The political attacks which shook Switzerland

Attacks like that which targeted former US president Donald Trump this weekend are often seen as alien to Swiss political culture. Yet over the decades the Alpine nation has seen its share of incidents.

February 18, 1969: Israeli plane attack

Palestinian extremists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) open fire on an Israeli aeroplane at Zurich Airport. The pilot is killed, the Palestinian attackers are arrested and sentenced in court.

The El-Al aircraft which was the target of shots at Zurich airport. Keystone-SDA

February 21, 1970: Würenlingen tragedy

A time bomb explodes in a Swissair plane after take-off from Zurich. The plane crashes in Würenlingen, canton Aargau, killing 47. Despite witness statements and inquiries suggesting a PLFP attack, no charges were brought and the circumstances were never fully clarified.

Nationwide shock: the funeral of the victims of the Swissair crash. Keystone-SDA

September 6, 1970: Swissair hijack

Just a few months after Würenlingen, a Swissair aircraft with 145 passengers and a crew of 12 is hijacked and flown to Jordan. Again, the PFLP is responsible. Some 16 days after the hijack, the hostage-takers suddenly disappear. The Jordanian army finds the hostages and brings them to safety.

Freed after over two weeks, the hostages from the hijacked Swissair plane, surrounded by journalists in Jordan. Keystone-SDA

January 7, 1975: Axel Springer arson

An arson attack targets the villa of German publisher Axel Springer in Gstaad, canton Bern. The perpetrator is only revealed decades later: in 2006, Swiss writer Daniel de Roulet confessed that he had started the fire – because he saw Axel Springer as a Nazi.

Axel Springer’s villa, pre-attack, in Gstaad. Keystone-SDA

October 8, 1975: Jakob Stucki bomb attack

A bomb detonates in front of the house of Zurich’s director of police and justice, Jakob Stucki. Further explosives are placed in front of the house of a Winterthur lawyer, but the detonation fails. There are no casualties. Followers of the “Divine Light Centre” sect are convicted of the crime.

Jakob Stucki’s house in Seuzach, after the attack. Keystone-SDA

July 21, 1981: Series of attacks in Bern, Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne

Against the backdrop of the Armenian-Turkish conflict over independence, the secret army for the liberation of Armenia (ASALA) carries out several assassinations. It begins with the shooting of the secretary of the Turkish embassy in Geneva. When Armenian terrorists are arrested, Switzerland becomes a target. There is a series of attacks in Bern, Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne. The series claims one life in Geneva and 26 people are injured in a bomb attack in a Lausanne department stores.

The Uniprix department store in Lausanne, after the ASALA attack. Keystone-SDA

July 23, 1987: Air Afrique hijack

In order to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners, Lebanese man Hussein Hariri, a member of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, hijacks an Air Afrique plane and forces it to land in Zurich. He was carrying explosives, and to emphasise his demands, the hijacker shoots a passenger. Hariri was released from prison in canton Vaud in 2004 and deported to Lebanon.

The hijacked Air Afrique plane at Geneva airport. Keystone-SDA

January 7, 1993: ‘Béliers’ bomb attacks

The Béliers, a militant youth organisation of separatists from Switzerland’s Jura region, carry out explosives attacks in Bern and Courtelary. A car bomb which detonates in Bern kills a 21-year-old Bélier activist.

The aftermath of the car bomb in Bern which killed a Bélier activist. Keystone-SDA

November 13, 1995: Death of a diplomat

Unknown perpetrators shoot dead an Egyptian diplomat in Geneva. To date, it is the last fatal terrorist attack on Swiss soil (not including mass shootings). The attack was claimed by the “International Justice Group”, probably an offshoot of a Sunni Islamic group in Egypt. Based on new DNA analyses, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ordered the case to be reopened in January 2018. One man was arrested in October 2018.

September 27, 2001: Switzerland’s worst-ever gun massacre

A gunman carries out a deadly attack in the cantonal parliament in Zug, shooting dead 14 politicians before killing himself. The traumatic incident led to fundamental changes in how Switzerland deals with security and gun regulation (see below).

This article, written by Céline Raval, was originally published by SRF on June 21, 2019.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dos