This is a timeline of incidents in 1988 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 | Article | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 17 | Car bombing | 27 | 70 | Oshakati, South-West Africa | 1988 Oshakati bomb blast | Car bombing of the Barclays bank. SWAPO, the main Namibian liberation organization, and the South African police were both blamed by each other. | SWAPO or South African police | South African Border War | ||
| March 7 | Shooting, hijacking | 3 | 8 | Aroer, Israel | Three PLO members hijack a civilian bus carrying passengers to the Negev Nuclear Research Center. | PLO | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |||
| March 16 | Massacre | 3 | 68 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Milltown Cemetery attack | Michael Stone kills three mourners in a gun and grenade attack on a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) funeral.[1] | Michael Stone (UDA) | The Troubles | ||
| March 19 | Shooting, stabbing, beating | 2 | 0 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Corporals killings | Two British soldiers, David Howes and Derek Wood, are stabbed, beaten, then shot by the IRA at a funeral procession for an IRA member. The attackers believed the soldiers were Ulster loyalists intent on a repeat of the Milltown Cemetery attack which occurred three days prior. | IRA | The Troubles | ||
| April 22 – May 5 | Hostage-taking | 2 | Ouvéa, New Caledonia | Members of the FLNKS take dozens of gendarmes hostage and demand the independence of New Caledonia from France. | FLNKS | New Caledonia independence movement | ||||
| May 9 | Bombing | 0 | 2 | Cannes, France | Bombing of a hostel for immigrant workers | PNFE | ||||
| June 15 | Car bombing | 6 | 11 | Lisburn, Northern Ireland | 1988 Lisburn van bombing | The IRA bombs an unmarked van carrying British soldiers, killing six soldiers and injuring eleven other people. | IRA | The Troubles | ||
| July 11 | Shooting, Bombing | 8 | 98 | Phalerum port, Athens, Greece | City of Poros ship attack | A Libyan born Palestinian gunman from the Abu Nidal Organisation attacked the City of Poros ship, killing seven European tourists and one Greek, before killed by an explosion caused possibly by himself. Four hours earlier two other Arab terrorists were killed when their car laden with explosives exploded prematurely on the pier. | Abu Nidal Organisation | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| August 20 | Bombing | 8 | 28 | Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland | Ballygawley bus bombing | The IRA bombed a bus carrying British soldiers, killing eight and injuring 28. | IRA | The Troubles | ||
| August 23 | Shooting, Clash | 26 | 6+ | Tierralta, Colombia | The Toma de Saiza was an attack perpetrated by the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinator, FARC and EPL forces, against a platoon of the Voltigeros Battalion and the police headquarters of the Saiza district. | CGSB, FARC, and EPL | Colombian Conflict | |||
| November 15 | Shooting | 7 | 15 | Pretoria, South Africa | Barend Strydom, a Christian Afrikaner, shot and killed seven people, and wounded 15 more, in and around Strijdom Square. He declared that he was the leader of the White Wolves organisation, which proved to be a figment of his imagination.[2] | Barend Strydom, (Lone wolf) | Terrorism in South Africa | |||
| December 1–2 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Ordzhonikidze, USSR | Four armed men seized a bus with 30 schoolchildren and a teacher. Hijackers demanded USD 3 million and a plane to leave the Soviet Union. Their demands were satisfied, but after landing in Israel they were arrested and extradited back to USSR. There were no fatalities.[3] | Pavel Yakshiyants Vladimir Muravlev German Vishnyakov Vladimir Anastasov | ||||
| December 19 | Bombings | 1 | 12 | Cagnes-sur-Mer, France | 2 firebombs exploded at a hostel for immigrant workers near Nice. 18 members of the far-right group French and European Nationalist Party were arrested for the bombings. | PNFE | ||||
| December 21 | Bombing | 270 | 5 | Lockerbie, Scotland | Pan Am Flight 103 | Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland.[4] Two Libyan men were blamed, though only one, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was tried and convicted. Some sources have claimed that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered the attack.[5] | Libya (suspected), Islamic Jihad Organization (suspected) |