Israeli Embassy Attack in Buenos Aires
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The bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina was the deadliest terrorist attack in that country until 1994, and the deadliest on an Israeli diplomatic mission.
The motive for the attack came on February 16, 1992. Israeli gunships attacked a motorcade in southern Lebanon, killing Sheik Abbas al-Musawi, the leader of the Hezbollah militant group. The attack had been planned as an assassination attempt, but nevertheless it killed Musawi, his wife, son, and four others. Hezbollah vowed revenge.
Terrorists gained access to Argentina through the Tri-Border area, the area where the borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet that is easy to access. They videotaped the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and assembled their explosives. They were targeting Argentina probably because it had one of the largest Jewish populations in the world.
On March 17, 1992, they carried out their attack. A car, driven by a suicide bomber and loaded with explosives, smashed into the front of the embassy and detonated. The explosion destroyed the embassy, a Catholic church, and a nearby school building. Several Israelis died, but most of the victims were Argentine civilians, many children. The final death toll was 29 killed, and 242 wounded.
Many world leaders condemned the attack. Israel sent investigators to Argentina to search for clues. Though the attack remains unsolved; shortly after the bombing, a group calling itself "Islamic Jihad" claimed responsibility, and Iran was suspected of complicity in the attack. In May 1998, Moshen Rabbani, (the Cultural Attache in the Iranian Embassy in Argentina until December of 1997) was detained in Germany, and the Argentine government expelled seven Iranian diplomats from the country, stating that it had "convincing proof" of Iranian involvement in the bombing. However, none of the suspects have been prosecuted, and a number of sources have suggested that the action was instead carried out by Hezbollah, with Syrian assistance.
Two years later, the Jewish Cultural Center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires was bombed; links between these two bombings have also often been suggested.
In 1999, the Argentinian government issued an arrest warrant for Imad Mugniyah in connection with this attack and the 1994 AMIA Bombing.
External link
- New Report Links Syria to 1992 Bombing of Israeli Embassy in Argentina (http://www.meib.org/articles/0003_s1.htm)