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This is a timeline of incidents in 1972 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
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| Date | Type | Dead | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January–December | Shootings, Assassinations | 10 | Unknown | Across Argentina | 10 people including soldiers and executives were killed in retaliation for the Trelew massacre at the Admiral Zar Base belonging to the Argentine Navy, which occurred on 22 August. | FAR , Montoneros, and ERP | Dirty War |
| January 26 | Bombing | 27 | 1 | Srbská Kamenice, Czechoslovakia | Yugoslavian Airlines Flight 364 is brought down by an explosion, killing 27 out of 28 on board expect one Serbian flight attendant named Vesna Vulović who survives a 10,160 meter (33,330 ft) drop. Officially a bomb was placed on the plane by Ustasa agents, but speculation exists that the plane was downed by two Czechoslovak SA-12 surface-to-air missiles because it has entered a restricted military area without permission. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airplane is destroyed. | Ustasa | |
| January 30 | State terrorism, Mass shooting | 14 | 15+ | Derry, Northern Ireland | A British Army regiment opened fire on Northern Irish protesters, killing 14 and wounded over 15. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers, and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Other protesters were injured by shrapnel, rubber bullets, or batons, two were run down by British Army vehicles, and some were beaten. | British Army | The Troubles |
| February 19–28 | Hostage taking | 3 | 12 | Karuizawa, Japan | A standoff between five Japanese United Red Army members and police, spiraled into hostage crisis at a lodge house. After nine days, the authorities tried to rescue a female hostage, leading to a shootout in which two policemen are killed and 12 injured. | United Red Army | |
| February 22–23 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Aden, Yemen | Lufthansa Flight 649 was hijacked by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members half an hour after the aircraft had departed Delhi-Palam Airport. Eventually, all hostages on board the Boeing 747-200 were released when the West German government paid a ransom of US$5 million. | PFLP | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| February 22 | Car bombing | 7 | 18 | Aldershot, United Kingdom | The Official Irish Republican Army kills seven civilians after it bombs a British Army military barracks. | OIRA | The Troubles |
| March 4 | Bombing | 2 | 130 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Abercorn Restaurant bombing: a bomb exploded in a crowded restaurant, killing two Catholic civilians (Anne Owers and Janet Bereen) and wounding 130. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was blamed. | PIRA | The Troubles |
| March 20 | Bombing | 7 | 148 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 1972 Donegall Street bombing – the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated its first car bomb, on Donegall Street. Allegedly due to inadequate warnings, four civilians, two RUC officers and a UDR soldier were killed while 148 people were wounded. | PIRA | The Troubles |
| April 6 | Bombing | 0 | 0 | Sōji-ji, Japan | Bombing of a cemetery for Japanese people who lived in Korea under Japanese rule. | East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front | |
| May 8 | Hijacking | 1 (+2) | 3 | Lod, Israel | Four PLO terrorists hijacked Sabena Flight 571 carrying 99 passengers and ten crew members en route from Brussels to Tel Aviv. In a mission titled "Operation Isotope", 16 members of Sayeret Matkal posed as refueling and technical personnel and stormed the plane, killing the terrorists and releasing the passengers. | PLO | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| May 30 | Mass shooting | 26 (+2) | 79 (+1) | Lod, Israel | Lod Airport Massacre by the Japanese Red Army, killing 26 and injuring 79. | Japanese Red Army PFLP-EO | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| July 21 | Bombings | 9 | 130 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Bloody Friday: Nine killed and 130 injured as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off 22 bombs. | PIRA | The Troubles |
| July 31 | Car bombings | 9 | 30 | Claudy, Northern Ireland | Claudy bombings; three car bombs are detonated, killing nine people. No group claimed responsibility. | PIRA | The Troubles |
| August 15 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Trelew, Argentina | Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 811 from Comodoro Rivadavia to Buenos Aires was hijacked by terrorists in Trelew. The plane was diverted to Puerto Montt, Chile and finally Santiago, where the all hostages were released and terrorists surrendered. A week later, on August 22, the terrorists were killed by the Argentine Navy in the Trelew massacre. | FAR , Montoneros, and ERP | Dirty War |
| August 22 | Bombing | 9 | 20 | Newry, Northern Ireland | Newry customs bombing: three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members walked into a customs office with a bomb. It exploded prematurely, killing all of them, two lorry drivers and four customs staff. | PIRA | The Troubles |
| September 5–6 | Massacre | 12 (+5) | Munich, West Germany | Black September kidnaps and kills eleven Israeli Olympic athletes and one German policeman. | Black September | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| September 16 | Bombings | 0 | 16 | Sydney, Australia | Bombings of Yugoslavian travel agency. Believed to have been in retaliation for the execution of two Croatian Australians in Yugoslavia. | Croatian nationalists | |
| October 4 | Bombing, false flag | 0 | 2 | Paris, France | Bombing of a PLO bookstore. The bombers claimed to be Zionist extremists but were actually neo-Nazis hoping that the bombing would incite confrontations between French Arabs and Jews | French neo-Nazis | |
| October 23 | Bombings | 0 | 0 | Asahikawa, Japan | Bombings of a monument depicting Japanese soldiers surrounding an elderly Ainu and the Ainu research center at Hokkaido University | East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front | |
| October 31 | Car bombing | 2 | 12 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Car bombing of a Catholic-owned pub in Sailortown by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Two girls aged 6 and 4 are killed. | UDA | The Troubles |
| December 7 | Attempted hijacking | 0 (+7) | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Attempted hijacking of an airliner by the Eritrean Liberation Front. All 7 hijackers were killed by security guards on board the plane and were the only fatalities. | Eritrean Liberation Front | Eritrean War of Independence | |
| December 20 | Shooting | 5 | Derry, Northern Ireland | Five civilians, four Catholics and one Protestant, were killed in gun attack on the Top of the Hill Bar, Strabane Old Road, Waterside. [1] It is believed the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was responsible. [2] | UDA | The Troubles | |
| December 28 | Hostage-taking | 0 | 0 | Bangkok, Thailand | Four members of Black September seize the Israeli Embassy. | Black September | Israeli–Palestinian conflict |