On 11 October 1971, during the controversial state visit of Japanese emperor
Hirohito, the
Red Youth group placed a bomb at his hotel in Amsterdam which failed to go off properly.[1][2]
On 6 February 1972, a
Gasunie natural gas distribution pipe in Ravenstein was bombed, causing an enormous explosion and
mushroom cloud and large-scale evacuations around the town. Another bomb at a Gasunie centre in Ommen was defused. The
Palestine Liberation Organisation was thought to have been responsible.[3][4]
On 25 February 1972, a small explosion hit the
Evoluon in Eindhoven, caused by members of the Red Youth.[2] The group later also planted a bomb at
Philips headquarters that failed to go off.[5] The attacks were aimed at Philips because of them doing business in Greece, which was under a far-right
military junta regime.[6]
On 17-18 October 1972, members of the Red Youth planted several bombs: under the car of a Philips commissioner in Eindhoven; in front of a
Bank of America branch in Rotterdam, which was defused; in front of a Zwolsche Algemeene branch in Utrecht; and in front of a
Holiday Inn hotel in Utrecht, damaging the front façade. There were no injuries.[7][8][9]
On 22 September 1977,
Red Army Faction member
Knut Folkerts shot dead Dutch policeman Arie Kranenburg and seriously injured policeman Leen Pieterse in Utrecht
On 1 November 1978, two Dutch customs officials Dionysius de Jong and Johannes Goemanns were shot at and killed by terrorists belonging to the
Red Army Faction in Kerkrade
Assassination of son of the Turkish ambassador
Ahmet Benler by Armenian nationalists
On 12 May 1982, the offices of the
Pacifist Socialist Party in Tilburg was attacked by a bomb. Martijn Freling from the far-right
Centre Party is thought to have been responsible.[10][11]
On 1 July 1982, the
Red Armenian Army attempted to assassinate the Turkish Consul General, Kemalettin Demiren, in Rotterdam.
On 31 July 1982, the headquarters of the
Labour Party in Amsterdam was bombed by a group called Militant Autonomen Front.[10][12]
On 5 November 1985, a group called Autonomous Cells Netherlands tried to kill mayor of Amsterdam,
Ed van Thijn, by detonating a bomb at his house - blaming him for the death of a squatter called Hans Kok. The bomb failed to go off.[13][14]
On 29 March 1986, far-left terrorists set fire to a hotel in Kedichem where members of the far-right
Centre Party were meeting.
Hans Janmaat escaped injury but
Wil Schuurman lost her leg.
On 19 March 1990, the
Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action (RARA) group fire-bombed
Royal Marechaussee barracks in Arnhem and Oldenzaal.[16] A few days later, an offshoot of the RARA exploded a bomb by the Ministry of Justice building in The Hague.[17]
On 1 July 1993, the RARA bombed the Ministry of Social Affairs building in The Hague.[18]
On 2 January 1996, a
Banque Paribas branch in Arnhem was bombed, causing considerable damage, and later on 17 April the Dutch
BASF offices in Arnhem was also attacked with a bomb. This followed a failed molotov attack on a
Credit Lyonnais branch in Arnhem on 17 October 1995. It is suspected the attacks were in protest against
France's nuclear testing in the Pacific.[19][20][21] The
Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility,[22] but in 2008 Marcel Teunissen, a squatter found guilty of murdering
Louis Sévèke, claimed responsibility.[23]
On 16 February 1999, a group of people linked to the
Kurdistan Workers' Party took the wife of the Greek ambassador, her son and a servant, hostage in The Hague. They did so following the arrest of
Abdullah Öcalan in Kenya and feeling betrayal from Greece for handing him over to Turkish intelligence. The hostages were released unhurt after 24 hours.[24][25]
On 6 May 2002, Dutch right-wing politician
Pim Fortuyn was assassinated by left-wing activist
Volkert van der Graaf after leaving the studio of the radio show
3FM, where he had appeared as a guest in an interview
On 18 March 2019, Gökmen Tanis carried out a
shooting attack against tram passengers in Utrecht, killing four civilians and wounding six others. Tanis was arrested and convicted of murder with terrorist intent and sentenced to life in prison. He expressed support for Islamic extremism.[32]
On 6 July 2021, prominent Dutch crime reporter
Peter R. de Vries was shot in the head after leaving the studio of the television show
RTL Boulevard, where he had appeared as a guest. He died from injuries on 15 July 2021.
On 28 September 2023, 32-year old Fouad L.
shot 3 people in a spree shooting: two were killed at their home and one was killed in an educational facility of the Erasmus Medical Centre. The perpetrator also set fire to parts of the Erasmus Medical Centre.
Notable foiled plots
19 June 2018 – police forces arrest three men in Rotterdam, Schinnen and Groningen suspected of planning a terrorism act.[33]
In June 2018, two
Moroccan-Dutch men were arrested in Rotterdam for plotting a jihadist attack. The investigators found a video of the
Erasmus Bridge in one of their cell phones. In October 2020 they were sentenced to eight years in prison by a court in Rotterdam for planning an attack in the name of the Islamic State. One of the men was also convicted for destroying property in the prison while encouraged by the jihadist Mohamed B, who killed
Theo van Gogh in a terrorist attack.[34]
In September 2018, police arrested seven men in
Arnhem, on evidence that they were planning to attack a "large event" at two separate locations using a car bomb, other kinds of bombs, grenades and Kalashnikov assault rifles with intent to injure and kill "many victims."[35][36]
26 November 2019 – police arrest two individuals, 20 and 34, in the city of
Zoetermeer after they were tipped off that the duo were planning a
jihadist attack with
explosive belts and
car bombs. Police found a throwing ax, a dagger, a mobile phone and several SIM cards in their apartment.[37]