New Delhi: From Benazir Bhutto to Robert Fico — Donald Trump joins a long list of political leaders to have been the targets of assassination attempts over the past two decades.
US Republican leader Donald Trump was shot at and wounded Saturday by a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania, but the motive remains unclear. The shooting occurred at a rally in Butler, with the former president rushed off the stage with blood visible around his ear.
As global reactions pour in, we discuss some of the assassinations and assassination attempts on world leaders across the globe over the past two decades.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt on 15 May this year, weeks before the European elections. Fico, who founded the Direction–Social Democracy party, was shot multiple times in an attack in the town of Handlova, described as politically motivated by the authorities. The suspect did not belong to any political groups.
Ecuadorian presidential candidate, journalist-turned-politician Fernando Villavicencio, was fatally shot in August 2023 while departing a rally. Villavicencio, the Build Ecuador Movement candidate, was known for his strong stance against corruption. His assassination sent shockwaves through Ecuador, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.
In September 2022, former Argentinian president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was shot at point-blank range by Fernando Sabag Montiel, who called his attack an act of justice” for “the social good” since Fernández de “Kirchner is corrupt, she steals and harms society”.
Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan, was assassinated on 8 July 2022 while delivering a speech outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara. A 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami confessed to the shooting, saying he perceived Abe as an ally of the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies, and he had “personal bad feelings” towards the religious group.
On 6 November 2021, the then-Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when two armed drones struck his residence in Green Zone, Baghdad. Although al-Kadhimi remained unharmed, the attack injured seven of his security guards.
Former Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on 7 July 2021 in an overnight raid on his home in Port-au-Prince by gunmen. His widow, Martine, along with ex-prime minister Claude Joseph, former chief of National Police Léon Charles, and others, in February 2024, were indicted for his killing.
Chad President Idriss Deby Itno, on 20 April 2021, was killed by rebels in the northern region while engaged in a battle with them. Earlier that day, the Patriotic Salvation Movement leader had been declared the winner of an election that would have extended his presidency by another six years.
In an assassination attempt, drones armed with explosives detonated near Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on 4 August 2018 when he was delivering a live, televised speech to hundreds of soldiers. Six individuals were arrested later in connection with the attack on the United Socialist Party of Venezuela leader.
Tunisian left-wing opposition leader Chokri Belaid was shot and killed on 6 February 2013 outside his home in Tunis. His assassination, followed by another of left-wing leader Mohammed Brahmi six months later, had thrown Tunisia into political turmoil. For Belaid’s murder, four persons were sentenced to death, while two others received life imprisonment.
On 20 October 2011, Muammar Gaddafi, the longtime leader of Libya, was hunted down and killed by insurgents after being toppled in a NATO-backed uprising.
On 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, the second nationally elected prime minister in Pakistan and the first female prime minister in a Muslim-majority country, was shot at and killed by a suicide bomber during a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: ‘Shocking, despicable, concerning’ — how world leaders reacted to Trump assassination attempt