{{short description|1996 terrorist attack}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = 1996 Sitra attack | image = | caption = | map = | location = Sitra, Bahrain | coordinates = | date = 14 March 1996 | time = | timezone = | type = Firebombing | fatalities = 7 | injuries = unknown | perps = Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (alleged) | weapons = | motive = }}
On 14 March 1996, a group of five armed terrorists threw Molotov cocktails into a restaurant in Sitra, Bahrain after pouring petrol there, killing seven Bangladeshi workers and destroying the restaurant while standing near the entrance and preventing people from escaping the fire.<ref name="upi">{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/14/Bahraini-restaurant-attacked-7-killed/5501826779600/|title=Bahraini restaurant attacked, 7 killed|first=Thomas|last=Hussain|work=United Press International|date=14 March 1996|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250111014147/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/14/Bahraini-restaurant-attacked-7-killed/5501826779600/|archive-date=11 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="rubin">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynNsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211|title=Chronologies of Modern Terrorism|page=211|first1=Barry|last1=Rubin|first2=Judith Colp|last2=Rubin|publisher=Routledge|year=2015|isbn=9781317474654}}</ref>
==Aftermath== Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa visited the scene after the attack. The Prime Minister ordered the victims' bodies to be repatriated to the Indian subcontinent as soon as possible and their families to be compensated.<ref name="upi"/> Seven people were arrested for the attack after several hundred people had been detained.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/16/Bahrain-arrests-7-in-restaurant-arson/2373826952400/|title=Bahrain arrests 7 in restaurant arson|date=16 March 1996|first=Thomas|last=Hussain|work=United Press International|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250111014203/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/16/Bahrain-arrests-7-in-restaurant-arson/2373826952400/|archive-date=11 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
The attack was by far the most violent incident in Bahrain's modern history, which had recently been characterized by tension between the ruling Sunni Muslim family and Shiite Muslims, who form the majority of the population. In December 1994 demonstrations had degenerated into riots which targeted foreigners, particularly Pakistanis due to the large number of Pakistanis in Bahrain's security forces.<ref name="upi"/> Following a string of terror attacks in 1996, the Bahraini government later claimed that Iran was behind the terror campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/04/07/Bahrain-Sheraton-targeted-by-arsonists/1717828853200/|title=Bahrain Sheraton targeted by arsonists|date=7 April 1996|first=Thomas|last=Hussain|work=United Press International|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20250111024628/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/04/07/Bahrain-Sheraton-targeted-by-arsonists/1717828853200/|archive-date=11 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> In July, the State Security Court sentenced three Bahrainis to death for the attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/45cafc9e2.html|title=Routine Abuse, Routine Denial: Civil Rights and the Political Crisis in Bahrain|work=Human Rights Watch|date=1 January 2006|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250111015029/https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/hrw/2006/en/64148|archive-date=11 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
The attack has been attributed to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) by academic Barry Rubin<ref name="rubin"/> and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1343162.html|title=Iraq Report: April 26, 2002|volume=5|number=11|date=26 April 2002|work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250111014310/https://www.rferl.org/a/1343162.html|archive-date=11 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitra attack, 1996}} Category:1996 in Bahrain Category:Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacks Category:March 1996 in Asia Category:Terrorism in Bahrain Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1996