Assassination of Anwar Sadat

Assassination of Anwar Sadat
Platform where Anwar Sadat was assassinated
Location30°3′51.23″N 31°18′53.27″E / 30.0642306°N 31.3147972°E / 30.0642306; 31.3147972
Cairo, Egypt
Date6 October 1981 (1981-10-06)
TargetAnwar Sadat
Deaths11 (including Anwar Sadat)
PerpetratorsEgyptian Islamic Jihad, namely Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj and an assassination squad led by Khalid Al-Islambuli
AssailantsKhalid Al-Islambuli
Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj
Hussein Abbas Mohammed
Atta Tayel Hemeida
Abdel-Hamad Abdel-Salem Abdel-Aal
DefendersSadat bodyguards and soldiers
MotiveOpposition to Sadat's government and its recognition of Israel

On 6 October 1981, Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate the victory over Israel in the 1973 war, during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. The assassination was undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Although the motive has been debated, Sadat's assassination likely stemmed from Islamic nationalists, anti-imperialists, and pro-Palestinian groups opposed to Sadat's peace initiative with Israel and the United States relating to the Camp David Accords.