Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an apparent assassination attempt just weeks before European elections that provoked deep divisions. He was shot multiple times in an attack in the town of Handlova that authorities described as politically motivated, although they said the suspect did not belong to any political group.
Here is a global look at other notable murders and assassination attempts during the 21st century:
– September 1, 2022: The then vice-president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, is targeted by a man who allegedly pointed a gun at point-blank range at the politician, in what government ministers characterize as an assassination attempt.
— July 8, 2022: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is assassinated by a gunman who opened fire on him as he gave a campaign speech on a street in western Japan.
— November 6, 2021: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survives an assassination attempt when two armed drones target his residence in Baghdad’s Green Zone area. Although al-Kadhimi was unharmed, seven of his security guards were injured in the attack.
— October 15, 2021: British lawmaker David Amess is stabbed to death by an Islamic State supporter while meeting voters.
— July 7, 2021: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is assassinated by armed men during a nighttime raid on his home in Port-au-Prince. His widow, Martine, former Prime Minister Claude Joseph and the former head of the Haitian National Police, Léon Charles, among others, are indicted for his murder in February 2024.
— April 20, 2021: Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno is killed while fighting rebels in the north. Hours earlier he had been declared the winner of an election that would give him another six years in power.
— August 4, 2018: Drones armed with explosives detonate near Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt as he delivers a speech to hundreds of soldiers broadcast live on television. Six people are later arrested in connection with the attack.
— December 19, 2016: Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is shot dead by a Turkish police officer shouting condemnation of Russia’s military role in Syria in front of a shocked crowd at a photo exhibition. The shooter was later killed in a shootout with police.
— July 15, 2016: A group of Turkish soldiers using tanks, warplanes and helicopters launch a plot to overthrow the president and government of Turkey. The coup attempt fails. A year later, 40 people are sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on charges including attempted assassination of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
— June 16, 2016: British lawmaker Jo Cox is shot and stabbed to death by a far-right supporter in the English village of Birstall, part of her constituency.
– February 6, 2013: Tunisian left-wing opposition leader Chokri Belaid is shot dead outside his home in Tunis. His assassination – followed six months later by that of another leftist leader, Mohammed Brahmi – plunged Tunisia into political chaos. Four people were sentenced to death and two others to life in prison in March 2024 for their roles in his death.
— October 20, 2011: Former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is hunted down and summarily killed by insurgents after being overthrown in a NATO-backed uprising.
– January 8, 2011: US Representative Gabrielle Giffords survives an assassination attempt after being shot by a man in the parking lot of an Arizona supermarket while meeting with voters. Giffords’ injuries are so severe that she has to relearn how to walk and talk. The attack kills six other people and injures 11 others.
— March 2, 2009: Guinea-Bissau’s president, João Bernardo Vieira, is killed by renegade soldiers in his palace, hours after a bomb blast killed his rival in the West African country.
— December 27, 2007: Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister in a Muslim-majority country, as well as Pakistan’s second nationally elected prime minister, is shot and then fatally attacked by a suicide bomber at a political rally in Rawalpindi , Pakistan.
– February 14, 2005: Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is killed by a suicide truck bomb on a seaside boulevard in Beirut. Another 21 people were killed and 226 injured in the attack, which is seen by many in Lebanon as the work of neighboring Syria.
— March 12, 2003: Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is shot dead in front of the Serbian government headquarters in Belgrade. He was one of the main leaders of the uprising that overthrew former president Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000. Twelve people are later convicted in connection with the murder, which was carried out to stop his pro-Western reforms, according to a ruling by the Serbian court.
— July 2, 2002: French President Jacques Chirac survives an assassination attempt by a far-right supporter who shoots and misses him during Bastille Day celebrations on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Chirac is not injured.
— May 6, 2002: Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is shot dead in a city in the north of the Netherlands, days before the general elections in which he was a candidate, by an animal rights activist.
— June 1, 2001: King Birendra of Nepal is killed when his son, Crown Prince Dipendra, opens fire on his family in the royal palace. The dead include Queen Aiswarya, a prince and five others. Authorities said the shooting occurred following a dispute over the prince’s marriage.
— January 18, 2001: Congo’s president, Laurent Kabila, is assassinated in the presidential palace in the capital, Kinshasa, by one of his bodyguards, who is killed minutes later by security forces.
