This article covers attacks and activity of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Islamic terrorism

In the 1990s Belgium was a transit country for Islamist terrorist groups like the

Armed Islamic Group of Algeria The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gove ...

(GIA) and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). Belgium has a population of 11 million including large numbers of immigrants from Muslim countries. 100,000 Moroccan citizens live in Belgium, often descended from Moroccans recruited to work in the mining industry in the 1960s; a small fraction of the children and grandchildren of the immigrant generation have been attracted to Militant Islamism and jihad. A tiny fraction of this large Muslim population has participated in terrorist attacks. In a report by the

Combating Terrorism Center The Combating Terrorism Center is an academic institution at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York that provides education, research and policy analysis in the specialty areas of terrorism, counterterrorism, homelan ...

, of the 135 individuals surveyed in connection with terrorism, there were 12 different nationalities. Of those 65% had Belgian citizenship and 33% were either Moroccan citizens or had ancestral roots there. In 2016, Belgian researcher estimated that about 562 individuals had travelled to become

foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars Foreign fighters have fought on all four sides of the Syrian Civil War, as well both sides of the War in Iraq. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria, leftist ...

, the majority of whom joined the Islamic State with others joining the al-Qaida-affiliated group Al-Nusra Front. The majority of those who went to the Syria in the 2012-2016 time span were of Moroccan descent according to U.S. and Belgian authorities. Belgium has been the base of operations for a number of terrorist attacks in the 2010s, including the November 2015 Paris attacks. It has also been the place where some Islamist militants developed militant views before going to the Middle East to fight with

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

. In June 2016, with 451 fighters having travelled to join the Syrian Civil War, Belgium had the highest number of foreign fighters per capita. The November 2015 Paris attacks in France were coordinated and planned from Belgium. The overall leader of that terrorist cell was believed to be Mohamed Belkaid, an Islamic State operative from Algeria who previously had lived in Sweden. Belkaid was killed in a shootout in the Foret district of Brussels, during which Belkaid was firing on police to allow Salah Abdeslam to escape. Salah Abdeslam was arrested a few days later and the surviving members of the cell, including brothers Najim Laachraoui and Khalid and Ibrahim Bakraoui (previously armed robbers) launched the

2016 Brussels bombings On 22 March 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium were carried out by the Islamic State. Three coordinated suicide bombings occurred: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station on the Brussels ...

targeting Brussels airport and metro killing 32. Terrorism experts regard

activities in Europe's Francophone area as a single, French-Belgian junction of

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

activity and attacks.

List of terrorist incidents

Attacks related to Middle East politics

;1985 * 1 August 1985:

Silco incident The Silco Incident involves the kidnapping of the Belgian-French family Houtekins-Kets by the Libyan government from their yacht ''Silco'' in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea on August 1, 1985. Capture and release The Belgian part of the fam ...

. Kidnapping of Belgian-French family by the government of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

; they were held for almost five years.

Attacks related to Northern Ireland

;1979 *22 March 1979: A Belgian bank employee was shot by the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

, who thought it was Sir John Killick. *25 June 1979: An IRA bomb in Brussels targeted but failed to hit a British general. *6 July 1979: An IRA bomb detonates in a British consulate building in Antwerp. *29 August 1979:

1979 Brussels bombing The 1979 Brussels bombing was an attack carried out by volunteers 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 28 August 1979. The bombing in ...

. The IRA bombs the central square of Brussels whilst targeting British troops, injuring 15. *3 November 1979: The British consulate in Antwerp is bombed by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

Antisemitic attacks

;1980 * 28 July 1980:

1980 Antwerp summer camp attack On 27 July 1980, Said Al Nasr, a Syria-born Palestinian, used grenades to attack a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families for a bus to take them to summer camp. One boy was killed and 20 other people were wounded in the attack. ...

. A Syria-born Palestinian,

Said Al Nasr Said Al Nasr (alt. Said al-Nasser; Nassar Saeed, ar, سعيد النصر) was a Syrian Palestinian known for carrying out the 28 July 1980 Antwerp summer camp attack, in which he attacked a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families ...

, used grenades to attack a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families for a bus to take them to summer camp. . The explosion killed one boy, identified as 15-year-old Parisian David Kuhan, and wounded 20, aged 13 to 27, eight of whom had to be hospitalized, ;1981 * 20 October 1981:

1981 Antwerp synagogue bombing On 20 October 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, in the diamond district of Antwerp. The explosion took place 9.30 on a Tuesday morning, shortly before Simchat Torah religious se ...

The

Black September Organization The Black September Organization (BSO) ( ar, منظمة أيلول الأسود, translit=Munaẓẓamat Aylūl al-Aswad) was a Palestinian militant organization founded in 1970. Besides other actions, the group was responsible for the assass ...

carried out a bombing attack at the Antwerp synagogue. Three people were killed in the attack, while 103 others were injured.

Far-left attacks

;1985 * 20 April 1985: A bomb exploded in the secretariat of the

North Atlantic Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

, which the Revolutionary Front for Proletarian Action (FRAP) claimed responsibility for via Belgian radio. * 21 April 1985: A bomb exploded in the AEG Telefunken building in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, blowing out several windows in the AEG Telefunken building and its neighboring structure. The attack was attributed to FRAP after the organisation's acronym was found spray painted on the site. * 1 May 1985: A car bomb exploded in front of the

Federation of Belgian Enterprises The Federation of Enterprises in Belgium ( nl, Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, VBO, french: Fédération des Entreprises de Belgique, FEB) is the only Belgian non-profit organization representing companies in all three regions of Belgium. It ...

building in

. Two firemen were killed when trying to extinguish a fire that the

Communist Combatant Cells Cellules Communistes Combattantes (CCC; Communist Combatant Cells, also known as Fighting Communist Cells) was a Communist Belgian urban guerrilla organization. The cells were active for less than two years in the mid-1980s; primarily engaged i ...

(CCC) deliberately set on the car, with 13 other people injured.

Islamist attacks

;2014 * 24 May 2014:

Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting On the afternoon of 24 May 2014, a gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people. Three of them, an Israeli couple on holiday and a French woman, died at the scene. The fourth victim, a Belgian employee of th ...

directed attack on the

Jewish Museum of Belgium The Jewish Museum of Belgium (french: Musée juif de Belgique, nl, Joods Museum van België) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the history of the Jews in Belgium. History The idea of founding a Jewish museum emerged in the late 197 ...

in Brussels by a French national in contact with ISIS. ;2016 * 22 March 2016:

. Two

suicide bombings occurred at Brussels Airport in

Zaventem Zaventem () is a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around the Brussels-Capital Region ...

, and one at Maalbeek metro station in central

. Thirty-two civilians and three

perpetrators In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U ...

were killed, and more than 300 people were injured. Another bomb was found during a search of the airport.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

(ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks. * 6 August 2016:

2016 stabbing of Charleroi police officers On 6 August 2016, a man attacked two policewomen with a machete in Charleroi, Belgium, before being shot dead by another police officer. Background The attack was one of a series of attacks on Belgian police officers in 2016, including the stabbin ...

claimed responsibility for an attack on Belgian police officers by an Algerian national who had been scheduled for deportation. * 5 October 2016:

2016 stabbing of Brussels police officers On 5 October 2016, three police officers were attacked by a man wielding a machete in the Schaerbeek municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Two of them suffered stab wounds, while the third was physically assaulted but otherwise uninjured. The suspecte ...

-inspired lone wolf stabbing of three police officers in Brussels. ;2017 * 20 June 2017: an explosion occurred in the Brussels Central train station, a failed bombing attempt by Moroccan lone actor Oussama Zariouh. * 25 August 2017: Two soldiers were lightly wounded after a machete-wielding man attacked them in

close to the

Grand-Place The Grand-Place (French, ; "Grand Square"; also used in English) or Grote Markt (Dutch, ; "Big Market") is the central square of Brussels, Belgium. It is surrounded by opulent Baroque guildhalls of the former Guilds of Brussels and two larger ...

. The perpetrator was shot dead at the scene, and the surrounding area was promptly evacuated. ;2018 * 29 May 2018: 2018 Liège attack. A prisoner left prison, stabbed two female police officers, took their guns, shot and killed them and a civilian in Liège, Belgium.

later claimed responsibility for the attack done by a soldier of the caliphate. ;2022 *10 November 2022: 2022 Brussels stabbing. A police officer was killed together while another officer were injured in a stabbing attack in Brussels. The perpetrator was shot and injured and later brought to the hospital.

Far-Right Attacks

*6 December 1985:

1985 Liège bombing On 6 December 1985, a bomb exploded in Palais de Justice, the main courthouse of the city of Liège in Belgium. The explosion took place shortly before hundreds of lawyers including Belgian Justice Minister Jean Gol would attend a swearing-in ce ...

: The Liège courthouse was significantly damaged and one person was killed when a bomb went off. *The

Brabant killers The Brabant killers, also named the Nivelles Gang in Dutch-speaking media ( nl, De Bende van Nijvel), and the mad killers of Brabant in French-speaking media (french: Les Tueurs fous du Brabant), are responsible for a series of violent attacks tha ...

, a trio of far-right extremists who killed 28 people in the 1980s, have been referred to as terrorists by some.

References

{{reflist, 30em

* Lists of events in Belgium