1979 Brussels bombing

1979 Brussels bombing
Part of the Troubles
The Grand Place
Location Brussels, Belgium
Coordinates 50°50′48″N 4°21′9″E / 50.84667°N 4.35250°E / 50.84667; 4.35250Coordinates: 50°50′48″N 4°21′9″E / 50.84667°N 4.35250°E / 50.84667; 4.35250
Date 29 August 1979
15:00 (UTC)
Attack type
 Bomb
Deaths 0
Non-fatal injuries
 18
Perpetrator Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA)

The 1979 Brussels bombing was an attack carried out by terrorists belonging to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) against a British Army band on the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels in Belgium on 29 August 1979.[1] The bombing injured seven bandsmen and eleven civilians,[2] and caused extensive damage.[1]

Background

The bombing was part of the IRA's European continental campaign against British targets in its fight to force the British out of Northern Ireland (the Troubles). The attack in Brussels was one of numerous ones from the IRA on the continent at the time. Earlier that year, Richard Sykes was assassinated in the Netherlands. A Brussels explosion on 25 June, narrowly missing American Alexander Haig, was intended for a British general. A bomb attack in Belgium's Antwerp targeted the British consulate building on 6 July 1979.[1]

Two days prior, 18 British soldiers were killed in Northern Ireland in the Warrenpoint ambush, whilst Lord Mountbatten was assassinated in the Republic of Ireland, both by the IRA.[3]

Bombing and aftermath

The band, from the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment based in Osnabrück, West Germany, was about to perform a concert as the bomb was planted underneath the open-air stage. Only some of the band's 30 members had arrived at that point, the others lucky enough to have been stuck in city traffic.[4] Injuries were lessened and fatalities avoided as the band's members at the time of the explosion were dressing, away from the stage.[5]

The bombing came during a time when the city was celebrating its millennium.[5][6]

The IRA claimed responsibility in a telephone call to the city hall according to mayor Pierre Van Halteren.[1] According to German intelligence, the IRA possibly planned the attack in co-ordination with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "I.r.a. Sets Off Bomb at Belgian Concert". 29 August 1979 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ "IRA Killings Follows Lull In Terrorist Attacks Outside Britain With AM-Netherlands-Ira, Bjt".
  3. ↑ Institut National de l’Audiovisuel. "La Belgique face aux attentats - Archives vidéo et radio Ina.fr" (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  4. ↑ "IRA Bombs British Band On Belgian Visit". 29 August 1979 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  5. 1 2 "Aanslag IRA in centrum Brussel – Digibron.nl". 29 August 1979.
  6. ↑ Dunphy, Robert J. "Tourist's Preview Of the New Year".
  7. ↑ Oppenheimer, Andy (2009). "IRA TECHNOLOGY". The Counter Terrorist.
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