On July 18, 1994, a terrorist attack took place at a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires. A car filled with explosives was blown up in front of the AMIA (Association for the Mutual Aid of Argentine Jews) building. As a result of this tragedy, 85 people died, and another 300 were injured. Exactly eighteen years later, a similar tragedy occurred in one of the cities of Bulgaria.
On July 18, 2012, a bus was blown up at the Sarafovo airport, which is located in the Bulgarian city of Burgas. There was a group of Israeli tourists in it. There were three buses in total that were supposed to take passengers from the airport terminal to the hotel. The explosion thundered as soon as the buses started moving. The other two buses caught fire in the explosion.
As a result of the terrorist attack, seven people were killed. Five Israelis, a Bulgarian guide and a suicide bomber. Nine people are missing. More than 30 people received injuries of varying severity, three of them are in critical condition. All the victims were taken to the city hospital, which is heavily guarded by police squads.
After the terrorist attack, the Bulgarian authorities closed the Sarafovo airport. All flights were redirected to the airport of Varna. Some flights were delayed or canceled. The Israeli passengers themselves, who did not suffer from the terrorist attack, were in the airport building. In total, this is more than a hundred people. This was done so that they could testify and also for their safety.
The previously unknown Islamic group "Kedat al-Jihad", which in translation means "Foundations of the Holy War", claimed responsibility for the attack. They made an official statement and warned that more terrorist attacks would be carried out. However, the Bulgarian authorities deny the involvement of this group in the attack. The most probable version looks like the involvement of the militarized Lebanese Shiite organization and the Hezbollah political party in the terrorist attack.
It is assumed that the attack was a revenge for the elimination of the head of the operations department of the "Party of Allah" Imad Murnia. At the same time, the Hezbollah organization itself denies any involvement in this terrorist attack. It is worth noting that the terrorist act was committed on the anniversary of the tragedy in Buenos Aires. The responsibility for the tragedy of July 18, 1994 lies precisely with this organization.
After all the events in Burgas, the Israeli authorities made an official statement that at the London Olympics, the security staff of the athletes of the national Olympic team will be increased. The country's government fears a repeat of the events that took place at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, when the Palestinian Black September organization killed eleven Israelis.
