Just 2 Seconds (49 page)

520.
Date: August 26, 1994
Target: Kurdish Leader Jalal Talabani
Location: Erbil, Turkey
Details: A car bomb exploded ten minutes after Talabani's motorcade went past, killing several civilians.

521.
Date: January 26, 1995
Target: Governor K. V. Krishna Rao
Location: Jammu, India
Details: Three bombs exploded, one within 60 feet of Rao, as he delivered a speech at a sports arena. The blast killed seven and wounded 47. Rao wasn't hurt.

522.
Date: May 16, 1995
Target: Governor Yukio Aoshima
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Details: A package bomb addressed to Aoshima exploded in his office at city hall when an aide opened it, maiming his hands.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

523.
Date: May 20, 1995
Target: President Nelson Mandela
Location: Mandeni, South Africa
Details: A gunman fired shots in the air just 20 yards from Mandela at a funeral ceremony. His bodyguards shielded him while others tackled the gunman.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

524.
Date: July 3, 1995
Target: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Details: Mubarak arrived at the airport to attend an OAU summit. His four-car motorcade departed with Mubarak riding in his armored Mercedes, which was third in line. Along the heavily guarded route, a group of Islamic extremists launched an ambush by pulling a car across the road. The gunmen jumped out and opened fire with AK-47s, as security forces returned fire. Mubarak's limousine stopped, then turned around and fled to the airport. Some of the terrorists were killed, and the others were later arrested. Mubarak's armored limousine was struck by several rounds, but none penetrated.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

525.
Date: September 20, 1995
Target: Presidential Envoy Oleg Lobov
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: A remote-controlled bomb hidden under a bridge exploded as Lobov's motorcade started across. Another official and his bodyguard were wounded.

526.
Date: December 2, 1995
Target: Congress
Location: Lima, Peru
Details: Government troops killed three guerrillas and captured 12 others in an attempt to storm Congress and kidnap leading legislators. Police displayed a map of the plan and a photo of one guerrilla dressed like a policeman.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

527.
Date: January 25, 1996
Target: Presidential Candidate Arnoldo Aleman
Location: Guatemala
Details: Gunmen shot at Aleman while he was campaigning. The bullets missed him, but killed a bodyguard and wounded three others.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

528.
Date: February 4, 1996
Target: President Alvaro Arzu
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Details: Bodyguards shot and killed a man who tried repeatedly to ram his pickup truck into Arzu and his wife as they rode horses. He struck a bodyguard on horseback and then rammed security vehicles. The attack occurred the day before the visit of Pope John Paul II.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

529.
Date: February 10, 1996
Target: Prime Minister Begum Khaleda
Location: Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Details: A bomb exploded at a campaign rally where Khaleda was speaking, killing a police officer. Nine people were killed, including two officers, and over 200 were injured in three days of pre-election violence.

530.
Date: April 4, 1996
Target: President Boris Yeltsin
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: An unidentified sniper fired three times at several buildings across from Yeltsin's apartment. The sniper then fled. There were no injuries.

531.
Date: May 18, 1996
Target: President Suleyman Demirel
Location: Izmit, Turkey
Details: A man pointed a pistol at Demirel during a groundbreaking ceremony for a shopping mall. Bodyguards tackled him as he fired, wounding the chief bodyguard, Sukru Cukurlu, and a journalist. Demirel was not hurt. The man was angry at Turkey's military operation in Israel.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

532.
Date: June 14, 1996
Targets: U.S. Ambassador Robert Krueger & the Foreign Minister of Burundi
Location: Cibitoke Province, Burundi
Details: Diplomatic Security agents Larry Salmon and Chris Reilly were decorated for heroism for their response in an attack against the ambassador and the Foreign Minister of Burundi. On a winding mountain road, the convoy was ambushed. Amid automatic weapons fire, the ambassador's car was stuck behind another vehicle. Reilly reached across the terrified driver, put the car in reverse, and backed it out from behind the stopped vehicle ahead. He then helped the driver maneuver to safety. Salmon was driving the vehicle behind the Ambassador's car that day in Burundi. Responding instantly to the attack, Salmon pushed his passenger to the floor for safety and fired six rounds at the assailants. He was the only member of the party to return fire, and he did so while driving his vehicle to safety behind Reilly. Salmon was hit in the shoulder by one of the 10 or so bullets that hit his vehicle. Neither protectee was injured.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

533.
Date: July 16, 1996
Target: Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko
Location: Kiev, Ukraine
Details: A remote-controlled bomb, hidden in a drainpipe, exploded as Lararenko was going to the airport. It left a crater four feet deep and six feet wide. The blast damaged the trunk of his car and another car in the motorcade. Lazarenko was not injured.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)