Entertainment venues increasingly under attack
PARIS: Concert halls and clubs have become prime terror targets in the past 15 years, with the latest attack coming late Monday in Manchester. Here is a recap of the main attacks:
Manchester concert
On May 22, a powerful blast kills at least 22 people and wounds 59 at the 21,000capacity Manchester Arena after a concert by US singer Ariana Grande. The suicide attack is deadliest in Britain in 12 years, and causes screaming fans, many of them teenagers, to flee in panic.
Carnage in Istanbul
Shortly after Turkey rings in 2017, a gunman bursts into the exclusive Reina nightclub, spraying partygoers with bullets and killing 39, mostly foreigners. Another 65 people are wounded at the venue which was packed with more than 700 people, some of whom jump into the freezing waters of the Bosphorus to escape. The gunman manages to flee the scene, with the bloodshed claimed by the Islamic State group, citing Turkey’s military intervention against IS in Syria.
Florida gay club massacre
On June 12, 2016, a gunman opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and wounding more than 50 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, shooter Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American of Afghan descent, holds police at bay for three hours until they storm the building, killing him. US authorities say Mateen claimed to be an “Islamic soldier” who had pledged allegiance to IS, with the extremist group later identifying him as one of its militants.
‘Dante’s inferno’ at the Bataclan
On November 13, 2015, three armed men wearing explosive belts storm the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, killing 90 people during a gig by US rock group Eagles of Death Metal. One attacker is killed by a police officer, while the other two detonate their explosive belts as security forces storm the building. Survivors are forced to climb over the bodies of the dead to escape, with one police officer describing it as “Dante’s Inferno.” At the same time, other gunmen open fire on bars and restaurants in the city while others blow themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium. Claimed by IS, the attacks kill 130 people and wound another 350 in the worst-ever terror attacks on French soil.
Moscow rock concert
On July 5, 2003, a double suicide attack during a rock concert at the Tushino airfield near Moscow kills 15 people and wounds around 50. Two women identified by Russia as Chechen separatists mixed with around 20,000 fans who had come to hear some of Russia’s top bands at the annual Krylya (Wings) festival. Almost a year earlier on October 23-26, 2002, Chechen rebels disrupt a musical in Moscow and take more than 912 people hostage. Russian special forces storm the theatre after injecting gas to subdue the gunmen and when the smoke clears, 130 hostages are dead, almost all of them because of the gas.
Bali nightclub bombings
On October 12, 2002, the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in Bali are hit by a car bomb. Both are filled with foreign tourists who have come to enjoy the nightlife in Kuta, the biggest resort on the island, and 202 people, mostly tourists, are killed. Among the victims are 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 22 Britons and seven US citizens. The attack is attributed to the Jemaah Islamiyah, a south-east Asian network linked to Al-Qaeda.