Incident Summary:

02/14/1998: Thirty-six people were killed and approximately 100 people injured in a series of car bomb explosions in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu State, southern India. A total of 12 explosions occurred in several parts of the city within about 15 minutes. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but members of the militant group Al Ummah were reportedly responsible.

GTD ID:
199802150016

When:
1998-02-14

Country:
India

Region:
South Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Tamil Nadu

City:
Coimbatore

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Bombing/Explosion
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity Town of Coimbatore
Specific Description Indian Civilians and property in Coimbatore
Nationality of Target India
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Unknown
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Explosives Vehicle
Weapon Details
Time fuse
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?Yes
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Additional Information This was one of 12 related events (cf. 199802150005-16). The reports did not attribute the casualties to each specific incident, so the total injuries and fatalities were divided across the twelve incidents in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. The twelve bombs were apparently timed to coincide with a visit by the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who was favored to win the elections in 1998. There were two additional bombings in Coimbatore the previous day (cf: 199802140003-4).
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Al-Ummah (suspected) No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators Unknown
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 3 Fatalities / 8 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 3
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities Unknown
Total Number of Injured 8
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured Unknown
Sources
“36 killed, 100 injured in car bomb blasts in south India,” Japan Economic Newswire, February 15, 1998.
“40 Killed, More Than 200 Hurt by Bombs in India,” Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1998.