In August 1994, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, underwent a surgery in Khartoum, Sudan. Following the surgery, he was moved from the hospital to a villa by Sudanese forces as a security precaution.

One of the most well-known and notorious terrorists of the 1970s and 80s, he was responsible for multiple bombings, assassinations, and hostage-takings. He had moved from Eastern Europe to Syria to Jordan and finally to Sudan where he believed he was beyond the reach of Western intelligence agencies.

In the early morning hours of August 14, Sudanese special operations forces entered the villa and roused Carlos from his bed. In an operation orchestrated by the CIA and French intelligence services, he was sedated, bound, and flown to France to stand trial.

In 1997 he was convicted for the 1975 Paris murder of two police officers and an informant. He was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2011 he stood trial for multiple bombings in France that killed 11 people and wounded over a hundred. During his trial, Carlos described himself as a “professional revolutionary.” He was given another life sentence.

In 2017 he again went on trial, this time for throwing a grenade into a Paris cafe in 1974 that killed two and wounded 34. This attack was linked to an ongoing hostage situation in the French Embassy in The Hague in the Netherlands conducted by the Japanese Red Army in which the French ambassador and ten others were taken hostage. He was given a third life sentence.

He continues to reside at the Clairvaux Prison in north-central France.

Fred Burton and I discuss an interesting footnote to this story on my DANGER CLOSE Podcast.

For more on the “Godfather of Terrorism,” watch my three-part docuseries JACK CARR INVESTIGATES: CARLOS THE JACKAL on Fox Nation and add THE JACKAL by Joby Warrick to your library.

Recommended Reading on Carlos the Jackal:

The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super-Terrorist — Joby Warrick https://amzn.to/4hjnoXh

Tracking the Jackal: The Search for Carlos, the World’s Most Wanted Man — David A. Yallop https://amzn.to/4wMkFdh

Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier’s Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism — Billy Waugh with Tim Keown https://amzn.to/3UPUhBP

Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist — Colin Smith https://amzn.to/46kxXTq

Carlos the Jackal: The Life of the 20th Century’s Most Notorious Terrorist — Charles River Editors https://amzn.to/3Uzo8ym

Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent — Fred Burton https://amzn.to/4xZ0o5f

Jackal: The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos the Jackal — John Follain https://amzn.to/4gyinZb

The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s — Jason Burke https://amzn.to/4xRDMn8

Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins — Annie Jacobsen https://amzn.to/4c7oTVz

Watching the Jackals: Prague’s Covert Liaisons with Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries — Daniela Richterova https://amzn.to/4c5iolY