September 20, 1984: At 11:44 a.m., a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with 400 pounds of TNT speeds past a hail of guards' gunfire and explodes against the American embassy in Aukar, nine miles north of Beirut in a predominantly Christian zone of the country. The embassy had been guarded by Christian Phalangist militiamen.
Twenty-three people are killed--6 Lebanese employees, 15 Lebanese civilians and others, and two Americans. In April 1983, a suicide bomber killed 63 people at the American Embassy. And in October 1983, a truck bomber killed 241 U.S. Marines and another killed 57 French paratrooper in simultaneous attacks.
A shadowy group known as the Islamic Holy War claims responsibility. The attack is the work of Imad Mugniyah, of Hezbollah.
See Also:
- Hezbollah and the 1983 Bombing of the U.S. Marines Barracks in Beirut
- Imad Mugniyah - Profile of a Hezbollah Terrorist
- Is Hezbollah Still a Terrorist Organization?
- Hezbollah Rising Over Lebanon
- Did Syria Assassinate Hezbollah's Imad Mugniyah?
- Absurd Prison Sentence for New Yorker Over Hezbollah TV
- June 30, 1985 – Hezbollah Hijackers release 39 American Hostages