1983 Kuwait Bombings

On 12 December 1983, a series of six coordinated truck bombings struck the US and French embassies, a petroleum refinery, the airport, and other targets in Kuwait City, killing six people and injuring more than eighty. The attacks were carried out by Iranian-backed operatives affiliated with the Iraqi Dawa Party. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, later the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court for his role in planning the bombings. Seventeen perpetrators were arrested and became known as the 'Kuwait 17'; Hezbollah later attempted multiple operations to secure their release.