On 11 October 1971, during the controversial state visit of Japanese emperorHirohito, theRed Youth group placed a bomb at his hotel in Amsterdam which failed to go off properly.[1][2]
On 6 February 1972, aGasunie natural gas distribution pipe in Ravenstein was bombed, causing an enormous explosion andmushroom cloud and large-scale evacuations around the town. Another bomb at a Gasunie centre in Ommen was defused. ThePalestine Liberation Organisation was thought to have been responsible.[3][4]
On 25 February 1972, a small explosion hit theEvoluon in Eindhoven, caused by members of the Red Youth.[2] The group later also planted a bomb atPhilips 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-rightmilitary 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 aBank of America branch in Rotterdam, which was defused; in front of a Zwolsche Algemeene branch in Utrecht; and in front of aHoliday Inn hotel in Utrecht, damaging the front façade. There were no injuries.[7][8][9]
On 22 September 1977,Red Army Faction memberKnut 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 theRed Army Faction in Kerkrade
Assassination of son of the Turkish ambassadorAhmet Benler by Armenian nationalists
On 12 May 1982, the offices of thePacifist Socialist Party in Tilburg was attacked by a bomb. Martijn Freling from the far-rightCentre Party is thought to have been responsible.[10][11]
On 1 July 1982, theRed Armenian Army attempted to assassinate the Turkish Consul General, Kemalettin Demiren, in Rotterdam.
On 31 July 1982, the headquarters of theLabour 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-rightCentre Party were meeting.Hans Janmaat escaped injury butWil Schuurman lost her leg.
On 19 March 1990, theRevolutionary Anti-Racist Action (RARA) group fire-bombedRoyal 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, aBanque Paribas branch in Arnhem was bombed, causing considerable damage, and later on 17 April the DutchBASF offices in Arnhem was also attacked with a bomb. This followed a failed molotov attack on aCredit Lyonnais branch in Arnhem on 17 October 1995. It is suspected the attacks were in protest againstFrance's nuclear testing in the Pacific.[19][20][21] TheEarth Liberation Front claimed responsibility,[22] but in 2008 Marcel Teunissen, a squatter found guilty of murderingLouis Sévèke, claimed responsibility.[23]
On 16 February 1999, a group of people linked to theKurdistan Workers' Party took the wife of the Greek ambassador, her son and a servant, hostage in The Hague. They did so following the arrest ofAbdullah 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 politicianPim Fortuyn was assassinated by left-wing activistVolkert van der Graaf after leaving the studio of the radio show3FM, where he had appeared as a guest in an interview
On 18 March 2019, Gökmen Tanis carried out ashooting 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 reporterPeter R. de Vries was shot in the head after leaving the studio of the television showRTL Boulevard, where he had appeared as a guest. He died from injuries on 15 July 2021.
On 27 March2025 Amsterdam stabbing attack, 30-year oldUkrainian citizen fromDonetsk attacks 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man with American nationality, a 26-year-old man with Polish nationality, a 73-year-old Belgian woman and a 19-year-old woman in the Sint Nicolaasstraat area in the vicinity ofDam Square in central Amsterdam
19 June 2018 – police forces arrest three men in Rotterdam, Schinnen and Groningen suspected of planning a terrorism act.[33]
In June 2018, twoMoroccan-Dutch men were arrested in Rotterdam for plotting a jihadist attack. The investigators found a video of theErasmus 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 killedTheo van Gogh in a terrorist attack.[34]
In September 2018, police arrested seven men inArnhem, 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 ofZoetermeer after they were tipped off that the duo were planning ajihadist attack withexplosive belts andcar bombs. Police found a throwing ax, a dagger, a mobile phone and several SIM cards in their apartment.[37]
