The Thiepval barracks bombing in Lisburn (Northern Ireland) injured many people, including a soldier who later dies from his injuries. This as the first televised US presidential debate of the 1996 election took place
This bombing was a double car bomb attack carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 7 October 1996.
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The bombs exploded inside Thiepval Barracks, the British Army headquarters in Northern Ireland. One British soldier was killed and 31 people were injured.
On 7 October 1996, two Provisional IRA volunteers gained access to the base using forged passes based on the identity card of a former British soldier who had joined the IRA.
They drove two 800-pound (360 kg) car bombs several hundred yards into the Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, which housed the British Army headquarters in Northern Ireland.
The first car bomb detonated near a travel arrangement centre, injuring many people. When the wounded were moved to the military medical centre, the second car bomb detonated there, catching the victims of the first blast as well as the medical staff helping them.
The medical centre was reduced to rubble. There was a lapse of 12 minutes between the first and the second blast. There were 31 injured, four of them seriously.
A British soldier, Warrant Officer James Bradwell, died four days later of multiple wounds. He was the first soldier to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1994.
In the first televised presidential debate of the 1996 election cycle, incumbent President Bill Clinton demonstrated strong performance against his Republican challenger Bob Dole, significantly boosting his re-election campaign.