The 1999 Tashkent bombings were the most serious terrorist attack in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, targeting the president and multiple government buildings.
Key Facts
- Date
- 16 February 1999
- Number of car bombs
- 6
- Deaths
- 16
- Injured
- over 120
- Duration of attacks
- approximately 1.5 hours
- Alleged perpetrator
- Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Uzbekistan under President Islam Karimov faced growing Islamist opposition in the late 1990s. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, seeking to overthrow the secular government, was blamed by authorities for the attack, though critics questioned this attribution given the country's restricted media environment.
On 16 February 1999, six car bombs exploded across Tashkent within roughly ninety minutes, striking multiple government buildings. Five blasts may have served as diversions for a sixth, which appeared designed to assassinate President Islam Karimov, who narrowly escaped.
Sixteen people were killed and more than 120 injured. The bombings prompted a crackdown by the Uzbek government on suspected Islamist groups and political dissidents. Tight state media control obscured a full public accounting of the events, and debate over responsibility persisted among outside observers.