Tarata bombing The Tarata bombing was a terrorist attack in Lima , Peru , on July 16 , 1992 , by the Shining Path terrorist group . The blast was the deadliest Shining Path bombing during the Internal conflict in Peru and was part of a larger bombing campaign in the city . The explosions happened on Tarata Street , the business area of Miraflores Ward , an upscale district of the city . Two trucks , each packed with 1 , 000 kg of explosives , exploded on the street at 9 : 15 pm , killing 25 and wounding up to 200 . The blast destroyed or damaged 183 homes , 400 businesses and 63 parked cars . The bombings were the beginning of a week - long Shining Path strike against the Peruvian government , a strike which caused 40 deaths and shut down much of the capital . In the wake of the incident , galvanized by public outrage , President Alberto Fujimori intensified his crackdown on Peruvian insurgent groups . Background . In 1992 , Peru was in the midst of a civil war with several violent political insurgencies , the most radical and active of which called itself the Communist Party of Peru — Shining Path . That year , a coup led by President Alberto Fujimori on April 5 , in which he dissolved Congress as part of a broader political crackdown , aggravated the domestic social conflict . Earlier Shining Path attacks that year included the February 15 murder of María Elena Moyano , a community organizer in Villa El Salvador Ward , who was shot at close range then blown up with dynamite . Also , on June 5 a car bomb exploded beside the Frecuencia Latina television station near midnight , killing journalist Alejandro Perez . The attack . The attack took place on Thursday July 16 and targeted the Credit Bank of Peru located on Avenida Larco . During the day , Shining Path forces in Lima conducted attacks against police stations and smaller financial institutions in order to disperse the police and clear the way for the main attack . Near the planned time , there was a wavering in electric power followed by one of the blackouts common in the city at that time . According to testimony of Shining Path militants interviewed by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission , the twelfth Shining Path detachment in Lima , commanded by " Comrade Daniel " ( later identified as Carlos Mora La Madrid in the Commission ' s records ) , was responsible for conducting the attack . The original plan was to set off explosives in front of that bank at 9 : 20 pm , but the establishment did not allow them to park in the place agreed . They therefore decided to leave their vehicle at the next intersection ( which was the Tarata street ) and allow it to drift forward until it exploded . Once in the street , the driver slowed down and abandoned the truck . The explosive payload was 400 — 500 kilograms of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mixed with dynamite . } The buildings most affected by their locations near the center of the blast were El Condado , San Pedro , Tarata , Central Residential and San Carlos . The shock wave extended for 300 meters . The explosion killed 25 , wounded 155 , and caused more than US $ 3 million in damage . Impact . Response from around the world denounced the Shining Path and expressed solidarity with the Peruvian government and people in overcoming the situation . According to specialists , it was the first time in the course of the civil war that " traditional " Lima society experienced the conflict . It was the first time that a terrorist act was carried out against a large - scale civilian target and the first direct attack on a city center . The attack also led to self - examinations within the Shining Path , whose main leaders recognized the act as a " mistake " that should not have happened because it did not advance the group ' s main objective . This attack was used as a justification for the La Cantuta massacre two days later on July 18 , in which nine students and one teacher at the National University of Education Enrique Guzmán y Valle , Shining Path suspects , were kidnapped and disappeared during the night by members of the Grupo Colina death squad . All were accused of having perpetrated the Tarata bombing .