This is a timeline of incidents in 1971 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
| Date | Type | Dead | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2 | Grenade | 2 | 2 | Gaza Strip, Palestine/ Occupied territories | Members of the Palestine Liberation Organization threw a grenade into a car, killing two children. | PLO | Israeli-Palestinian conflict |
| January 8 | Kidnapping | 0 | 1 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Kidnapping of the British ambassador Geoffrey Jackson.[1] | Tupamaros | |
| March 9 | Bombing | 3 | 0 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Three off-duty Scottish soldiers (John McCaig, Joseph McCaig and Dougald McCaughey) were shot dead by the IRA after being lured from a pub. | Provisional IRA | The Troubles |
| April 7 | Shooting | 1 | 0 | Stockholm, Sweden | Miro Baresic and another Ustasa supporter took the Yugoslav ambassador hostage at the embassy. They tied a rope to his neck around a chair, fired shots against his head and body until he bled and choked to death. | Miro Baresic | |
| May 17 | Kidnapping, Assassination | 1 | 0 | Ankara, Turkey | Efraim Elrom, the Israeli consul-general, was kidnapped and murdered by the Turkish People's Liberation Army. | People's Liberation Army of Turkey | |
| June 8 | Assassination | 1 | 0 | Santiago, Chile | The group Vanguardia Organizada del Pueblo, an ultra-left movement, whose members were formerly pardoned by President Salvador Allende, murdered former Interior Minister Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, in retaliation for the responsibility attributed to him by the so-called " Massacre of Port Mountt".[2] | Vanguardia Organizada del Pueblo | |
| June 14 | Bombing | 10 | 20+ | Krasnodar , Russia | A homemade suitcase bomb placed near the gas tank by mentally ill Peter Volynsky exploded, killing 10 persons and wounding 20–90 others. | Peter Kuzmich Volynsky | |
| August 21 | Bombing | 9 | 95 | Manila, Philippines | Bomb kills nine at a rally of the Liberal Party. | ||
| November 2 | Bombing | 3 | 26 | Belfast, United Kingdom | Red Lion Pub bombing - the Provisional IRA exploded a bomb inside a pub on the Shankill Road. The blast killed three Protestant civilians and around 30 other people were injured, some seriously. There was also a bombing in drapery shop at the same time right beside the pub which injured several more people. | Provisional IRA | The Troubles |
| December 4 | Bombing | 15 | 17 | Belfast, United Kingdom | The Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force bomb McGurk's bar in a Catholic neighbourhood, killing 15 and injuring 17. | Ulster Volunteer Force | The Troubles |
| December 11 | Bombing | 4 | 19 | Belfast, United Kingdom | To retaliate for the McGurk's bar bombing, the Provisional IRA set off a bomb in front of a furniture showroom in the mainly Protestant Shankill Road area, killing 4 and injuring 19. | Provisional IRA | The Troubles |