What happened in the Beirut barracks bombing?
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs carrying explosives were detonated by suicide bombers at the barracks housing United States and French military forces in Beirut, Lebanon. The attack killed 241 American servicemen and 58 French paratroopers, as well as 6 civilians. It was the deadliest single-day attack on U.S. Marines since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
The bombings were attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization, a pro-Iranian extremist group, and were believed to be retaliation for the U.S. intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. The attack prompted the U.S. to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
The Beirut barracks bombing remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks against Americans abroad and a significant event in the history of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East.