Attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities

The United States maintains numerous embassies and consulates around the world, many of which are in war-torn countries or other dangerous areas.

Diplomatic Security

The Regional Security Office is staffed by Special Agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and is responsible for all security, protection, and law enforcement operations in the embassy or consulate. The Regional Security Officer (RSO) is the senior DSS Special Agent in country and is the principal adviser to the Chief of Mission (generally an Ambassador or Consul General) on all security, law-enforcement, and counter-terrorism issues for that country or region. The RSO is responsible for liaising with the host government's security and law enforcement officials. The RSO is supported by a Marine Security Guard (MSG) Detachment, Assistant Regional Security Officers (ARSOs) and local security guards.

Attacks on US diplomatic facilities

Date	Location	Details	Type of attack	Deaths
18 July 1924	Tehran, Sublime State of Persia	An angry mob led by members of the Muslim clergy and including many members of the Iranian Army beat Consul Robert W. Imbrie to death. The mob blamed America for poisoning a well.	mob	1
24 May 1957	Taipei, Taiwan	Mob attack on embassy chancery (see May 24 Incident)		none
27 January 1958	Ankara, Turkey	Bombing in embassy compound		none
5 March 1964	Libreville, Gabon	Two weeks after a failed coup which the U.S. was mistakenly blamed for, a small bomb detonated outside the embassy compound, damaging a sign and cracking windows (see 1964 United States Embassy in Libreville bombings)	bombing	none
8 March 1964	Libreville, Gabon	The second of two bomb attacks on the embassy in Gabon. The embassy was also fired on with a shotgun, causing minor damage.	bombing, shooting	none
4 March 1965	Moscow, Soviet Union	Protests in front of the embassy related to the Vietnam War turned into rioting, approximately 2000 students had to be cleared away by the Red Army.	mob	none
30 March 1965	Saigon, South Vietnam	Viet Cong agents detonated a car-bomb outside the embassy. (Main article: 1965 Saigon bombing)	bombing	2 Americans (1 CIA employee), 19 Vietnamese and one Filipino
31 January 1968	Saigon, South Vietnam	As part of the Tet Offensive, Viet Cong commandos forced their way onto the Embassy grounds and surrounded the building until US reinforcements arrived. (Main article: Tet offensive attack on US Embassy)	armed assault	5 US security 20 attackers
26 September 1971	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Attack on embassy softball game		1 Marine Security Guard 1 Army master sergeant 1 Young Cambodian girl
1972	Manila, Philippines	Attack by communist group, Marine guard wounded		none
19 August 1974	Nicosia, Cyprus	Riot outside embassy; ambassador Rodger Davies and assistant shot by sniper	mob	2
14 November 1974	Tokyo, Japan	Several Japanese youth attacked the embassy with Molotov cocktails, throwing them from a nearby hotel. Afterwards, five stormed the compound where they were arrested. Seven local guards were injured.	armed assault	none
22 November 1974	Fukuoka, Japan	Three men wearing red helmets from the Marxist Youth League broke windows and threw an explosive device at the Consulate. The men then attacked and injured a consulate employee.	armed assault	none
4 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japanese Red Army gunmen stormed the AIA building, containing both the US and Swedish embassies, and took 53 hostages. (main article: 1975 AIA building hostage crisis)	armed assault, hostage crisis	none
17 February 1976	Caracas, Venezuela	Gunmen in a car fire at the Embassy causing minimal damage.	shooting	none
1979	Tehran, Iran	Iran hostage crisis	armed assault, hostage crisis
21 November 1979	Islamabad, Pakistan	Riots break out in response to rumors that the US bombed Mecca during the Grand Mosque seizure (see 1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Islamabad)	mob	2 US security 2 Pakistani personnel 2 attackers
2 December 1979	Tripoli, Libya	Islamist riots destroy Embassy (see 1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Libya)	mob	none
18 April 1983	Beirut, Lebanon	Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy (see April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing)	bombing	63 (of which 17 were Americans)
12 December 1983	Kuwait City, Kuwait	al-Dawa truck bomb outside Embassy (see 1983 Kuwait bombings)	bombing	6
20 September 1984	Beirut, Lebanon	Hezbollah car bomb outside embassy (see 1984 United States embassy annex bombing)	bombing	24
November 1984	Bogota, Colombia	Car bomb outside embassy planted by drug cartel	bombing	1
February 1986	Lisbon, Portugal	Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside embassy	bombing	none
14 May 1986	Jakarta, Indonesia	Japanese Red Army members attempt a mortar attack; their mortar shells fail to detonate	bombing	none
9 June 1987	Rome, Italy	Car bomb set off, two rocket-propelled grenades fired at embassy	bombing	none
17 September 1989	Bogota, Colombia	Homemade rocket fired at embassy by unknown assailant, no damage reported	bombing	none
27 July 1993	Lima, Peru	Car bomb planted by Shining Path, significant damage to embassy building	bombing	none
13 September 1995	Moscow, Russia	RPG fired on Embassy by unknown assailant	bombing	none
21 June 1998	Beirut, Lebanon	RPGs fired at Embassy by Hezbollah	bombing	none
7 August 1998	Nairobi, Kenya	al-Qaeda simultaneously attacked both Embassies with truck bombs	bombing	213, including 10 U.S. personnel and 2 US security
	Dar es Salaam, Tanzania			11
19 September 1998	Monrovia, Liberia	Liberian security forces opened fire on a warlord speaking with U.S. officials at the Embassy gate and subsequently laid siege to the building, killing or wounding more than 10 people. An Embassy staff member and a government contractor were among the wounded.	armed assault	10
22 January 2002	Calcutta, India	Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami gunmen attacked American cultural centre, which included public affairs office of nearby Consulate (more details)	armed assault	5 Indian security
14 June 2002	Karachi, Pakistan	al-Qaeda truck bomb detonated outside Consulate (more details)	bombing	12 Pakistani civilians
12 October 2002	Denpasar, Indonesia	Consular Office bombed by Jemaah Islamiyah as part of the Bali bombings	bombing	none
28 February 2003	Karachi, Pakistan	Unknown gunmen attack Consulate (more details)	armed assault	2 Pakistani security
30 June 2004	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan bombs Embassy	bombing	none
6 December 2004	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	al-Qaeda gunmen raid diplomatic compound	armed assault	5 Saudi personnel 4 attackers
2 March 2006	Karachi, Pakistan	Car bomb explodes outside Consulate, killing a diplomat (more details)	bombing	1 US personnel 1 Pakistani personnel 1 Pakistani security 1 attacker
12 September 2006	Damascus, Syria	Gunmen raid Embassy	armed assault	1 Syrian security 3 attackers
12 January 2007	Athens, Greece	RPG Fired at Embassy by Revolutionary Struggle	bombing	none
14 April 2007	Casablanca, Morocco	Two suicide bombers detonated their explosive devices across the street from the Consulate General and in front of the Consulate General’s public diplomacy facility and language center. Only the bombers were killed.	bombing	2 attackers
21 February 2008	Belgrade, Serbia	Rioters burn the building of the Embassy. One rioter found dead. (more details)	mob	1 attacker
18 March 2008	Sana'a, Yemen	Mortar rounds missed Embassy, hitting nearby school	bombing	2 Yemeni civilians
9 July 2008	Istanbul, Turkey	Armed attack against Consulate (more details)	armed assault	3 Turkish security 3 attackers
17 September 2008	Sana'a, Yemen	A coordinated attack resulted in a 20-minute battle with security (more details)	armed assault	6 Yemeni security 5 Yemeni civilians 1 US civilian 6 attackers
30 October 2009	Managua, Nicaragua	Several hundred supporters from the Sandinista National Liberation Front protesting "U.S. interventionism" swarm the embassy compound, attacking personnel and vandalizing property for four hours.	mob	none
5 April 2010	Peshawar, Pakistan	An attack near the Consulate, killed two consulate security guards and at least six others (more details)	armed assault	2 Pakistani personnel 1 Pakistani security 1 Pakistani civilian 4 attackers
22 July 2010	Baghdad, Iraq	Unknown individuals fired a rocket that struck an Embassy firing range, killing three Embassy guards and injuring 15 fifteen others, including two Embassy contractors.	rocket attack	3
25 September 2011	Kabul, Afghanistan	An Afghan employee opened fire inside an Embassy Annex compound, killing one American and wounding three others before being shot and killed.	armed assault	1 American 1 attacker
28 October 2011	Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina	A Wahhabi Islamist gunman, fired on the embassy, resulting in one local policeman guarding the embassy being wounded in the arm by the gunman, while the shooter was wounded by a police sniper.	armed assault	none
11 September 2012	Cairo, Egypt	Protestors scaled the walls of the Consulate and replaced the US flag with an Islamist banner before being driven back by Egyptian security (more details)	mob	none
	Benghazi, Libya	A group of terrorists storm the Consulate—killing the Ambassador, one staff member, and two security contractors (more details)	armed assault	4 US personnel
14 September 2012	Sana'a, Yemen	Protestors stormed the Embassy and set fire to several vehicles before being driven back by Yemeni security (more details)	mob	5 attackers
	Tunis, Tunisia	Tunisian police fought back protestors who attacked the Embassy (more details)	mob	2 attackers
1 February 2013	Ankara, Turkey	A suicide bomber attacked the Embassy, detonating himself inside a security entrance to the compound (more details)	bombing	1 Turkish security 1 attacker
25 June 2013	Kabul, Afghanistan	Suicide insurgents initiated a failed assault on the Embassy, engaging Afghan security forces and Local Guard Force personnel in a firefight. All perpetrators were killed.	armed assault	8 insurgents 7 Afghan security
13 September 2013	Herat, Afghanistan	A group of 7 Taliban militants attacked the Consulate using truck bombs, assault rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades, killing 2 Afghan security guards and wounding 20 others (more details)	armed assault	2 Afghan security
28 September 2015	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Unidentified man threw two Molotov cocktails or similar improvised explosives over the wall of the Embassy	bombing	none
21 February 2018	Podgorica, Montenegro	A pro-Russian and Serbian-born assailant threw a hand grenade over the wall of the Embassy. Reporting indicated the grenade appeared to detonate as it was thrown into the air, and the man detonated a second device that killed him. The man's body was found 100 feet from the embassy wall.	bombing	1 attacker
26 July 2018	Beijing, China	Unidentified 26-year-old man set off explosive device outside the Embassy.	bombing	none
1 December 2018	Guadalajara, Mexico	Unidentified assailant threw a grenade at the consulate.	bombing	none
31 December 2019	Baghdad, Iraq	2019 attack on the United States embassy in Iraq	mob
27 March 2021	Yangon, Myanmar	Attack on the embassy in Yangon	shooting	none
1 December 2022	Madrid, Spain	Letter bomb sent to the embassy in Madrid	Bombing	none
8 December 2023	Baghdad, Iraq	Approximately seven mortar rounds landed in the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad	mortar attack	none

See also

• American diplomatic missions
• United States Department of State
• List of attacks on diplomatic missions
• Moscow Signal, suspected attack by microwave.

Sources

• US Department of State – Political Violence Against Americans, 1987–2002 and 2008
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Significant Attacks Against U.S. Diplomatic Facilities and Personnel, 1998-2003 (PDF). United States Government.