This is a list of terrorist incidents which took place in 2011, 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:
| Dates | Type | data-sort-type="number" | Dead | data-sort-type="number" | Injured | Location | Article | Details | Perpetrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Suicide bombing | 21 | 97 | Alexandria, Egypt | 2011 Alexandria bombing | A car bomb exploded outside a Coptic Orthodox church after worshippers gathered for a prayer celebration on New Year's Eve.[1] [2] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 24 January | Suicide bombing | 37 (+1) | 180 | Domodedovo International Airport, Russia | Domodedovo International Airport bombing | Suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow's busiest airport.[3] | Caucasus Emirate and Al-Qaeda | ||
| 24 January | Car bombing | 25 | 70 | Karbala, Iraq | 24 January 2011 Iraq bombings | Two car bombs targeting Shia pilgrims struck a bus terminal and another location on the outskirts of Karbala.[4] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 27 January | Car Bomb | 48 | 78 | Baghdad, Iraq | 27 January 2011 Baghdad bombing | A car bomb exploded near a funeral tent in a predominantly Shia neighborhood.[5] | |||
| 12 February | Suicide bombing | 48 | 80 | Samarra, Iraq | 2011 Samarra bombing | A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Shia pilgrims.[6] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 2 March | Shooting | 2 | 2 | Frankfurt am Main, Germany | 2011 Frankfurt Airport shooting | A Kosovan was arrested for shooting at US Air Force personnel at Frankfurt airport. One of the dead was a bus driver and the other was a passenger.[7] | Lone wolf | ||
| 8 March | Car bombing | 25 | 131+ | Faisalabad, Pakistan | 2011 Faisalabad bombing | A car bomb struck a gas station, triggering off nearby gas cylinders and creating a bigger explosion.[8] | Pakistani Taliban | ||
| 9 March | Suicide bombing | 43 | 100+ | Peshawar, Pakistan | March 2011 Peshawar bombing | A suicide bomber struck a funeral for a local militia member.[9] | Pakistani Taliban | ||
| 28 March | Explosion | 150+ | 45 | Jaʿār, Yemen | Jaʿār munitions factory explosion | An ammunition plant, which had previously been raided by Al Qaeda militants, was blown up in suspicious circumstances, in a series of explosions in the Khanfar area.[10] | Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula | ||
| 29 March | Hostage Crisis | 56 | 98 | Tikrit, Iraq | 2011 Tikrit assault | Militants stormed a council building, holding dozens of people hostage at a meeting, only to execute councilors, civilians and a journalist when security forces attempted to take back the building.[11] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 2 April | Car bombing | 1 | 0 | Omagh, Northern Ireland | Murder of Ronan Kerr | A car bombing killed Ronan Kerr, a Catholic member of the PSNI.[12] | Suspected Dissident republicans[13] | ||
| 3 April | Suicide bombings | 50+ | 100+ | Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab Province, Pakistan | 2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings | Twin suicide bombings struck the Sakhi Sarwar Shrine, as Sufi Muslim devotees gathered for an annual three-day festival.[14] | Pakistani Taliban | ||
| 11 April | Bombing | 15 | 204 | Minsk, Belarus | 2011 Minsk Metro bombing | A bomb explosion occurred at the escalators of the Minsk Metro at the peak of the evening rush hour, targeting commuters near President Alexander Lukashenko's office.[15] | Dzimitry Kanavalau and Vlad Kavalyou | ||
| 28 April | Suicide bombing | 16 | 20+ | Marrakesh, Morocco | 2011 Marrakesh bombing | A suspected suicide bombing struck a cafe in Djemaa el Fna square, killing mostly foreigners.[16] | Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group | ||
| 5 May | Car bombing | 21 | 75 | Hilla, Iraq | 2011 Al Hillah bombing | A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a police station before blowing it up.[17] | |||
| 22 May | Bombings, shootings, hostage taking | 24 | 21 | Karachi, Pakistan | PNS Mehran attack | Attack on Mehran naval base. Six militants and 18 military personnel (including the lieutenant in charge of the anti-terrorist operation) were killed during the 16-hour battle.[18] | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, al-Qaeda | ||
| 11 June | Bombings | 34 | 100+ | Peshawar, Pakistan | June 2011 Peshawar bombings | Two explosions ripped through a market.[19] | |||
| 16 June | Suicide bombing, Car bombing | 6 | 7 | Abuja, Nigeria | 2011 Abuja police headquarters bombing | A suicide bomber drove his car into the parking lot of a police HQ after picking up a traffic officer who guided him to the spot. At least 30 cars were destroyed in the explosion.[20] | Boko Haram | ||
| 5 July | Car bombing | 21 | 28 | Taji, Iraq | 2011 Taji bombings | Two explosions occurred 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. At least one of the blasts was caused by a car bomb that detonated as civilians were gathering in front of a government building to pick up identification cards.[21] | |||
| 13 July | Bombings | 26 | 130 | Mumbai, India | 2011 Mumbai bombings | Three simultaneous blasts rocked India's financial capital. Two of the bombings were in the (Zaveri Bazaar and the Opera House).[22] | |||
| 18 July | Bombing, stabbing | 18 | 4 | Hotan, Xinjiang, China | 2011 Hotan attack | 18 young Uyghur men stormed a police station and killed two security guards by stabbing and lobbing molotov cocktails. They occupied the police station, took eight hostages, and smashed and set fire to the station. Shouting slogans and unfurling banners with Jihadi writing, they refused to negotiate and engaged in a firefight with police.[23] The attack ended within 90 minutes when police shot 14 attackers dead. Authorities detained four attackers and rescued six hostages, however two were killed.[24] [25] | East Turkestan Islamic Movement[26] | ||
| 22 July | Bombing/shooting | 77 | 319+ | Oslo and Utøya, Norway | 2011 Norway attacks | A bomb exploded outside Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office and other government office buildings, and later a shooting of youth members of the Labour Party occurred on Utøya island, both committed by a right-wing militant.[27] | Anders Behring Breivik (Lone wolf) | ||
| 30–31 July | Carbombing, stabbing | 23 | 42 | Kashgar, Xinjiang, China | 2011 Kashgar attacks | On the first day, two Uyghur men hijacked a truck, ran it into a crowded street, and started stabbing people, killing nine, until they were overpowered by the crowd, who killed one attacker. On the second day, the premature explosion of two car bombs intended for a dapanji restaurant killed four people. The 12 would-be car-bombers abandoned their original plan and instead stormed the restaurant with knives, killing 13 people. A firefight ensued with police capturing the group and killing seven attackers.[28] ETIM later claimed responsibility for the attack, confirming that one of the suspects who escaped (but was later shot by police) had received training in ETIM camps in Pakistan.[29] | East Turkestan Islamic Movement | ||
| 8 August | Bombing | 0 | 2 | Atizapán de Zaragoza, México | Monterrey Tech bombing | A bomb exploded in front of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.[30] | Individualistas Tendiendo a lo Salvaje | ||
| 15 August | Suicide bombings, car bombs, IEDs | 62 | 273 | Kut, Najaf, Kirkuk, Kerbala and Tikrit, Iraq | 15 August 2011 Iraq attacks | Series of coordinated attacks across various cities. The deadliest assault took place in Kut, where a roadside bomb followed by a car bomb targeting police killed at least 37 and wounded 68. At least six were killed and 78 injured in a double car bomb attack in Najaf. In Diyala Governorate a suicide car bomber attacked a municipality building in Khan Bani Saad, killing eight and leaving 14 injured. One person was killed and 12 wounded in simultaneous car and motorbike bomb attacks in Kirkuk and 4 more were killed (and more than 40 injured) after an attack against a police station in Kerbala Governorate. Militants attacked a counter-terrorism unit in Tikrit, hoping to free imprisoned insurgents. The attackers bypassed several security checks and had IDs and uniforms. They managed to kill two policemen and injured six more, but failed to achieve their target. In al-Wajehiya a parked car bomb exploded in front of a police HQ, killing one policeman and injuring 13 more. Other attacks also took place in Taji, Baqubah, Baghdad and Mosul.[31] | Islamic State of Iraq | ||
| 18 August | Ambush, shooting, bombing | 17 | 40 | Beer Sheva and Eilat, Israel | 2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks | In the first attack, a bus was leaving Beer Sheva central bus station with mostly soldiers headed home for Eilat for the weekend when it came under attack from three gunmen from a white car who had earlier crossed into the country as it passed through Netafim border crossing checkpoint on the border with Egypt. The second attack occurred on a military vehicle which went over a roadside bomb. In the third attack, an anti-tank missile was said to have been launched on a private car 20 km north of the first shooting. Some local media reports suggested mortar fire emanated from Egypt.[32] | |||
| 19 August | Suicide bombing | 48+ | 100+ | Jamrud, Ghundai, Khyber Agency, Pakistan | 2011 Khyber Agency bombing | A suicide bomber exploded his vest in a packed mosque during Friday prayers during Ramadan near the border with Afghanistan.[33] [34] | Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan suspected | ||
| 26 August | Car bomb | 21 | 73 | Abuja, Nigeria | 2011 Abuja United Nations bombing | A car bomb broke through two security barriers at the United Nations building, crashed into the reception area, and detonated. | Boko Haram | ||
| 13–14 September | Shooting/Bombing/Suicide attack | 9 | ? | Kabul, Afghanistan | September 2011 Kabul attack | Militants attacked the US embassy and fought government forces for twenty hours in a multi-storey building.[35] | Afghan Taliban | ||
| 19 September | Car Bombing | 8 | ? | Karachi, Pakistan | Chaudhry Aslam Khan | The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan carried out a car bomb suicide mission in which eight people lost their lives. The intended target was Chaudhary Aslam Khan Swati, the head of the Sindh Police's Counter Terrorism Unit and chief of the Anti-Extremism Cell, at his residence in the posh Defence Housing Society Phase VIII neighbourhood, next to a school. He and his family survived the attack.[36] [37] | Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan | ||
| 4 October | Car Bombing | 70+ | ? | Mogadishu, Somalia | 2011 Mogadishu bombing | A truck laden with drums of fuel rammed a checkpoint outside a compound housing government ministries in the K4 (Kilometer 4) area, where students had gathered to register for scholarships offered by Turkey.[38] | Al Shabaab | ||
| 4 November | Car bombings, shootings, suicide bombings | 100–150 | 100–500 | Damaturu and Maiduguri, Nigeria | 2011 Damaturu attacks | Series of coordinated assaults | Boko Haram | ||
| 6 December | Suicide bombing | 74+ | ? | Kabul, and Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan | 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings | At least 70 Shiite worshippers were killed in a suicide bombing at the Abul Fazal Abbas shrine in the Murad Khani district of Kabul. A second attack took place in Mazar-e Sharif, claiming at least 4 lives.[39] | Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Suspected | ||
| 12 December | Shootings | 2 | 3 | Florence, Italy | 2011 Florence shootings | A member of Casa Pound opened fire in a suburb market where many Senegalese immigrants were selling goods before committing suicide.[40] | Gianluca Casseri | ||
| 13 December | Murder-suicide | 6 | 125 | Liège, Belgium | 2011 Liège attack | A French-speaking Belgian of Moroccan origin threw grenades and fired a rifle into Saint-Lambert Square, which was full of Christmas shoppers. He later shot himself.[41] | Nordine Amrani | ||
| 22 December | Suicide and car bombings | 63 | 185 | Baghdad, Iraq | 22 December 2011 Baghdad bombings | 14 blasts throughout the capital. Ten were improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and four were car-bombs.[42] |