Ambassadors killed in line of duty

Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot dead on Monday in Ankara

PARIS: Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in Ankara on Monday. The killing of an international envoy in the line of duty remains a relatively rare event, with most previous attacks targeting US representatives.

Russian killing: Syria motive

December 19, 2016: Russia´s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is shot dead by a Turkish policeman crying "Aleppo" and "revenge" at an art exhibition in Ankara. The shooting occurred on the eve of a key meeting between the Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers on the Syria conflict.

Six US ambassadors slain

September 11, 2012: US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American staff are killed when a mob of Libyan protesters, angered by reports of a film deemed insulting to Islam, storm the US consulate in Libya´s second city Benghazi.

Stevens is one of six US envoys who have been killed by militants since World War II, according to the State Department. The others are:

Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs, killed in February, 1979 during a rescue attempt by government forces after being abducted in Kabul by militants.

Ambassador to Lebanon Francis E. Meloy, who, with a second diplomat and his embassy´s driver, is abducted in Beirut in June 1976 -- several months after the outbreak of the country´s civil war -- and killed by a pro-Palestinian Lebanese group;

Ambassador to Cyprus Rodger P. Davies, shot in his embassy in Nicosia in August 1974, during a demonstration by Greek Cypriots who accuse the United States of having backed the Turkish invasion of the north of the island.

Ambassador to Sudan Cleo A. Noel taken hostage, along with two other diplomats, by Palestinian commandos and executed in March, 1973;

Ambassador to Guatemala John Gordon Mein, abducted in August 1968 and executed by armed rebels.

French ambassador: Syria suspected

September 4, 1981: French ambassador in Beirut, Louis Delamare, is shot dead in his car in the Lebanese capital. Syria is suspected of involvement, over France´s diplomatic role in the Lebanon civil war.

January 28, 1993: Philippe Bernard, France´s ambassador to the then Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, is killed by a stray bullet as trouble breaks out in the capital Kinshasa.

Bolivian killed in Paris

May 11, 1976: Bolivia´s ambassador to Paris, Joaquin Zenteno Anaya, is shot near the Seine river, in a killing claimed by a group calling itself the International Che Guevara Brigades.