This is a timeline of incidents in 1997 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 | Dead | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrators | Part of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 February | Shooting | 1 (+1 attacker) | 6 | New York City, United States | 69-year-old Palestinian immigrant Ali Hassan Abu Kamal opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building killing a Danish musician and injuring 6 other people before committing suicide. 10 years after the attack Kamal's daughter revealed that her father committed the shooting in hopes of influencing the U.S. to support Palestine rather than Israel | Ali Hassan Abu Kamal | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| 25 February | Bombings | 9 | 74 | Ürümqi, China | Uyghyr separatists bombed three buses, killing 9 people, including 3 children, and injuring 74. Another bomb was found at the main railway station but was defused. The bombings were a response to the Ghulja incident in which the Chinese army killed several Uyghur protestors. | Uyghur separatists | Xinjiang conflict | |
| 13 March | Mass shooting | 7 | 6 | Island of Peace, Israeli-Jordanian border | Ahmed Daqamseh, a Jordanian soldier opened fire on a group of Israeli schoolgirls, killing 7 and wounding 5, as well as 1 teacher | Ahmed Daqamseh | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| 21 March | Suicide bombing | 3 | 46 | Tel Aviv, Israel | A Hamas suicide bomber detonated at a sidewalk café, killing 3 and wounding 46.[1] | Hamas | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| 21 March | Massacre | 7 | Several | Budgam, India | Seven Kashmiri Pandit civilians are killed and several more are injured by Islamist militants | Islamists | Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir | |
| 4 April | Massacre | 52 | Unknown | Thalit, Algeria | Fifty-two out of the 53 inhabitants were killed by having their throats cut during a 12-hour rampage. The homes of the villagers were burned down afterwards. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 22 April | Raid, shootout | 3 (+14 attackers) | Lima, Peru | A team of 142 soldiers raided the Japanese embassy where the MRTA were holding several hostages. Two soldiers, one hostage and 14 rebels were killed in a raid. | MRTA | Internal conflict in Peru | ||
| 22 April | Massacre | 93 | Unknown | Bougara, Algeria | The Haouch Khemisti massacre took place before dawn on April 22, 1997, in the Algerian village of Haouch Mokhfi Khemisti, some 25 km south of Algiers near Bougara. An armed group killed 93 villagers in a 3 hour long attack because they refused to "collaborate", since armed groups depended on the aid of citizens who provide food, money and other necessities for their survival. The bodies were found decapitated. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 23 April | Massacre | 42 | Unknown | El Omaria, Algeria | The Omaria massacre took place on 23 April 1997 in the Algerian village of El Omaria near Médéa, south of Algiers. Attackers armed with knives, sabers, and guns killed 42 people – including 17 women and 3 babies – in 3 hours, mutilating and sometimes burning the bodies. A pregnant woman was cut open, and her baby hacked apart. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 16 June | Massacre | 50 | Unknown | Daïat Labguer, Algeria | About 50 people were killed by some 30 guerrillas, who also kidnapped women, killed the livestock, and stole valuables. Five days earlier, another 17 had been killed at a village some 5 km away. The massacre was attributed to Islamist groups such as the Armed Islamic Group. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 15–20 July | Massacre | ~30 | 0 | Mapiripán, Meta, Colombia | The Mapiripán Massacre was a mass murder of civilians that was carried out by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, a right-wing paramilitary group. | Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia | Colombian conflict | |
| 27 July | Massacre | ~50 | Unknown | Si Zerrouk, Algeria | On the afternoon of 27 July 1997, the electricity went out. That night, a number of guerrillas armed with shotguns, knives, and sabres (30 according to The Economist, 100 according to Liberte) stormed into the area by night and started breaking into homes and cutting the residents' throats, killing men, women, and babies, and burning some victims alive. They also blew up their houses. About 50 people (most papers reported 47; Le Matin reported 58) were killed. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 30 July | Suicide bombings | 16 (+2) | 178 | Jerusalem, Israel | Two suicide bombers detonated at Mahane Yehuda open-air market, killing 16 and injuring 148. | Hamas | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| 2 August | Massacre | 100–200 | 100 | Arib, Algeria | The Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre took place on August 2, 1997. This massacre occurred between two villages near Arib in the wilaya of Tipaza and Ain Defla, Algeria. Around 100 people were killed as a result of the massacre. This massacre was one of the bloodiest since the start of terrorism in Algeria. Algeria-Watch's timeline describes them as strange guerrillas with shaven heads and eyebrows, carrying flags emblazoned "al-ghadhibun 'ala Allah" (Angry at God). | GIA (suspected) | Algerian Civil War | |
| 21 August | Massacre | 64 | Unknown | Souhane, Algeria | The largest of the Souhane massacres took place in the small mountain town of Souhane (about 25 km south of Algiers, between Larbaa and Tablat) on 20–21 August 1997. 64 people were killed, and 15 women kidnapped. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 26 August | Massacre | 64–100 | Unknown | Beni Ali, Algeria | The Beni Ali massacre took place in the mountain hamlet of Beni Ali, 40 miles (64 km) south of Algiers near Chrea, on 26 August 1997. Sixty-four (according to The New York Times and CNN) or 100 people (according to Amnesty International) were killed in a terrorist attack. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 29 August | Massacre | 98–800 | 120 | Rais, Algeria | The hooded attackers arrived about 1 am in trucks and cars, armed with shotguns, knives, axes, and bombs. They continued killing the village's men, women, children, and even animals until dawn (about 6 am), cutting throats and taking the time to burn corpses; young women, however, were abducted instead of being killed. In some cases, they left severed heads on doorsteps. They mutilated and stole from the dead, and committed atrocities against pregnant women. They burned and bombed some houses. The villagers tried to flee or hide. Army units stayed outside the village, shooting at fleeing villagers, but not attempting to enter the village until after the attackers, carrying away some 20 young women, left at dawn. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 4 September | Bombing | 1 | 11 | Havana, Cuba | An Italian tourist named Fabio di Celmo was killed in a bomb blast at a hotel. This was one of a series of bombings of hotels in 1997. Anti-Castro rebels led by Luis Posada Carriles were convicted of the attack. | Luis Posada Carriles Anti-Castro rebels | ||
| 5–6 September | Massacre | 87–150 | Unknown | Beni Messous, Algeria | At about 10 pm on September 5, 1997, about 50 howling men, some of them dressed in military forms, arrived in Sidi Youssef, wielding knives and machetes, and started breaking into houses and killing those within. The victims screamed for help and banged pots and pans to alert their neighbors. Security forces did not arrive until 1 am, despite being stationed close by. The terrorists killed at least 87 people that night, according to the Associated Press; no official death toll was issued, and two political parties, FFS and HMS, claimed about 150 were killed, whereas Daikha Dridi reports 53. It was followed by a second night of killing the next day which reportedly left another 45 dead. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 18 September | Bombing | 0 | 29 | Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina | The attack was carried out by al-Qaeda-connected Islamic extremists, and targeted Croatian civilians and policemen as retribution against the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), which had fought Muslim forces for control of the city during the Bosnian War. It remains the most serious terrorist attack in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. | Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| 20 September | Massacre | 53 | Unknown | Guelb El-Kbir, Algeria | The Guelb El-Kebir massacre took place in the village of Guelb el-Kebir, near Beni Slimane, in the Algerian province of Medea, on 20 September 1997. 53 people were killed by attackers that were not immediately identified, though the attack was similar to others carried out by Islamic groups opposed to the Algerian government. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 23 September | Massacre | 200+ | Unknown | Bentalha, Algeria | On the night of 22 September at 11:30 p.m., explosions occurred in the Hai el-Djilali neighborhood in the southwest of Bentalha. Attackers infiltrated the area from the orange groves to the southeast of the neighborhood. They systematically went from house to house, resulting in the deaths of numerous residents. Eyewitness accounts reported that the attackers were armed with various weapons and engaged in violent acts. The event led to widespread devastation and loss of life. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 15 October | Bombing | 15 | 105 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | An LTTE bomb exploded at the World Trade Centre, killing 15 and injuring hundreds.[2] | LTTE | Sri Lankan Civil War | |
| 22 October | Massacre | 15 | Unknown | Ituango, Colombia | The AUC assassinates 15 people in the El Aro Massacre and causes the forced displacement and the dispossession of lands of several families | AUC | Colombian conflict | |
| 17 November | Massacre | 62 | Deir el-Bahari, Egypt | 6 Islamist gunmen massacre 58 foreign tourists and 4 Egyptians at the Temple of Hatshepsut | al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya | Terrorism in Egypt | ||
| 21 December | Shooting, Clashes | 11 | 18 kidnapped | Patascoy, Colombia | FARC militants attack an army base near the border with Ecuador. 11 soldiers killed and 18 kidnapped.[3] | FARC | Colombian conflict | |
| 22 December | Massacre | 45 | Acteal, Mexico | 45 members of the indigenous pacifist froup Las Abejas are massacred at a church by a paramilitary group called "Mascara Roja" (Red Mask) | Mascara Roja militants | Chiapas conflict | ||
| 23–24 December | Massacre | 48–117 | Unknown | Sidi-El Antri, Algeria | The Sid El-Antri massacre took place on the night of 23–24 December 1997 in two small villages near Tiaret, Algeria. The death toll is unclear; Reuters cites "at least 80", or 48 according to the government. Le Jeune Independent reported 117 people were killed and 11 abducted by terrorists, and a timeline gives 53 (including 15 children) killed in Sidi el-Antri (or Sidi el-Antar, Sidi Lamri) and 28 in Shari. | GIA | Algerian Civil War | |
| 27 December | Shooting | 1 | 0 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners shot dead Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader and fellow prisoner Billy Wright inside the maximum-security Maze Prison. | INLA | The Troubles |