Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing Fast Facts
This map shows the locations of the explosions and detonations on February 26, 1986 that destroyed Beirut Airport, Beirut’s main airport, and many other buildings in and around the site. This was one of the most vicious acts of terrorism in the history of the Middle East, and a series of major acts of destruction, injury and death. For the history of the bombing, please read the Beirut bombing timeline. For the history of the US-led sanctions against Iran and related events see “The Great Satan”. For a timeline of the bombing, please see this timeline. For other terrorist acts in the Middle East, and details of recent attacks, see the main section for “Terrorist Attacks”. This section is dedicated to stories of attacks that did not immediately garner the media’s attention. In general, if there was an attack in the Middle East, there has been a major event on the news about it, at least one person died, or significant property damage. In the case of Beirut, the explosion killed over 3000 and injured a third of the population. For many people, this is often a major event. For others, life in the Middle East has not changed much and all seems the same.
This is a list of the names and locations of the bombs and detonations. To read more about the Beirut bombing, consult the general Beirut bombing timeline and the separate section for more details about the bombing. For a general timeline of events related to the bombing, please see the main section for “Terrorist Attacks”.
Boeing 777
On the morning of February 26, 1986, Beirut airport was full of people with luggage, checking in on the flight to Moscow from Paris. The Boeing 707 is a commercial jet airliner manufactured by Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. The bomb would not be used on a Boeing 777, and the plane would not be used as the target of the attack, as it was too large an aircraft to be loaded into the bomb.
The bomb belonged to Sayyed Zulfiquar Riyadi, an Iraqi, who planned the attack (see the “Intelligence” section below). Many in the Lebanese community believe he was part of the terrorist organization that was in charge of the attack. The attack began at 9:45 a.m. (6:45 a.m. US Eastern time), and the bomb