UK Terror-Related Attacks (2000–2025)
2000
1 June 2000 – London: Attempted attack on MI6 Headquarters (Vauxhall Cross)
Details: A Russian-made RPG-22 rocket was fired at the MI6 building, damaging one window.
Perpetrators: Believed linked to the Real IRA (Irish dissident republicans).
Casualties: None.
Type: Major / paramilitary terrorist act.
6 September 2000 – Ealing, West London
Details: Car bomb explosion outside Ealing Broadway shopping centre (Real IRA).
Casualties: 7 injured.
Type: Major bomb attack (Irish republican).
15 August 2000 – Hammersmith Bridge, London
Details: Real IRA bomb detonated under the bridge, damaging structure.
Casualties: None.
Type: Infrastructure bombing.
2001
4 March 2001 – BBC Television Centre, Shepherd’s Bush, London
Details: A Real IRA car bomb exploded outside the BBC, damaging vehicles and buildings.
Casualties: 1 minor injury.
Type: Major terror attack (Irish republican).
April 2001 – London
Details: Series of Real IRA postal bombs sent to various London addresses.
Casualties: Minor injuries.
Type: Minor / attempted terror acts.
11 September 2001 – Global Context
Details: After 9/11, UK began Prevent strategy, but no domestic attack occurred immediately after.
2002
5 March 2002 – Birmingham: Small explosive devices found
Details: Police defused a Real IRA-linked device in the city.
Casualties: None.
Type: Attempted attack.
December 2002 – London “Ricin Plot” uncovered (Wood Green)
Details: Arrest of Algerian-born Kamel Bourgass and associates planning to use ricin poison.
Casualties: One police officer (DC Stephen Oake) stabbed to death during the raid in Manchester.
Type: Terror-related killing (Islamist-linked plot).
2003
5 February 2003 – Manchester police raid (linked to Ricin plot)
Details: During arrest attempt, Kamel Bourgass (Algerian) stabbed and killed DC Stephen Oake.
Type: Major Islamist-linked attack / stabbing death of police officer.
August 2003 – Birmingham / London
Details: Arrest of individuals linked to Al-Muhajiroun extremist group. No confirmed attacks that year.
Type: Foiled plots only.
2004
24 February 2004 – London Heathrow: Foiled plot
Details: Security tightened after MI5 warned of planned airliner attack by Al-Qaeda-linked cell.
Casualties: None (prevented).
Type: Foiled major plot.
2004 – No successful physical attacks, but significant anti-terror operations and plot arrests (including fertiliser bomb plot later prosecuted in 2007).
2005
7 July 2005 – London Bombings (“7/7”)
Details: Four suicide bombers detonated explosives on three Underground trains and one bus.
Casualties: 52 civilians killed, over 700 injured.
Perpetrators: British-born men of Pakistani descent (except one born in Jamaica).
Type: Major coordinated Islamist terrorist attack.
21 July 2005 – Failed follow-up London bombings (“21/7”)
Details: Four men attempted to repeat 7/7 attacks using faulty explosives.
Casualties: None (devices failed to detonate).
Perpetrators: East African origin (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia).
Type: Major failed terror plot.
22 July 2005 – London: Police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Details: Mistaken identity during 21/7 manhunt; innocent Brazilian man killed by police.
Type: Post-attack incident / counterterror error.
2006
Transatlantic Aircraft Plot (August 2006) — foiled plot
Details: British Islamist cell planned to detonate liquid explosives on transatlantic flights from Heathrow to North America.
Casualties: None (prevented).
Perpetrators: Mainly British-born men of Pakistani descent.
Type: Major foiled Islamist terror plot.
2007
29 June 2007 – London Car Bombs (Haymarket & Piccadilly)
Details: Two car bombs (Mercedes packed with gas canisters and nails) were discovered and defused before detonation.
Casualties: None.
Perpetrators: Bilal Abdullah (British-born, Iraqi heritage) & Kafeel Ahmed (foreign-born, India).
Type: Major attempted bombing.
30 June 2007 – Glasgow Airport Attack
Details: Jeep loaded with propane and petrol rammed into the terminal entrance, catching fire.
Casualties: One attacker (Ahmed) later died; five civilians injured.
Type: Major Islamist terror attack.
2008
2 June 2008 – Exeter Giraffe Café Bombing Attempt
Details: A homemade nail bomb detonated in a café toilet, injuring the bomber (Nicky Reilly).
Casualties: Attacker only.
Perpetrator: Nicky Reilly — British-born, converted to Islam, radicalised online.
Type: Minor Islamist-inspired attack / self-radicalised lone actor.
July 2008 – Bristol pipe bomb plot (foiled)
Details: Far-right extremist police raid uncovered nail bombs and racist literature.
Casualties: None.
Type: Foiled far-right plot.
2009
September 2009 – Manchester / North West terror plot foiled
Details: Planned bombing of shopping centre; multiple arrests.
Casualties: None.
Type: Foiled Islamist plot.
December 2009 – Failed Christmas Day Airliner Plot (linked to UK resident)
Details: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Nigerian student who had studied in London) attempted to bomb a US-bound flight.
Connection: Radicalised while studying in the UK.
Type: International link; UK relevance.
2010
March 2010 – Stoke-on-Trent Islamist cell foiled
Details: Planned to bomb London Stock Exchange and local targets.
Casualties: None.
Type: Foiled major terror plot.
24 September 2010 – Belfast (Northern Ireland)
Details: Car bomb outside police station by Real IRA.
Casualties: Minor injuries.
Type: Irish republican terrorist act.
2011
11 December 2010 – Stockholm suicide bombing (UK link)
Details: Taimour Abdulwahab, a Luton-raised Swedish citizen, carried out a bombing in Stockholm; radicalised in UK.
Type: UK-linked Islamist attack abroad.
September 2011 – London Stock Exchange plot (sentencing)
Details: Foiled 2010 Islamist plot formally prosecuted; showed homegrown radicalisation.
Casualties: None.
Type: Foiled plot conclusion.
2011 – Northern Ireland: Several small IED attacks by dissident republicans
Details: Targeted police and army.
Casualties: Minor injuries.
Type: Ongoing low-level republican terror.
2012
28 April 2012 – Belfast: Murder of prison officer David Black
Details: Shot dead on M1 by dissident republican militants (New IRA).
Type: Major republican terror attack.
2012 – Islamist lone-actor arrests
Details: Several individuals arrested for plotting attacks inspired by Al-Qaeda.
Casualties: None.
Type: Foiled Islamist plots.
2013
22 May 2013 – Woolwich (London): Murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby
Details: Soldier attacked and killed near army barracks.
Casualties: 1 killed (Lee Rigby).
Perpetrators: Michael Adebolajo & Michael Adebowale — British-born of Nigerian descent.
Type: Major Islamist stabbing/terror attack.
April 2013 – Bristol mosque arson (far-right attack)
Details: Mosque firebombed after Woolwich killing.
Type: Far-right revenge attack.
2014
2014 – Multiple “lone-actor” stabbings & arrests inspired by ISIS
Details: Several foiled ISIS-inspired attack plans following the group’s rise.
Casualties: None (plots stopped early).
Type: Foiled Islamist-inspired plots.
May 2014 – Belfast: Letter bomb attacks
Details: Series of postal bombs sent by dissident republicans to army offices.
Type: Minor republican terror attacks.
2015
June 2015 – Boscombe, Bournemouth: Arrest for ISIS-inspired knife plot
Details: Teenager planned to attack police officers with a knife.
Casualties: None (foiled).
Type: Foiled Islamist-inspired stabbing plot.
August 2015 – Leytonstone Underground stabbing
Details: Muhaydin Mire attacked commuters with a knife, shouting extremist slogans.
Casualties: 3 injured (1 seriously).
Type: Islamist-inspired lone-actor stabbing.
2015 – Dissident Irish republican attacks (Northern Ireland)
Details: Continued small arms and IED attacks targeting police and prison officers.
Casualties: Several injuries, one fatal.
Type: Ongoing low-level paramilitary terrorism.
2017
March 22, 2017 – Westminster Attack
Location: Westminster, London
Details: Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing a police officer outside the Houses of Parliament.
Casualties: 5 killed (including the attacker), 50+ injured.
Motive: Islamist extremism.
May 22, 2017 – Manchester Arena Bombing
Location: Manchester Arena, Manchester
Details: Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
Casualties: 22 killed, 100+ injured.
Motive: Islamist extremism.
June 3, 2017 – London Bridge Attack
Location: London Bridge, London
Details: Three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then carried out stabbings in nearby Borough Market.
Casualties: 8 killed, 48+ injured.
Motive: Islamist extremism.
June 19, 2017 – Finsbury Park Mosque Attack
Location: Finsbury Park, London
Details: Darren Osborne drove a van into a crowd of worshippers outside a mosque.
Casualties: 1 killed, 10+ injured.
Motive: Far-right extremism.
August 14, 2018 – Parliament Square Car Attack
Location: Parliament Square, London
Details: Salih Khater drove a car into cyclists and pedestrians near the Houses of Parliament.
Casualties: 3 injured.
Motive: Islamist extremism.
October 2, 2025 – Heaton Park Synagogue Attack
Location: Manchester, England
Details: Jihad Al-Shamie drove a car into pedestrians and then carried out a stabbing spree outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.
Casualties: 2 killed, 3 seriously injured.(One Victim was shot by Police)
Motive: Under investigation; suspected Islamist extremism.
Additional Information: The attacker was shot by police after attempting to enter the synagogue. Six individuals were arrested in connection with the attack