List of terrorist incidents in 1978


This is a timeline of incidents in 1978 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces.

Guidelines

DateTypeDeadInjuredLocationDetailsPerpetratorPart of
January 7Shooting21Rome, ItalyA leftist terrorist group attacked the office of Italian Social Movement in Rome, Italy, killing three people in an event known as the Acca Larentia Massacre.Nuclei Armati di Contropotere Territoriale
February 1Poisoning05NetherlandsMembers of the Arab Revolutionary Council poison Israeli oranges with mercury, injuring five children.Arab Revolutionary CouncilIsrael-Palestine conflict
February 4Ambush10UnknownCarare-Opon region, ColombiaGuerrillas from the IV front of the FARC ambush two Army trucks in Campo Capote, Carare-Opon region. A second lieutenant and 9 soldiers are killed.FARCColombian conflict
February 13Bombing311Sydney, AustraliaA bomb placed in a garbage bin at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney explodes while the bin was being emptied into a garbage truck. Two garbage collectors and a police officer were killed and eleven others were wounded. The perpetrators were never identified, but the hotel was hosting the first ever Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which was the likely target.Unknown
February 17Bombing1230County Down, Northern IrelandThe Provisional Irish Republican Army plants an incendiary bomb outside the La Mon restaurant in Gransha, County Down. The bomb exploded before the restaurant could be evacuated after PIRA phoned in a threat.PIRAThe Troubles
February 18Shooting120Nicosia, CyprusTwo assassins had killed prominent Egyptian newspaper editor Youssef Sebai and then rounded up several Arabs who were attending a convention in Nicosia as hostages. As Cypriot forces were trying to negotiate with the hostage-takers at the airport, Egyptian troops decided to launch their own assault without authorization from the Cypriots. The unauthorized raid led to the Egyptians and the Cypriots exchanging gunfire, killing or injuring more than 20 of the Egyptian commandos.
February 24Bombing10Tenerife, SpainThe police officer Rafael Valdenebro attempted to deactivate a bomb placed by the group in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on February 24, 1978, which was intended to assassinate a local lawyer. The bomb expert, 27, was hit in the head, arms and legs and died on March 8.MPAIACTerrorism in Spain
March 3Bombing13Port Elizabeth, South AfricaBomb explodes outside Government offices.Umkhonto We SizweInternal resistance to apartheid
March 11Massacre39 71Tel Aviv, Israel11 PLO terrorists hijack a bus on Coastal highway and take dozens of civilians hostage. 38 civilians and one Israeli soldier are killed when Israeli police attempt to raid the bus, which burst into flames.PLOIsrael-Palestine conflict
March 13–14Hostage-taking21Assen, NetherlandsThree South Moluccans took 70 hostages at the Assen province hall, demanding the release of Molucccan prisoners. Two hostage were executed and a photographer was wounded.South Moluccan freedom fighters
March 16 – May 9Kidnapping, murder60ItalyFormer Italian prime minister and leader of the Democrazia Cristiana party, Aldo Moro, is kidnapped by Red Brigades terrorists on March 16. The terrorists kill his five bodyguards. Moro is found murdered after 55 days of captivity.Red Brigades
March 17Bombing22Lemoiz, SpainETA planted a bomb in the under-construction Lemóniz nuclear reactor, killing two workers, wounded two more, and causing substantial damage to the reactor itself. Further ETA actions ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the project.ETABasque conflict, Anti-nuclear movement in Spain
April 13Attempted Car Bombing01Guipuzcoa, SpainThe dawn of April 13, several individuals tried to put an explosive device at Adegui's headquarters in San Sebastian. The attack was partially unsuccessful. One of the commanders was wounded in deflating the bomb early and escaped from the scene of the attack in a car flight. The militant, identified as Vicente Aldalur, was hospitalized in France for severe burns.Comandos Autonomos AnticapitalistasBasque conflict
May 20Shooting2 5Paris, FranceThree terrorists fire on El Al passengers in the departure lounge of Orly Airport in Paris, resulting in the death of all three terrorists and one policeman, with three French tourists injured.PalestiniansIsrael-Palestine conflict
May 24Assassination10Guipúzcoa, SpainA taxi driver was beaten and shot dead by the Batallon Vasco Espanol which accused the taxi driver of having helped an ETA attack.Batallon Vasco EspanolBasque Conflict
May 25Bombing01Evanston, Illinois, United StatesPolice officer Terry Marker is injured by a bomb sent to professor Buckley Crist at Northwestern University by Theodore Kaczynski.Theodore Kaczynski
June 7Shooting22Figtree, RhodesiaTwo British women mission teachers were shot dead and two other missionaries wounded during a raid by ZIPRA guerrillas on the Salvation Army Usher Institute near Figtree, 20 miles south-west of Bulawayo.Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army Rhodesian Bush War
June 23Massacre120Vumba Mountains, RhodesiaEight British missionaries and four young children – including a three-week-old baby – were beaten, stabbed and axed to death at Elim Mission near Umtali on Rhodesia's eastern border. Most of the women had also been sexually assaulted.Rhodesian Bush War
June 27Shooting20Hartley district, RhodesiaTwo German-born missionaries, Father Gregor Richert and Brother Bernhard Lisson, were shot by a small group of terrorists near their quarters at St. Rupert's Mission, 60 km north-west of Hartley.Rhodesian Bush War
August 13Bombing17580Beirut, LebanonA bomb destroys an office building in West Beirut housing the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Front, killing more than 175 people and injuring another 80. The bombing was allegedly carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command.PFLP-GCPalestinian insurgency in South Lebanon
August 14Shooting120Cimitarra, ColombiaFARC members murder 12 peasants in rural Cimitarra, Santander.FARCColombian conflict
August 19Shooting6UnknownBoyacá, ColombiaFARC guerrillas attack troops from the battalion of engineers "Baraya", and kill 6 soldiers in rural Otanche FARCColombian conflict
August 19Shooting22Managua, NicaraguaTwo people who collaborated in the government of General Anastasio Somoza were shot dead and two other policemen injured in another incident in Managua, Nicaragua.Sandinists
August 19Arson400+Abadan, IranA group of four Islamist militants bar the doors of a cinema and set the cinema on fire. Hundreds of people had packed into the cinema to watch the film The Deers. The exact number of deaths is unknown with estimates ranging from around 400 to over 800.Four IslamistsIranian Revolution
August 20Shooting, grenade attacks1 9London, United KingdomA crew bus of El Al airlines in London was attacked by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A flight attendant and one suspected terrorist were killed in the attack, and nine people were injured.PFLPIsrael-Palestine conflict
September 1–6Bombings02Speedway, United StatesA series of eight bombings occurs in the town of Speedway, Indiana. A Vietnam War veteran and his wife are seriously wounded in the last bombing. A local drug dealer named Brett Kimberlin is convicted of the bombings. The motive for the bombings was never determined but they may have been meant to serve as a distraction from a murder which Kimbelin was allegedly involved with.Brett Kimberlin
September 3Aircraft shootdown488Karoi, RhodesiaMembers of ZIPRA shot down Air Rhodesia Flight 825 from Kariba to Salisbury killing 48 civilians. 38 were killed in the crash and 10 survivors were shot with automatic weapons.ZIPRARhodesian Bush War
October 22Shooting31Getxo, SpainFour Civil Guards are shot by ETA while returning from a football match. Three die.ETABasque conflict
December 31Theft00Bogotá, ColombiaMembers of the M-19 enter a tunnel to the north canton in Bogotá and steal more than 5000 weapons. The robbery of the North Canton, main deposit of arms of the Military Forces of Colombia, meant a mockery for the government before the public opinion.Movimiento 19 AbrilColombian conflict