President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Islamic extremists while he was reviewing a military parade in Cairo. The attack, carried out by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, was in opposition to the peace treaty President Sadat had brokered with Israel. Sadat was shot while observing the annual military parade in the Nasr City district of Cairo.
A group of assassins, led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, stopped their truck in front of the reviewing stand where Sadat was seated with other dignitaries. The attackers leapt out and opened fire with automatic rifles and also threw grenades towards the stand.
In addition to Sadat, eleven other people were killed, and twenty-eight were wounded in the attack, including Vice President Hosni Mubarak.
The assassins were Islamic extremists from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group. They viewed Sadat as a traitor because of his diplomatic relations with Israel and due to accusations that he was trying to suppress Islam. The leader of the attackers, Islambouli, and his accomplices were later executed.
For many Islamists, they view the assassins as martyrs.