1 May 1896 | Nasser-al-Din Shah, Shah of Persia | Mirza Reza Kermani | Assassinated on the day of his fiftieth kingship ceremony. |
| 3 October 1933 | Abdolhossein Teymourtash, Minister of the Imperial Court | | Died in Qasr Prison, possibly assassinated by doctor Ahmad Ahmadi |
| 1937 | Firouz Mirza Nosrat-ed-Dowleh Farman Farmaian III, former Foreign Minister of Iran | | |
| 31 March 1947 | Qazi Muhammad, dissident Kurdish political leader | | Killed in Mahabad |
| 5 November 1949 | Abdolhossein Hazhir, Minister of the Imperial Court | | |
| 7 March 1951 | Ali Razmara, Prime Minister of Iran | Khalil Tahmasebi, a member of Fada'iyan-e Islam | Shot in a mosque. |
| 22 January 1965 | Hassan Ali Mansur, Prime Minister of Iran[14] | Mohammad Bokharaei, a member of Fada'iyan-e Islam | Died in hospital on 27 January |
| 28 June 1981 | Mohammad Beheshti, Chief Justice of Iran | Mohammad Reza Kolahi, an operative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran | Killed along with 72 others in the Hafte Tir bombing |
| 30 August 1981 | Mohammad Ali Rajai, President of Iran
Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran | Massoud Keshmiri, an operative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran | Killed in the 1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing |
| 23 November 1988 | Kazem Sami, former Minister of Health and leader of the JAMA Party | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 30 January 1994 | Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Bishop of the Jama'at-e Rabbani Protestant Church | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 5 July 1994 | Mehdi Dibaj, Christian convert from Shia Islam | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 15 January 1997 | Ahmad Tafazzoli, professor of Iranian culture | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 22 February 1997 | Ebrahim Zalzadeh, dissident author and editor | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 22 September 1998 | Hamid Hajizadeh, poet | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 19 November 1998 | Majid Sharif, translator and journalist | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 22 November 1998 | Dariush Forouhar, leader of the Party of the Iranian Nation and his wife, Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 3 December 1998 | Mohammad Mokhtari, writer and political activist | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 8 December 1998 | Mohammad-Ja'far Pouyandeh, writer and political activist | | Believed to have been killed as part of the Chain Murders |
| 11 January 2012 | Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, nuclear scientist and university professor | | Killed by a bomber from a motorcycle |
| 17 October 2018 | Farshid Hakki, human rights activist and environmentalist | | |
| 27 November 2020 | Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, academic physicist and brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps | | Killed by a remote-controlled machine gun |
| 22 May 2022 | Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, colonel in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps[15] | Unknown, claimed to be Israelis by the IRGC | Shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle in Tehran |
| 26 April 2023 | Ayatollah Abbas-Ali Soleimani, member of the Assembly of Experts[16] | | |
| 31 July 2024 | Ismail Haniyeh, Chief of Hamas | Israel (alleged) | Haniyeh was killed after attending the inauguration ceremony of Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, Iran with varying accounts of either an air strike or a remote controlled detonation device being the cause of his death. His personal bodyguard Wissam Abbu Shaaban was also killed in the blast.[17] [18] | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 681 BC | Sennacherib, Assyrian king | Arda Mulissi | Stabbed to death while at prayer in a temple, or possibly crushed under a winged child angelica.[19] |
| 20 February 244 | Gordian III, Roman emperor | | Possibly killed near Circesium by his troops |
| January 26, 661 | Ali ibn Abi Talib, first Shiite Imam and 4th Caliph of Sunni Islam | Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam | |
| 10 October 680 | | | ‘Umar ibn Sa'ad, the head of Kufan army, sent a messenger to Husayn to inquire about the purpose of his coming to Iraq. Husayn answered again that he had responded to the invitation of the people of Kufa but was ready to leave if they now disliked his presence. When Umar ibn Sa'ad, the head of Kufan army, reported it back to ibn Ziyad, the governor instructed him to offer Ḥusayn and his supporters the opportunity to swear allegiance to Yazid. He also ordered Umar to cut off Husayn and his followers from access to the water of the Euphrates.[8] On the next morning, as ʿOmar b. Saʿd arranged the Kufan army in battle order, Al-Hurr ibn Yazid al Tamimi challenged him and went over to Al-Ḥusayn. He addressed the Kufans in vain, rebuking them for their treachery to the grandson of Muhammad, and was killed in the battle |
| 686 | Umar ibn Sa'ad, Umayyad general | Abu Amra Kaysan | Killed by Abu Amra Kaysan, on the orders of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi to avenge the death of Husayn ibn Ali |
| 11 December 861 | Al-Mutawakkil, tenth Abbasid Caliph | Turkic guards | Caliph al-Mutawakkil had named his three sons as heirs (Al-Muntasir, al-Mu'tazz, al-Mu'ayyad). He seemed to favour al-Muntasir. However, afterwards this seemed to change and al-Muntasir feared his father was going to move against him. So, he decided to strike first. Al-Mutawakkil was killed by a Turkic soldier with the help of his son (Al-Muntasir) on Wednesday the night of 10/11 December, about one hour after midnight, the Turks burst in the chamber where the Caliph was having supper. |
| 21 June 870 | Al-Muhtadi, fourteenth Abbasid caliph | Abbasid Turkic regiment | The breakdown in relations between the caliph al-Muhtadi and the Abbasid Turkic regiment contributed to the decision by the Samarran regiments to overthrow and kill al-Muhtadi in 21 June 870 |
| 29 October 1936 | Jaafar Al-Askari, former Prime Minister of Iraq | | Assassinated during the 1936 Iraqi coup d'état |
| 14 July 1958 | Faisal II, King of Iraq | | Killed during the 14 July Revolution |
| 14 July 1958 | Ibrahim Hashem, former Prime Minister of Jordan and Vice President of the Arab Federation | | Killed during the 14 July Revolution |
| 15 July 1958 | Nuri Pasha as-Said, Prime Minister of Iraq | | Killed during the 14 July Revolution |
| 9 February 1963 | Abd al-Karim Qasim, Prime Minister of Iraq | | Killed during a Baath-backed coup |
| 9 April 1980 | Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, former Grand Ayatollah | | Killed by Saddam Hussein along with his sister, Bint al-Huda |
| 1980 | Bint al-Huda, educator and political activist | | Killed by Saddam Hussein along with her brother, Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr |
| 24 January 1988 | Mahdi al-Hakim, prominent opposition figure | | Assassinated in the lobby of the Hilton in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. His companion Halim Abd-al-Wahhab was wounded in the leg.[20] |
| 19 February 1999 | Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, former Grand Ayatollah | | Killed in Najaf along with two of his sons |
| 10 April 2003 | Abdul-Majid al-Khoei, Shia cleric | | |
| 19 August 2003 | Sérgio Vieira de Mello, UN Special Representative in Iraq | | Killed in the Canal Hotel bombing |
| 29 August 2003 | Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, highly influential Shi'ite ayatollah | | Killed in the Imam Ali Mosque bombing |
| 25 September 2003 | Aquila al-Hashimi, Iraqi Governing Council member | | |
| 28 October 2003 | Ahmad Shawkat, journalist | | |
| 7 May 2004 | Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist | | |
| 17 May 2004 | Ezzedine Salim, acting chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council and member of parliament | | Killed by members of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad |
| 1 November 2004 | Hatem Kamil, deputy governor of Baghdad Governorate | | |
| 4 January 2005 | Ali al-Haidari, governor of Baghdad Governorate | | |
| 4 January 2005 | Hadi Saleh, Secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions | | |
| 27 April 2005 | Lamiya Abed Khadawi, member of parliament | | |
| 28 June 2005 | Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, member of parliament | | Killed by members of al-Qaeda in Iraq |
| July 2005 | Ihab al-Sherif, Egyptian ambassador to Iraq | | Abducted on 3 July by al-Qaeda in Iraq; his death was confirmed on 7 July |
| 22 February 2006 | Atwar Bahjat, journalist | Yasser al-Takhi | |
| 27 April 2006 | Maysoon al-Hashemi, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party women's department | | |
| 7 June 2006 | Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq | | Killed in a U.S. airstrike |
| 29 January 2007 | Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, leader of an armed extremist Shia cult | | Killed by U.S. military |
| 1 April 2007 | Mohammed Awad, member of parliament | | Killed in the 2007 Iraqi Parliament bombing |
| 25 June 2007 | Fasal al Gaood, former governor of Al Anbar Governorate | | |
| 11 August 2007 | Khalil Jalil Hamza, governor of Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate | | |
| 20 August 2007 | Mohammed Ali al-Hasani, governor of Muthanna Governorate | | |
| 13 September 2007 | Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, Sunni tribal leader | | Killed by al-Qaeda in Iraq |
| 5 October 2008 | Mohamed Moumou, Number 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and senior leader in Northern Iraq | | Killed by U.S. military |
| 2008 | Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul | | Kidnapped on 29 February 2008; his body was discovered on 13 March |
| 12 June 2009 | Harith al-Obeidi, member of parliament | | |
| 22 December 2009 | Riad Abdel Majid, Brigadier General in the Iraqi Army[21] | | |
| 18 April 2010 | Abu Ayyub al-Masri, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) | | Killed by U.S. and Iraqi forces |
| 15 January 2013 | Ayfan Sadoun al-Essawi, prominent Sunni member of parliament[22] | | |
| 3 January 2020 | Qasem Soleimani, major general of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps | United States Air Force | Killed in the 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike by the United States |
| Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Secretary-General of Kata'ib Hezbollah |
| 6 July 2020 | Hisham al-Hashimi, historian and researcher | Ahmed Hamdawi Owayid Kinani | Killed outside his home |
| 19 August 2020 | Reham Yacoub, human rights advocate and doctor | | Shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle |
| 15 January 2024 | Peshraw Dizayee, CEO of Empire World | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps | Killed in the 2024 Erbil attack by Iran | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 582/1 BCE | Gedaliah, governor of Yehud | Ishmael son of Nethaniah | |
| 1134 | Hugh II of Le Puiset, count of Jaffa | | Attacked by a Breton knight, and died of his wounds shortly after. |
| October 1174 | Miles of Plancy, regent of the Kingdom of Jerusalem | | |
| 28 April 1192 | Conrad of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem and leader in the Third Crusade | | Killed by Hashshashin |
| 30 June 1924 | Jacob Israël de Haan, pro-Orthodox Jewish diplomat | | Killed by members of Haganah |
| 16 June 1933 | Haim Arlosoroff, Zionist leader in the British Mandate of Palestine | | |
| 26 August 1939 | Ralph Cairns, commander of the Palestine Police CID's Jewish Section in Jerusalem | | Assassinated by the Irgun under orders from its commander, Hanoch Kalai |
| 28 May 1948 | Thomas C. Wasson, US Consul General in Jerusalem | | Shot by a sniper in West Jerusalem |
| 17 September 1948 | Folke Bernadotte, Middle East peace mediator and member of the Swedish Royal Family | | Assassinated by the Lehi during the First Arab-Israeli War |
| 15 March 1957 | Rudolf Kastner, Hungarian Zionist leader, negotiated the Kasztner train with the Nazis | Ze'ev Eckstein, a member of the Lehi | |
| 12 January 1981 | Hamad Abu Rabia, member of the Knesset | | Killed by the sons of Jabr Muadi, a Druze politician |
| 10 February 1983 | Emil Grunzweig, peace activist | Yonah Avrushmi | Killed by a grenade explosion launched by a right-wing activist during a Peace Now demonstration |
| 4 November 1995 | Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel and 1994 Nobel Peace Prize recipient | Yigal Amir | Shot by an opponent of the Oslo Accords. See Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. |
| 31 December 2000 | Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, son of Meir David Kahane, leader of Kahane Chai, Zionist | | |
| 17 October 2001 | Rehavam Zeevi, Minister of Tourism | Hamdi Quran, Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine | | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 456 | Emperor Ankō, Emperor of Japan | Prince Mayowa no Ōkimi | |
| 592 | Emperor Sushun, Emperor of Japan | Yamato no Aya no Ataikoma | The assassination was ordered by Soga no Umako |
| 645 | Soga no Iruka, son of influential statesman Soga no Emishi | | Killed on the orders of Nakatomi no Kamatari and Prince Naka no Ōe |
| 11 February 1160 | Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of Minamoto clan, father of Minamoto no Yoritomo | | |
| 13 February 1219 | Minamoto no Sanetomo, third shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate | Kugyō, Sanetomo's nephew | |
| 12 July 1441 | Ashikaga Yoshinori, sixth shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate | | Killed on the orders of Akamatsu Mitsusuke |
| 25 August 1486 | Ōta Dōkan, samurai, architect and builder of Edo Castle | | |
| 1 August 1507 | Hosokawa Masamoto, shugo daimyō of Ashikaga shogunate | Kosai Motonaga and Hosokawa Sumiyuki | |
| 1535 | Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, daimyō, feudal leader | | |
| 30 September 1551 | Ōuchi Yoshitaka, daimyō, feudal leader | | |
| 22 November 1557 | Oda Nobuyuki, samurai, younger brother of Oda Nobunaga | | |
| 17 June 1565 | Ashikaga Yoshiteru, shōgun, feudal leader | Miyoshi clan | Killed on the orders of Matsunaga Hisahide |
| 24 February 1566 | Mimura Iechika, daimyō, feudal leader | Endō Matajirō and Yoshijirō | Killed on the orders of Ukita Naoie |
| 20 August 1578 | Yamanaka Shikanosuke, samurai | | Killed by soldiers of the Mōri clan |
| 21 June 1582 | Oda Nobunaga, samurai warlord | Forces of Akechi Mitsuhide | |
| 1669 | Shakushain, Ainu chieftain | | |
| 30 January 1703 | Kira Yoshinaka, master of ceremonies | | Killed by a group known as the Forty-seven Ronin |
| March 24, 1860 | Ii Naosuke, Tairō of the Tokugawa Shogunate | | |
| 27 October 1863 | Serizawa Kamo, chief of Shinsen-gumi | | |
| 12 August 1864 | Sakuma Shozan, politician | Kawakami Gensai, samurai | |
| 10 December 1867 | Sakamoto Ryōma, author | | |
| 7 December 1869 | Ōmura Masujirō, military leader and theorist | | |
| 15 February 1869 | Yokoi Shōnan, scholar and politician | | |
| 14 May 1878 | Okubo Toshimichi, Home Minister of Japan, briefly most powerful man in Japan | Shimada Ichirō | |
| 12 February 1889 | Mori Arinori, Education Minister | | |
| 26 October 1909 | Hirobumi Itō, former Prime Minister of Japan | An Jung-geun, Korean independence activist | |
| 28 September 1921 | Yasuda Zenjirō, entrepreneur and founder of the Yasuda zaibatsu, great-grand father of Yoko Ono | | |
| 4 November 1921 | Hara Takashi, Prime Minister of Japan | Nakaoka Kon'ichi, a right-wing railroad switchman | |
| 26 August 1931 | Osachi Hamaguchi, Prime Minister of Japan | Tomeo Sagoya, a member of the Aikoku-sha ultranationalist secret society | |
| 9 February 1932 | Junnosuke Inoue, businessman | Sho Onuma | Part of the League of Blood Incident |
| 5 March 1932 | Dan Takuma, zaibatsu leader | Goro Hishinuma, right-wing nationalist | Part of the League of Blood Incident |
| 15 May 1932 | Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan | | Killed by naval officers in the May 15 Incident |
| 26 May 1932 | Yoshinori Shirakawa, general of the Imperial Japanese Army | Yun Bong-gil, Korean independence activist | |
| 12 August 1935 | Tetsuzan Nagata, general of the Imperial Japanese Army | Saburo Aizawa, army officer | |
| 26 February 1936 | Saitō Makoto, admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy, former Prime Minister of Japan | Imperial Way Faction | Killed in the February 26 Incident. |
| Takahashi Korekiyo, former Prime Minister of Japan |
| Jōtarō Watanabe, Inspector General of Military Training |
| 12 October 1960 | Inejiro Asanuma, Socialist Party of Japan chairman | Otoya Yamaguchi | While Asanuma spoke from the lectern at Tokyo's Hibiya Hall during a televised debate, Yamaguchi rushed onstage and ran his wakizashi (a type of traditional Japanese sword) through Asanuma's abdomen, killing him. |
| 18 June 1985 | Kazuo Nagano, fraudster | Masakazu Yano and Atsuo Iida | |
| 12 July 1991 | Hitoshi Igarashi, translated The Satanic Verses into Japanese | | |
| 23 April 1995 | Hideo Murai, leading member of Aum Shinrikyo | Hiroyuki Jo, member of the Yamaguchi-gumi | |
| 25 October 2002 | Kōki Ishii, Member of the House of Representatives | Ito Hakusui, member of the Yamaguchi-gumi | |
| 18 April 2007 | Iccho Itoh, Mayor of Nagasaki | Tetsuya Shiroo, member of the Yamaguchi-gumi | |
| 8 July 2022 | Shinzo Abe, Member of the House of Representatives and former Prime Minister of Japan | Tetsuya Yamagami | Shot in the chest and neck during a campaign speech in Nara by an improvised firearm. | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 2 November 1875 | James Wheeler Woodford Birch, British Resident Minister in the State of Perak | | Speared to death by followers of Malay chief Lela Pandak Lam, while in the bath-house of his boat at Pasir Salak |
| 10 December 1949 | Duncan Stewart, Second Governor of Sarawak, a British Crown Colony (1946–1963) | Rukun 13 members Rosli Dhobie, Morshidi Sidek, Awang Ramli Mohd Deli, and Bujang Suntong | Stabbed to death during his arrival at Sibu |
| 6 October 1951 | Henry Gurney, British High Commissioner in Malaya (1948–1951) | | Shot to death by a guerilla unit from the Malayan Communist Party at Fraser's Hill during the Malayan Emergency |
| 7 June 1974 | Abdul Rahman Hashim, Inspector-General of Police | | Shot dead by acommunist subversive at Mountbatten Road (now Jalan Tun Perak) and Weld Road (now Jalan Raja Chulan), Kuala Lumpur. |
| 18 October 2006 | Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa, Mongolian national allegedly connected to future Prime Minister Najib Razak and his inner circle | | Murdered by C-4 explosives or was killed first and her remains destroyed with C-4 in a deserted area in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur.[23] |
| 11 January 2008 | S. Krishnasamy, state assemblyman for the Tenggaroh constituency | | |
| 29 July 2013 | Hussain Najadi, banker and founder of AmBank | | Shot twice at close range by an unidentified assailant |
| 13 February 2017 | Kim Jong-nam, older brother of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un | | Poisoned with VX nerve agent by two women at Kuala Lumpur International Airport | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| c. 1168 | Alaungsithu, King of Pagan Kingdom | Narathu, his son | |
| 1550 | Tabinshwehti, King of Taungoo Dynasty | | Assassinated by Mon revival |
| 1628 | Anaukpetlun, King of Nyaungyan Dynasty | | |
| 2 August 1866 | Crown Prince Ka Naung, son of King Tharrawaddy and younger brother of King Mindon | | |
| 19 July 1947 | Aung San, nationalist leader, Prime Minister of Burma and founder of Thirty Comrades | U Saw (ringleader), former Prime Minister of British Burma | Shot during a cabinet meeting along with several other ministers |
| 19 July 1947 | Thakin Mya, Minister of Finance | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | Ba Cho, Minister of Information | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | U Razak, Minister of Education | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Industry | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | Sao San Htun, Minister of Hill Regions | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | Ohn Maung, Deputy Minister of Transport | 〃 | 〃 |
| 19 July 1947 | U Ba Win, Minister of Trade | 〃 | 〃 |
| 9 October 1983 | Lee Beom-seok, Foreign Minister of South Korea | North Korean agents | Killed in the Rangoon bombing |
| 9 October 1983 | Suh Sang-chul, Minister of Power Resources of South Korea | North Korean agents | Killed in the Rangoon bombing | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 16 October 1951 | Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime Minister of Pakistan | Said Akbar Babrak | Shot during a political gathering in Rawalpindi |
| Esther John, Christian nurse | | Found murdered in her bed. |
| 8 February 1975 | Hayat Sherpao, former Governor of the North-West Frontier Province | | Killed by an Afghan Marxist[24] |
| 17 August 1988 | Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army | | Killed in a suspicious aircraft accident possibly caused by a bomb blast (Disputed by various theories). See Death and state funeral of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq |
| 24 November 1989 | Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Palestinian Islamic theologian, supporter of the Afghan mujahideen and proponent of militant jihadism | | Killed by a car bomb in Peshawar by operatives believed to be working for KhAD or Hekmatyar[25] [26] |
| 3 October 1991 | Fazle Haq, former governor of the North-West Frontier Province | | |
| September 1993 | Ghulam Haider Wyne, former Chief Minister of Punjab Province | | |
| 16 April 1995 | Iqbal Masih, 13-year-old anti-child labor activist | | Killed for his campaign against abusive child labour |
| 20 September 1996 | Murtaza Bhutto, politician, leader of Al-Zulfiqar and estranged brother of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto | | Killed during an encounter with police in Karachi. Suspected to have been killed in extrajudicial fashion. |
| 17 October 1998 | Hakim Said, founder of Hamdard Foundation and Hamdard University and former Governor of Sindh | | |
| 28 July 2001 | | | |
| 27 December 2007 | Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan | Unknown, widely believed to be Islamist militants, possibly Al-Qaeda | Killed by a suicide bomber while leaving a political rally for the Pakistan Peoples Party at the same location where Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in Rawalpindi. See Assassination of Benazir Bhutto. |
| 5 August 2009 | Baitullah Mehsud, Islamist militant and leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan | | Killed by a U.S. drone strike |
| 4 January 2011 | Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab | Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri | Killed by one of his security guards due to Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws |
| 2 March 2011 | Shahbaz Bhatti, Minorities Minister | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan | Killed due to his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws |
| 2 May 2011 | Osama bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda | United States Navy SEALs | Killed in a raid at his clandestine hideout in Abbottabad. See Killing of Osama bin Laden |
| 4 June 2012 | Abu Yahya al-Libi, high-ranking Al-Qaeda official | | Killed by a U.S. drone strike |
| 16 August 2015 | Shuja Khanzada, Home Minister of Punjab | | Killed in the 2015 Attock bombing |
| 1 February 2018 | Hazar Khan Bijarani, member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh and former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan | | |
| 2 November 2018 | Maulana Sami ul Haq, religious scholar, former Senator and leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) | | |
| 14 October 2022 | Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court | | | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 25 September 1959 | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Ceylon | Talduwe Somarama, a Buddhist monk who later converted to Christianity | See Assassination of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike |
| 27 July 1975 | Alfred Duraiappah, Mayor of Jaffna | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 15 December 1986 | Daya Pathirana, leader of the Independent Students Union of the University of Colombo | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) | See Assassination of Daya Pathirana |
| 16 February 1989 | Vijaya Kumaratunga, movie actor and founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) | See Assassination of Vijaya Kumaratunga |
| 13 November 1989 | Rohana Wijeweera, founder and leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | Sri Lankan Armed Forces | |
| 13 July 1989 | A. Amirthalingam, Tamil separatist and leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 2 March 1991 | Ranjan Wijeratne, Foreign Minister & Minister of State for Defence | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 23 April 1993 | Lalith Athulathmudali, former cabinet minister | Janaka Priyankara Jayamanne
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (allegedly) | The investigations carried out by the Sri Lanka Police and the Scotland Yard concluded that the assassination was carried out by the LTTE. However the findings were widely disputed, and a new presidential commission appointed to investigate the assassination by President Chandrika Kumaratunga reported former President Ranasinghe Premadasa and close security personnel as directly responsible for the assassination.[27] [28] [29] The assassination remains highly controversial.[30] See Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali |
| 1 May 1993 | Ranasinghe Premadasa, President of Sri Lanka | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | Killed by a suicide bomber on May Day parade. The attack was purportedly carried out by the LTTE. See Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa |
| 24 October 1994 | Gamini Dissanayake, presidential candidate and United National Party MP | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 17 May 1998 | Sarojini Yogeswaran, Mayor of Jaffna | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 11 September 1998 | Pon Sivapalan, Mayor of Jaffna | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 29 July 1999 | Neelan Tiruchelvam, Tamil United Liberation Front MP | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 18 December 1999 | Lakshman Algama, former Chief of Staff of the Army and United National Party politician | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 8 June 2000 | C. V. Gunaratne, Minister of Industrial Development | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 25 December 2005 | Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil National Alliance MP | Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) | |
| 12 August 2005 | Lakshman Kadirgamar, Foreign Minister | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 26 June 2006 | Parami Kulatunga, army general | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 10 November 2006 | Nadarajah Raviraj, Tamil National Alliance MP | Pro-government paramilitary groups (allegedly) | |
| 1 January 2008 | T. Maheswaran, United National Party MP | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | Killed by the LTTE in retaliation for having talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. |
| 8 January 2008 | D. M. Dassanayake, Nation Building Minister and Sri Lanka Freedom Party MP | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 6 March 2008 | K. Sivanesan, Tamil National Alliance MP | Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lankan Army | |
| 6 April 2008 | Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Minister of Highways and Road Development and Sri Lanka Freedom Party MP | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) | |
| 8 January 2009 | Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor of The Sunday Leader | | A vocal critic of President Mahinda Rajapaksa[31] and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa,[32] the then-incumbent defence secretary. Many blamed the government for his assassination. See Assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge | |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes |
|---|
| 246 BC | Antiochus II Theos, Seleucid king | | |
| 223 BC | Seleucus III Ceraunus, Seleucid king | | |
| 176 BC | Seleucus IV Philopator, Seleucid king | | |
| 146 BC | Alexander Balas, Seleucid king | | |
| 138 BC | Antiochus VI Dionysus, Seleucid heir to the throne | | |
| 285 | Numerian, Roman emperor | Arrius Aper, his father-in-law | Killed in Emesa (modern-day Homs) |
| 1146 | Imad ad-Din Zengi, ruler of Aleppo and Mosul and founder of the Zengid dynasty | Yarankash | He was assassinated by a Frankish slave named Yarankash in September 1146, after the ruler drunkenly threatened him with punishment for drinking from his goblet.[33] |
| 1213 | Raymond of Antioch, heir to the throne of Antioch and Tripoli | Order of Assassins | |
| 1940 | Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, Syrian Arab nationalist | | |
| 1 August 2008 | Muhammad Suleiman, security adviser to President Bashar al-Assad | | |
| 12 February 2008 | Imad Mughniyah, senior member of Hezbollah | | |
| 18 July 2012 | Dawoud Rajiha, Defense Minister | Either Liwa al Islam or the Free Syrian Army (both claimed responsibility) | Killed either with a remotely detonated bomb or via suicide attack as part of the Syrian civil war. Several other leading government officials may have been injured or killed. |
| Asef Shawkat, Deputy Defense Minister |
|
| Hisham Ikhtiyar, Intelligence and National Security Chief | |
