PARIS: Concert halls and clubs have become prime terror targets in the past 15 years, with the latest attack coming late on Monday in Manchester.

Here is a recap of the main attacks:

Manchester concert

On May 22, a powerful blast kills at least 22 people and wounds 59 at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena after a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

The suicide attack is deadliest in Britain in 12 years, and causes screaming fans, many of them teenagers, to flee in panic.

Carnage in Istanbul

Shortly after Turkey rings in 2017, a gunman bursts into the exclusive Reina nightclub, spraying partygoers with bullets and killing 39, mostly foreigners.

Another 65 people are wounded at the venue which was packed with more than 700 people, some of whom jump into the freezing waters of the Bosphorus to escape.

The gunman manages to flee the scene, with the bloodshed claimed by the Islamic State group, citing Turkey’s military intervention against IS in Syria.

Florida gay club massacre

On June 12, 2016, a gunman opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and wounding more than 50 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

Armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, shooter Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American of Afghan descent, holds police at bay for three hours until they storm the building, killing him. US authorities say Mateen claimed to be an “Islamic soldier” who had pledged allegiance to IS, with the extremist group later identifying him as one of its militants.

‘Dante’s inferno’ at the Bataclan

On November 13, 2015, three armed men wearing explosive belts storm the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, killing 90 people during a gig by US rock group Eagles of Death Metal.

Moscow rock concert

On July 5, 2003, a double suicide attack during a rock concert at the Tushino airfield near Moscow kills 15 people and wounds around 50. Two women identified by Russia as Chechen separatists mixed with around 20,000 fans who had come to hear some of Russia’s top bands at the annual Krylya (Wings) festival.

Almost a year earlier on October 23-26, 2002, Chechen rebels disrupt a musical in Moscow and take more than 912 people hostage. Russian special forces storm the theatre after injecting gas to subdue the gunmen and when the smoke clears, 130 hostages are dead, almost all of them because of the gas.

Bali nightclub bombings

On October 12, 2002, the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in Bali are hit by a car bomb. Both are filled with foreign tourists who have come to enjoy the nightlife in Kuta, the biggest resort on the island, and 202 people, mostly tourists, are killed.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017