A Brussels explosion on 25 June, narrowly missing American Alexander Haig, was intended for a British general.

[3] The band, from the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment based in Osnabrück, West Germany, was about to perform a concert as the bomb was planted underneath the open-air stage.

[4] Also, injuries were lessened and fatalities avoided since the band's members were dressing, away from the stage, at the time of the explosion.

[5][6] The IRA claimed responsibility in a telephone call to the city hall, according to Mayor Pierre Van Halteren.

[1] According to West German intelligence, the IRA possibly planned the attack in co-ordination with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).