1997 Sopron Bombing
| 1997 Sopron Bombing | |
|---|---|
 A woman watches as smoke rises from a damaged building. | |
| Location | Sopron, then Syara |
| Date | 29 May 1997 |
| Weapons | Improvised explosive devices |
| Deaths | 36 |
Non-fatal injuries | 77 |
| Perpetrators | SDM |
| Motive | Zemplen Independence |
The 1997 Sopron Bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred in Sopron, the regional capital of Zemplen on 29 May, 1997. The attack consisted of targeted bombing of the Civil Administration Complex carried out by SDM, an organization that promoted Zemplen independence and Karvelebi Nationalism. The attack was the worst terrorist incident in the history of Syara and had a profound impact on Syaran domestic and foreign policy.
Since its foundation in 1942, the SDM had lobbied strongly for the independence of Zemplen from either Syaran or Ruvelkan rule. After decades of failed peaceful efforts, the SDM began instituting a campaign of assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings. The SDM had attempted to initiate a popular uprising in 1969 resulting in the Seven Day War, but the effort failed and Zemplen remained incorporated into the Commonality of Syara as a province of Galania. The SDM's continued activities during the early 1990s led Saša Mlinarić to order what became known as the Zemplen Resolution Campaign, which resulted in the arrest of thousands of SDM members and several senior leaders. The SDM in response increased its number of violent attacks, which claimed over 150 lives between 1993-1996. Following the election of Zhivko Hristovski in 1996, the SDM launched several attempted assassinations against Syaran political leaders. The decision to attack the Civil Administration Complex in Sopron was based on an intended summit that was to be held between local leaders and representatives of the Galanian Realm Government on 29 May. The method of attack was two improvised explosive devices that were left overnight in waste receptacles. The bombs were originally set to go off at noon when the meeting was expected to take place, but uncertainty on the SDM's part whether or not the meeting was occurring led to a premature detonation at 11:34 am right at the start of the lunch hour, which killed 36 people and wounded 77.
The attacked stunned the Syaran government and led to international condemnation even among states traditionally sympathetic to the SDM, which claimed responsibility for the attack two days after it occurred. Syara vowed revenged and stepped up its presence in Zemplen. While Ruvelka condemned the bombing, the Syaran government leveled accusations that the SDM had Ruvelkan support, which led to a souring of relations between the two states. Despite this, the original response from Executive Hristovski was widely criticized within Syaran circles as tepid and weak, and is largely seen as the primary reason he did not seek re-election and was superseded by Dragomir Zhelev in 2000. The bombing is considered to have been a strategic mistake on the part of the SDM, which suffered severe criticism and became the focus of renewed crackdowns by Syaran security forces. The SDM's activities declined following the bombing, and it was officially dissolved in 2018.