This is a timeline of incidents in 1981 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).
| Date | Type | data-sort-type="number" | Dead | data-sort-type="number" | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 January | Bombings | 0 | 0 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 11 men disguised as soldiers penetrated into the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and placed bombs on several aircraft, destroying several of them. | Boricua Popular Army | |||
| March 3 | Armed Assault | 0 | 1 | Puerto Montt, Chile | A commando of the MIR assaulted a supermarket, injuring a policeman | Revolutionary Left Movement (Chile) | Armed resistance in Chile (1973–90) | ||
| 28 March | Hijacking | 2 (+5 attackers) | 2 | Indonesia | 5 members of the Islamic extremist group Komando Jihad hijack Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 206. They kill the pilot and an Indonesian commando before all five of them are killed. | Komando Jihad | Terrorism in Indonesia | ||
| 1 May | Assassination | 1 | 0 | Vienna, Austria | Austrian Socialist Party politician Heinz Nittel who was also the president of the Austrian–Israeli Friendship League is assassinated by 21-year-old Iraqi Hesham Mohammed Rajeh, who was also linked to the 1981 Vienna synagogue attack | Hesham Mohammed Rajeh | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 13 May | Attempted Assassination | 0 | 3 | St. Peter's Square, Vatican City | Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. | Mehmet Ali Ağca | |||
| 27 April | Kidnapping | 2 | 0 | Naples, Italy | Christian Democracy politician Ciro Cirillo is kidnapped and his two bodyguards are killed by the Red Brigades. Cirillo was held until 25 July when a ransom was paid. | Red Brigades | |||
| 16 May | Bombing | 1 | New York City, United States | One dead in an explosion in the toilets at the Pan Am terminal at JFK airport. The bombing is claimed by the Puerto Rican Resistance Army.[1] | Puerto Rican Resistance Army | Terrorism in the United States | |||
| May 22 | Bombing | 0 | 2 | Santiago, Chile | A high powered bomb exploded in the PDI headquarters, wounding 2 civilians | Revolutionary Left Movement (Chile) | Armed resistance in Chile (1973–90) | ||
| 12 June | Attempted Bombing, Shooting | 4 | Unknown | San José, Costa Rica | An attempt to dynamite the bust of John F. Kennedy in a park in San Pedro de Montes de Oca, as a protest against American imperialism. Three policemen and a taxi driver died during an encounter. The members were arrested.[2] | "La Familia" militant group | Terrorism in Costa Rica | ||
| 25 June | Shooting | 1 | 0 | Las Serritas de Managua, Nicaragua | An attack left one civilian killed. A far-right group called 19th of July Christian Resistance Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.[3] | 19th of July Christian Resistance Brigade | Nicaraguan Revolution | ||
| 28 June | Bombing | 74 (+1) | Tehran, Iran | 74 people are killed in a suicide bombing targeting a meeting of leaders of the Islamic Republican Party at the party's headquarters. | People's Mujahedin of Iran | ||||
| 11 July | Shooting | 9 | Unknown | Caqueta, Colombia | Members of the FARC ambush an army patrol at Riecito, in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico municipality. Two lieutenants and seven noncommissioned officers die. | FARC | Colombian conflict | ||
| 15 July | Shooting | 12 (+11) | Unknown | Caqueta, Colombia | Guerrillas of the M-19, ambush two patrols of the Army in the vicinity of Belen de los Andaquies. Twelve soldiers and 9 subversives die. Another 2 guerrillas are killed the same day on the road that leads from Florencia to Morelia. | M-19 | Colombian conflict | ||
| 3 August | Bombing | 2 | 72 | Piraeus, Greece | A bomb placed by Palestinian terrorists exploded in a travel agency killing two and wounding seventy two other bystanders. | 15 May Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 10 August | Bombing | 0 | 0 | Athens, Greece | Two bombs exploded outside the Israeli embassy with no victims | 15 May Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 20 August | Shooting | 6 | 5 | Meta, Colombia, Colombia | FARC guerrillas ambush troops from the 21 Vargas Battalion in the vicinity of La Uribe and La Macarena. 6 soldiers die.[4] | FARC | Colombian conflict | ||
| 29 August | Shooting, grenade | 2 | 30 | Vienna, Austria | Machine gun and grenade attack on the Stadttempel synagogue, killing two people and wounding 30. Marwan Hasan and Hesham Mohammed Rajeh were convicted.[5] | Abu Nidal Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| 24–25 September | Shooting, hostage-taking | 1 | 2 | Paris, France | Four gunmen from the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia open fire on the Turkish consulate before taking 56 hostages. One guard was killed and two other people were wounded. | ASALA | |||
| 6 October | Assassination | 11 (+1 attacker) | 28 (+3 attackers) | Cairo, Egypt | 4 Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassins led by Khalid Islambouli opened fire on a victory parade led by President Anwar Sadat, killing him and 10 others and wounding 28. 1 gunman was killed and the three others were arrested and executed. | Egyptian Islamic Jihad | |||
| 13 October | Attack, Shooting | 12 | Unknown | Colombia | In a series of assaults perpetrated in Planeta Rica (Córdoba), Valparaíso (Caqueta) and Pavarando Grande (Antioquia), FARC guerrillas massacre 12 peasants.[6] | FARC | Colombian conflict | ||
| 20 October | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Medellín, Colombia | M-19 rebels seize a plane of Aeropesca, and load with arms in La Guajira before abandoning it in the country's southern jungles. | M-19 | Colombian conflict | ||
| 20 October | Bombing | 3 | 106 | Antwerp, Belgium | Truck bomb attack on a synagogue. Three killed and 106 wounded.[7] | Unknown | |||
| 20 October | Robbery, murder | 3 | 3 | Nanuet, New York, United States | Members of the May 19th Communist Organization (made up of former Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground members) rob a Brink's armored car a mall, killing the guard and two police officers who responded to the scene. | May 19th Communist Organization | |||
| 14 November | Assassination | 2 | 0 | Belfast, United Kingdom | The Provisional IRA (PIRA) shot dead Ulster Unionist Party MP Rev Robert Bradford, at Community Centre, Finaghy, along with another man (Kenneth Campbell), who was the caretaker of the premises.[8] | Provisional IRA | The Troubles | ||
| 29 November | Car bombing | 64 | 135 | Damascus, Syria | A car bomb destroys four apartment buildings in the Azbakya district, leaving more than 200 people dead. The Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners claimed responsibility for the attack, while the Syrian government put blame on the Muslim Brotherhood.[9] [10] | Syrian Muslim Brotherhood | Islamist uprising in Syria | ||
| 15 December | Suicide car bombing | 61 | 110 | Beirut, Lebanon | A suicide bomber affiliated with the Iranian group Al-Dawa drove a truck into the Iraqi embassy, killing Lebanon's ambassador to Iraq, Abdul Razzak Lafta, and 60 others. | Al-Dawa | Iran–Iraq War | ||
| 17 December | Kidnapping | 0 | 0 | Verona, Italy | US Army Brigadier General James L. Dozier is kidnapped from his apartment and held hostage for 42 days by the Red Brigades.[11] | Red Brigades |