Carlos the Jackal Led 6 Gunmen in 1975 OPEC Hostage Siege
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 14
Carlos the Jackal Led 6 Gunmen in 1975 OPEC Hostage Siege
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 14
Summary
Dec. 21, 1975, in Vienna, Carlos the Jackal led six heavily armed assailants in the hostage-taking at OPEC headquarters, an attack later cast as a turning point in modern terrorism.
The gunmen relied on stealth to reach the target, riding a red streetcar through icy Vienna streets so they could blend in with tourists and shoppers before striking.
The report frames the assault, 50 years later, as both audacious and brutal, asking what Carlos and the wider world have learned since a spectacle that made him the first celebrity terrorist.