Deeret
Casualities Resulting From International Terrorist Incidents, 1980-85
State-Supported International Terrorist Incidents, 1985
Percent
Number of casulaties (hundreds)
16
Iran 37.1
14
Other 7.9
12
Wounded
Iraq 4.5
10
8
Killed
tuli
Libya 15.7
6
4
Syria 34.8
2
0
1980
81
82
83
84
85 a
& Preliminary.
(b)(3)ry.
(b)(3)
100676 4
10674 4-06
A dramatic increase in Palestinian terrorism more than compensated for any decline in state-supported incidents. Palestinian terrorism accounted for more than half of all Middle Eastern inciden(b)(3)85, compared with about one-third in 1984.
Syrian interests. In 1985, for example, Syriansupported groups conducted about twice as many terrorist operations against Jordanian officials and facilities as they did the previous year.
(b)(3)
Many of the attacks in 1985 were conducted by radical Palestinians such as the Abu Nidal Group—that are known to receive extensive support from Damascus. One of the most dangerous Middle Eastern terrorist organizations, this group conducted 23 attacks last year, more than 60 percent of them in Western Europe. The number of dead and wounded was 34 and 327, respectively.[(b)(3)
Syrian-supported groups have also attacked US facilities in Jordan. We do not know if Syrian officials explicitly approved such attacks and doubt that President Assad is intent on directly targeting US personnel and facilities. We believe, however, that he exploits the anti-American militancy of these groups in order to penalize Vited States for policies that he opposes.
(b)(3)
Syrian-supported groups staged some 30 attacks in 1985—compared with 21 in all of 1984-including two against US facilities. President Assad continued to use terrorism to dissuade opponents and uncooperative allies from pursuing policies inimical to
Iran and Iranian-supported groups were responsible for over 30 international terrorist attacks in 1985. France, the United States, and Iraq remained the primary targets, but the Persian Gulf states also faced threats. Iran also became increasingly involved in
18
Secret
Approved for Release: 2017/09/13 C05632837