Horror at terror; extended web timeline chronicling acts of terror in the region

A glance at the major acts of terror perpetrated by militants and rebels of all colours across Southasia in the decade from 1999 to 2008 can only induce horror. The numerous incidents of indiscriminate violence which have killed, injured, maimed and caused fear among civilians have hit the people hard and also diverted the political evolution of the individual countries in Southasia, and set back geopolitical gains. This list of acts of terror of the past decade presented here are an extended version from the one found in the hard copy of the current January 2009 issue of Himal Southasian. Using criteria based on numbers killed, motive and intent, and targeting of non-combatants, we attempt to indicate the range of killings in both their geographical spread and so-called causality. While every death represents the loss of a precious life, we have had to also go by the count of the dead. Himal's 'terror timeline' does not expand the list to include killings of combatants.
– Editors

TIMELINE
1998 – 2008

1998

25 January: 13 people killed in LTTE suicide attack at the Temple of the Tooth, a holy Buddhist Shrine, in Kandy, Sri Lanka.   

14 February: 13 bombs explode in 11 locations across Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The first of the serial blasts went off near an election rally to be addressed by L K Advani, who was allegedly targeted by the bombers.  
 
1999

3 January: Unidentified gunmen fire on Shia Muslims in an Islamabad mosque, 16 killed, 25 injured.

24 December: Indian Airlines Flight 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi hijacked. One passenger killed, remaining hostages released in exchange for four extremists including – Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and killing of journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi in February 2002.

2000

17 January: Bomb explosion at a Karachi bus stop kills 8 and injures 31.

5 February: Bomb explosion in Hyderabad, Sindh train kills 8, injures 40.

28 March: Bomb blast at crowded market in Pakistani town of Torkham near Afghanistan kills 7, injures 16.

17 May: Bomb attack in Colombo during Buddhist festival kills 29, wounds 80. LTTE blamed.

June 19: Two bombs kill 2, injure 11 at Red Fort, Delhi.

17 July: Hyderabad (Deccan) train blast kills 10.

19 September: Bomb explosion in Islamabad kills 12.

1 December: United Liberation Front of Assam militants kill 16, injure 17.
 
2001

14 April: Bomb explosion at a Bengali New Year function in Dhaka kills 8.

15 June: Bomb explosion at ruling Awami League office at Narayanganj, Bangladesh kills 21, injures 100.

24 July: An LTTE suicide squad attacks Bandaranaike International Airport and the adjoining air force base at Katunayake. 20 aircrafts damaged, 7 people killed.

24 September: Bomb blast at an election rally at Mollarhat, Bangladesh kills 8, injures hundreds.
 
25 September: Explosion near Awami League election meeting at Shullah, Bangladesh kills 4.

1 October: Car bomb explodes near Jammu and Kashmir state assembly in Srinagar, killing 35, injuring 40.

28 October: Six unidentified gunmen open fire inside church in Model Town, Pakistan, killing 17 Christians.

13 December: Bomb blast at a residential area in Orangi Town, Karachi kills 19.

13 December: High profile attack on the Indian Parliament kills 12 people. After the ruling BJP accused the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated.

2002

31 January: Kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl by Pakistani terrorists. The former South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal was kidnapped on January 23 on his way to conduct an interview on Richard Reid, the alleged "shoe-bomber" in Karachi.
 
14 June: Car bomb at US Consulate in Karachi kills 10, injures 51.

5 July: Bomb explosion at the headquarters of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's faction of the Nepali Congress party in Kathmandu injures 10.

25 September: Jaish-e-Mohammed raid Akshardham temple in Ahmedabad, kill 30, injuring many.

28 September: Maoists attack the Phaplu airport tower causing damage of NPR 2 million in Nepal.

7 December: Serial bomb blasts at four cinema halls in and around Mymensingh, 150km north of Dhaka, kill 18, injure 300.

25 December: Grenade attack on United Presbyterian Church near Sialkot, Punjab province, kills 3, injures 15.

2003

17 January: Bomb blast at carnival in Dariapur, 70 km north of Dhaka, kills 8, injures 8.

31 January: Unidentified assailants kill a prayer leader and worshipper and injure two after opening indiscriminate fire inside a mosque in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

20 March: Suspected Sea Tiger cadres of the LTTE sink Chinese fishing trawler, 33 km northwest of Mullaithivu.

4 July: 53 killed and 57 injured in armed attack on Shiite mosque in Quetta during the Friday prayers.

25 August: 48 people killed and 150 injured in two bomb blasts in south Bombay –near the Gateway of India and at Zaveri Bazaar.

8 September: Bomb explosions at six places in Kathmandu kill 8, injures 12.

26 November: LTTE grenade attacks on Trincomalee and Kinniya kill 3 Muslims, injure 6.

25 December: 18 killed, 40 injured during second assassination attempt in less than two weeks on President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

2004

9 January: A hand grenade attack, allegedly thrown by LTTE cadres, explodes at a funeral house in the LTTE-held Vakaneri area killing 3, injuring 38.

12 January: Bomb explosion at shrine of Saint Shahjalal in Sylhet kills 2, injures 37.

April 27: Suspected Taliban attack on the Punjwai district building, and the burning down of the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid agency (a charity organisation), kills 4, wounds 6.

7 May: Suicide bomb attack at Sindh Madrassatul Islam in Karachi mosque kills 24, injures over 100.
 
21 May: Bomb explosion at Hazrat Shahjalal shrine in Sylhet kills 2, injures at least 100 including British High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

2 June: 5 NGO workers killed in car ambushed in Khair Khana, eastern Afghanistan.
 
10 June: Unidentified gunmen kill 11 Chinese construction workers in Konduz, Afghanistan.

21 August: Grenade attacks on Sheikh Hasina's rally in Dhaka kills 19, injures 200.

29 August: Bomb attack on the US security firm, Dyncorp, in Kabul kills 10, injures 22.

31 August: Bomb explosion at a sweet shop in Qalat, 140km south of Quetta, kills 4 including 3 intelligence officers, injures 15.

2 October: Assamese militants explode a bomb killing 13, injuring 23, and bomb blast on rail line kills 12, injures 60.

11 December: Bomb blast at Shahrukh Khan concert in Colombo kills 2, injures 19.

2005
 
27 January: Grenade attack on Awami League rally at Boidder Bazaar, Bangladesh kills 5, injures 70

5 March: Six civilians shot dead at Welikanda by LTTE cadres.

6 March: Maoists kill five civilians, allegedly members of an 'anti-Maoist retaliation group', at Kudarmatewa, Nepal.

7 May: Multiple bomb explosions across Burma's former capital Rangon kill 19, injure 160.

1 June: Attack on a Kandahar mosque kills at least 20.

6 June: Maoist landmine in Chitwan, Nepal kills 36, injures 72.

14 June: Maoists kill seven family members of police personnel, including three women and a one-year old child, at Attariya, Nepal.

13 July: A hand grenade thrown at a Tsunami relief centre in Muttur, Sri Lanka, by suspected LTTE cadre kills 9.  

22 July: Unidentified gunmen kill nine tribesmen, including two leading pro-government tribal elders, in different parts of South Waziristan.

17 August: About 459 bomb explosions across 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts, all within 30 minutes of each other, kill 2, injure 100.  

29 October: Multiple bomb blasts hit markets in Delhi, India, kill 61, injure 200.

18 November: LTTE hand grenades thrown at a mosque in the Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka kill 6, injure 21.

29 November: Two suicide bomb attacks by JMB cadres in the Chittagong and Gazipur courts kill 9, injure 78.

8 December: Bomb explosion at Jandola Bazaar in the Tank area of South Waziristan, kill 12, injure 50.

8 December: JMB Suicide bombing in front of the cultural wing office of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, in Netrakona district kills 6, injures 46.

2006

2 January
Bomb blast in Trincomalee kills 5, injures 2.

16 January: Blasts in a crowd in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, Afghanistan kill 24.

2 March: Suicide car bombing near US consulate in Karachi, a day before President George W Bush reaches Pakistan, kills 3 including a US diplomat, injures 54.

7 March: Bombings in Benaras kill 28, injure 100.

11 April: Suicide bomb attack at Nishtar Park in Karachi kills 57, injures 200.

12 April: LTTE cadres set off an IED outside a vegetable market, killing at least five people in the Trincomalee district. Six more killed in subsequent mob violence. 38 injured.

23 April: LTTE cadres shoot dead six Sinhalese farmers in their paddy fields at Kallanpattu in Trincomalee district.

25 April: Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka critically injured while at least eight killed when a suicide bomber attacks in front of the military hospital inside the Colombo Army headquarters.

15 June: LTTE detonates two claymore mines targeting a bus killing 68, injuring 60.

11 July: A series of explosions in commuter trains in Bombay kill 209 and injuring 714.

3 August: Car bomb in Kandahar, Afghanistan marketplace kills 21.

4 August: LTTE massacres over a hundred civilians fleeing fighting from Trincomalee.  

8 September: Two bomb blasts in Muslim cemetery in Malegaon, India, kill 37, injure 125.

18 September: LTTE suicide bomber rams truck packed with explosives into convoy of buses carrying unarmed Sri Lankan Navy personnel going home, killing 92 navy personnel.

18 September: At least 11 civilians, belonging to the Muslim community, are killed at Pottuvil town in the Amparai district. Both the LTTE and Sri Lankan Army accuse each other of being involved in the killing.

26 September: 18 die in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province.

30 September: Suicide bomb attack outside interior ministry in Kabul kills 12, wounds over 40.

2007

5 January: Bomb blast on a bus kills 6, injures 63 in Sri Lanka. Government blames LTTE for the attack.

6 January: Explosion in bus in Galle kills 16, injuring 40. LTTE blamed.

15 January: Bomb explodes at Afghan refugee camp in the Nowshera district of NWFP, killing four and injuring five.

26 January: Suicide bomber blows himself up outside Hotel Marriott in Islamabad, killing a guard and injuring five persons.

27 January: 15 people, including six police officials, killed and 60 others injured in a suicide attack targeting a Muharram procession in Peshawar.

6 February: Suicide attack in the car park of Islamabad airport, injures 10, kills attacker.

17 February: 17, including a judge, killed and 30 others injured in suicide bombing in Quetta District Courts.
 
19 February: Two train bombs explode on Samjhauta Express heading from India to Pakistan, kills 66.

26 March: First LTTE air attack on Sri Lankan Air Force base in Katunayake, kills 3, injures 17.

29 March: Mortar attacks by the LTTE on Sittandi, Sandiliveli and Morakottanchchena villages in the Batticaloa district kills at least 10, injures 7.

12 April: At least seven civilians shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres in the Vavuniya district. Cadres raid Sinhala community village and execute two families in two houses.

22 April: Three children die in an explosion in the Khad Kocha area of Mastung district in Balochistan when two motorcyclists hurl an explosive device into a house.

23 April: Bomb blast on Colombo-bound passenger bus kills 5, injures 33.

28 April: Suicide attack at Federal Interior Minister Sherpao's rally in NWFP kills 31, injures many.

15 May: Suicide attack at Marhaba Hotel in Peshawar kills 25, injures 35.

18 May: Hyderabad (Deccan) Mecca mosque, 12 dead.

30 May: Militants attack the house of a senior government official in the Jatai Qala area of Tank district NWFP and shoot 13 people dead.

8 June: Bomb explosion on a bus in Balochistan kills 3, injures 7. 

19 June: Missile attack on a cluster of compounds in North Waziristan kills 22, injures 10.

8 July: Unidentified gunmen shoot dead three Chinese workers, injure one in NWFP.

10 July: Suicide bombing in a marketplace in Dehrawood, Uruzgun province, Afghanistan kills 17.

17 July: 16 killed and 63 wounded in suicide attack on lawyers rally in Islamabad.

19 July: Suicide car bomb attack at bus stop in Balochistan kills 29, injures 50.

24 July: Unidentified militants fire a series of rockets on civilians in Bannu, NWFP killing 9, injuring 40.

4 August: Suicide car bomb attack at bus stop near Parachinar city in FATA kills 9, injures 43.

25 August: Two explosions in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, kill 42.

10 September: Suicide attack in Gereshk, Helmand province kills 20.

11-12 October: Local Taliban militants shoot dead six alleged criminals to avenge the death of their four associates in the Pandialai tehsil (administrative division) in FATA. They abduct six other 'criminals'.

13 October: Four killed and one injured when militants ambush a vehicle in Arkot in NWFP.

18 October: Suicide bombing in Karachi rally welcoming Benazir Bhutto kills 143, injures 550.

20 October: Bomb in a pickup vehicle at a bus stand in Dera Bugti in Balochistan. Mir Liaquat Bugti kills 8, injures 28.

6 November: Strike at sugar factory in Baghlan kills 70 parliamentarians, MPs and school children.

21 December: Suicide bomb attack during Id prayers in Charsadda, NWFP kills 60, injures 80.

27 December: Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and PPP Chairperson, assassinated in suicide attack in Rawalpindi. 30 others killed and over 100 injured.

2008

10 January: 24 people, including 17 policemen killed and 80 injured in a suicide bomb blast outside Lahore High Court.

14 January: Bomb blast in Karachi kills 11, injures 50.

14 January: Attack on Serena Hotel in Kabul kills 6.

16 January: LTTE claymore mine explosion in Helagama kills 26, injures 67.

20 January: Series of bomb blasts in Samste, Thimpu, Gedu an Dagapela in Bhutan. No casualties.

29 January: Claymore mine blast on school bus in Mannar kills 17, including 11 children.  

2 February: Bombs exploded by LTTE at Dambulla bus stand in Matale, Sri Lanka kill 20, injure 50.

9 February: Suicide attack on election rally at Nakai, NWFP kills 27, injures 30.

16 February: Suicide bomber rams explosives-laden car into the election office of an independent candidate in Parachinar city of FATA, killing 47, injuring 109.

17 February: Suicide attack at a dog-fighting competition in Kandahar kills more than 100.

22 February: Remote-controlled bomb at a wedding party kills 14, injures 13 others, mostly children, in Matta in NWFP.

March 2: Suicide bomb at tribal peace jirga in Darra Adam Khel, NWFP kills 42, injures 58.

6 April: LTTE suicide attack at a sporting event in the Weliweriya, Sri Lanka kills 14 including Highway Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, injures 90.

1 May: Suicide bomber attack in a madrassa (seminary) in Khyber Agency of FATA injures 18 people in an apparent attempt to assassinate Haji Namdar, chief of the Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtue and Suppression of Vice), a religio-militant organisation.

13 May: Series of seven bombs in Jaipur, 80 dead. Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami (HuJI) involvement suspected.

2 June: Suicide bomber blows up car outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, killing at least eight persons and injuring 30 others.

7 July: Suicide blasts in Indian embassy in Kabul kill 41.

25-26 July: Seven blasts across Bangalore kill 2, blasts in Ahmedabad kill 54.

25 August: Blasts in Bombay kill 52.

13 September: Blasts in New Delhi shopping centres kill 21.

20 September: A dump truck filled with explosives detonates in front of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing at least 54.

10 October: Suicide bomber targets anti-Taliban jirga in the FATA, kills 85, injures 200.

21 October: 11 dead in Imphal, Manipur.

25 October: About 50 Maoist rebels attacked a cultural programmed in Jharkhand, India killing 17 people including the son of former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.

30 October: Suicide attack at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Kabul kills 5.

31 October: Serial attacks in Assam, kill 84.

26-29 November: Series of attacks in Bombay kill 173. Lashkar-e-Toiba suspected.

14 December: Taliban kill an anti-Taliban cleric, Pir Samiullah, and his eight followers. Soon after, the Taliban took over Mandal Daag area in Swat from the followers of the cleric.