This is a timeline of incidents in 1986 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
| Date | Type | data-sort-type="number" | Dead | data-sort-type="number" | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February | Bombing | 0 | 8 | A bomb exploded in a shopping gallery at the Champs-Élysées, wounding eight people. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated Committee for Solidarity With Arab and Middle Eastern Political Prisoners (CSPPA).[1] | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | |||
| 4 February | Bombing | 0 | 4 | A bomb exploded in the basement record section of the Gibert Jeune bookstore on the Place Saint-Michel, tearing up the floor and setting the building ablaze. Four people were wounded. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA.[2] | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | |||
| 5 February | Bombing | 0 | 9 | a bomb exploded at a book and record shop of the Fnac chain in the Forum des Halles underground complex, wounding nine people. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | |||
| 13 March | Car bombing | 60 | Damascus, Syria | Car bombing. Pro-Iraqi militants were blamed. | Pro-Iraqi militants (suspected) | ||||
| 17 March | Bombing | 0 | 9 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded on the TGV Paris-Lyon high-speed rail, wounding nine people. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 20 March | Bombing | 2 | 28 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded in the Point-Show shopping gallery on the Champs-Élysées, killing two people and wounding 28. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA.[3] | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 27 March | Car bombing | 1 | 22 | Melbourne, Australia | Car bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters by three men linked to organized crime. Policewoman Angela Taylor was the sole fatality. | Craig Minogue Stan Taylor Peter Reed | |||
| 2 April | Bombing | 4 | 7 | Argos, Greece | Bombing of TWA Flight 840 mid-flight, killing four Americans, including a baby. Flight 840 had previously been hijacked in 1969. Investigators concluded the bomb had been planted by a Lebanese woman who was an Abu Nidal Organisation member. | Abu Nidal Organisation | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 5 April | Bombing | 3 | 229 | West Berlin, West Germany | Bombing at a discothèque frequented by American soldiers, killing two and a Turkish woman. A trial in the U.S. found Libya guilty of organizing the attack. | Four Libyans | |||
| April | Car bombings | 144 | Damascus, Syria | Car bombings in five towns around Damascus. Pro-Iraqi militants were blamed. | Pro-Iraqi militants (suspected) | ||||
| 17 April | Attempted bombing | 0 | 0 | London, United Kingdom | A Semtex bomb was found in the luggage of an Irish woman who was about to board an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv. The bomb had been planted by her Jordanian husband Nezar Hindawi who was arrested the next day. | Nezar Hindawi | |||
| 3 May | Bombing | 21 | 41 | Katunayake, Sri Lanka | bomb explodes aboard Air Lanka flight carrying mainly French, British and Japanese tourists killing 21 (including 13 foreigners – of whom 3 British, 2 German, 3 French, 2 Japanese, 1 Maldivian and 1 Pakistani) and injuring 41 on Bandaranaike International Airport.[4] | LTTE | Sri Lankan Civil War | ||
| 14 July | Car bombing | 12 | 32 | Madrid, Spain | Plaza República Dominicana bombing. Attack carried out by the armed Basque separatist group ETA, which killed 12 people and injured a further 32. | ETA | Basque conflict | ||
| 5 September | Hijacking, hostage-taking | 20 | 120 | Karachi, Pakistan | Four gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization hijack Pan Am Flight 73 at Sahar International Airport. After a 16-hour siege, the Pakistani Army raided the plane and the militants opened fire on the passengers, killing 20. | Abu Nidal Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 6 September | Mass shooting | 22 | 6 | Istanbul, Turkey | Gunmen from the Abu Nidal Organization open fire on the Neve Shalom Synagogue, killing 22. | Abu Nidal Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 7 September | Shooting | 5 | 11 | Cajón del Maipo, Chile | President Augusto Pinochet survived an attack while returning from a weekend rest at his residence in El Melocotón. The attack, carried out by the armed organization of extreme left called Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez (FPMR), left 5 dead and 11 wounded.[5] | Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriguez | Armed resistance in Chile (1973–90) | ||
| 8 September | Bombing | 2 | 28 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded in the post office of the Hôtel de Ville, killing one person and wounding 18 others. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 12 September | Bombing | 0 | 54 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded in the cafeteria of the Casino supermarket in the Quatre Temps shopping centre in La Défense, wounding 54 people. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 14 September | Bombing | 2 | 0 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded after being found in the Pub-Renault, a fashionable cafe and restaurant on the Champs-Élysées, killing two policemen. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 15 September | Bombing | 1 | 56 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded in the Paris Police Prefecture, killing one person and wounding 56. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 17 September | Bombing | 7 | 60 | Paris, France | A bomb was thrown into a shopping street at rue de Rennes from a passing car, blowing in several store fronts and cars. The attack killed seven people and wounded 60. The bombing was claimed by the Hezbollah-affiliated CSPPA. | CSPPA, Hezbollah | 1985–86 Paris attacks | ||
| 17 November | Assassination | 1 | 0 | Paris France | Georges Besse, the general manager of the nationalized Renault group was shot dead at approximately 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC).[6] | Action Directe | |||
| 23 November | Bombing | 1 (an attacker) | 0 | Melbourne, Australia | Two members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Hagop Levonian and Levon Demirian attempt to bomb the Turkish Consulate. The bomb prematurely detonated and Levonian was killed. | Armenian Revolutionary Federation | |||
| 25 December | Hijacking, grenade | 63 | Dozens | Arar, Saudi Arabia | Four men hijacked Iraqi Airways Flight 163 en route from Baghdad to Amman. A grenade explosion forced the plane to attempt an emergency landing, however another grenade exploded and caused the plane to crash near Arar, killing 60 passengers and 3 crew members. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility and Iraq accused Iran of organizing the attack. | Islamic Jihad | Iran–Iraq War | ||
| 31 December | Arson | 98 | 140 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Three employees at the Dupont Plaza Hotel set the hotel on fire over a labor dispute. Their intention was only to scare tourists away. | Héctor Escudero Aponte José Rivera López Arnaldo Jiménez Rivera | |||