1991 United States embassy sniper attack in Bonn

1991 United States embassy sniper attack
The former embassy in Bonn, pictured in 1998
Location Bonn, Germany
Date February 13, 1991 (UTC+01:00)
Weapons Sniper
Deaths 0
Non-fatal injuries
 0
Perpetrator Red Army Faction

On February 13, 1991, three members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) fired about 250 bullets using a sniper rifle at the United States embassy in Bonn, Germany.[1]

The suspects fired at the embassy from a distance of about 500 metres[2] from Villa Von-Weiß-Straße 8, located across the Rhine river in Königswinter. The incident was linked to the ongoing Gulf War. In a note left at the scene, the RAF said the attack was done to combat American imperialism and to get it out of Iraq.[3] The attackers escaped their positions in a stolen Volkswagen Passat car and were never caught. The embassy received some bullet holes and broken windows, but no major damage was caused.[4]

The same G1 rifle was used by the RAF in the killing of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder afterwards.[5]

In October 2001, new DNA tests of a hair left in the passenger seat of the Passat revealed that Daniela Klette may have been one of the suspects.[6] Klette is an RAF member who was already suspected in other attacks, such as the prison bombing in Weiterstadt in 1993.[7] Klette remains at large and nobody else has ever been convicted for the attack.

See also

References

  1. ↑ AP. "German Economic Aide Slain; Red Army Faction Suspected". Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  2. ↑ Germany, programm.ARD.de - ARD Play-Out-Center Potsdam, Potsdam,. "Rätsel RAF-Terror". programm.ARD.de. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  3. ↑ Gohr, Andreas (1970-01-01). "Rote Armee Fraktion Infopage". www.rafinfo.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  4. ↑ JONES, TAMARA (1991-02-14). "U.S. Embassy in Bonn Is Sprayed With Bullets by Left-Wing Group : Terrorism: Shots fired across Rhine cause no injuries. A letter links the attack to the war". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  5. ↑ "40 Jahre RAF - Die Suche nach der bleiernen Zeit". General-Anzeiger Bonn (in German). 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  6. ↑ Mascolo, Georg (2002-01-14). "ATTENTATE: Verräterisches Frauenhaar". Der Spiegel. 3. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  7. ↑ "Dutch police say surviving Red Army Faction members still active". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
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