Chronology of Major Terrorist Attacks Against U.S. Targets

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[doug from upland]

 

 
    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			September 11, 2001 - Terrorists hijack four U.S. commercial airliners taking off from various locations in the United States in a coordinated suicide attack. In separate attacks, two of the airliners crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which catch fire and eventually collapse. A third airliner crashes into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, causing extensive damage. The fourth airliner, also believed to be heading towards Washington, DC, crashes outside Shanksville, PA., killing all 45 people on board. Casualty estimates from New York put the possible death toll close to 5,000, while as many as 200 people may have been lost at the Pentagon crash site. Oct. 12, 2000 - A terrorist bomb damages the destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39. Aug. 7, 1998 - Terrorist bombs destroy the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In Nairobi, 12 Americans are among the 291 killed, and over 5,000 are wounded, including 6 Americans. In Dar es Salaam, one U.S. citizen is wounded among the 10 killed and 77 injured. In response, on August 20 the United States attacked targets in Afghanistan and Sudan with over 75 cruise missiles fired from Navy ships in the Arabian and Red seas. About 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from warships in the Arabian Sea. Most struck six separate targets in a camp near Khost, Afghanistan. Simultaneously, about 20 cruise missiles were fired from U.S. ships in the Red Sea striking a factory in Khartoum, Sudan, which was suspected of producing components for making chemical weapons. June 21, 1998 - Rocket-propelled grenades explode near the U.S. embassy in Beirut. July 27, 1996 - A pipe bomb explodes during the Olympic games in Atlanta, killing one person and wounding 111. June 25, 1996 - A bomb aboard a fuel truck explodes outside a U.S. air force installation in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 U.S. military personnel are killed in the Khubar Towers housing facility, and 515 are wounded, including 240 Americans. Nov. 13, 1995 - A car-bomb in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills seven people, five of them American military and civilian advisers for National Guard training. The "Tigers of the Gulf," "Islamist Movement for Change," and "Fighting Advocates of God" claim responsibility. April 19, 1995 - A car bomb destroys the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and wounding over 600. February 1993 - A bomb in a van explodes in the underground parking garage in New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and wounding 1,042. Dec. 21, 1988 - A bomb destroys Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 are killed including 189 Americans, as are 11 people on the ground. April 1986 - An explosion damages a TWA flight as it prepares to land in Athens, Greece. Four people are killed when they are sucked out of the aircraft. April 5, 1986 - A bomb destroys the LaBelle discotheque in West Berlin. The disco was known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. The attack kills one American and one German woman and wounds 150, including 44 Americans In response, on April 15 the United States retaliated in an operation dubbed ‘El Dorado Canyon.’ Approximately 100 aircraft were launched in direct support of the raid. It was an attack against military targets involving land-based bombers from Great Britain together with carrier-based air strikes from ships in the Gulf of Sidra. December 1985 - Simultaneous suicide attacks are carried out against U.S. and Israeli check-in desks at Rome and Vienna international airports. 20 people are killed in the two attacks, including four terrorists. November 1985 - Hijackers aboard an Egyptair flight kill one American. Egyptian commandos later storm the aircraft on the isle of Malta, and 60 people are killed. October 1985 - Palestinian terrorists hijack the cruise liner Achille Lauro (in response to the Israeli attack on PLO headquarters in Tunisia) Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, wheelchair-bound American, is killed and thrown overboard. August 1985 - A car bomb at a U.S. military base in Frankfurt, Germany kills two and injures 20. A U.S. soldier murdered for his identity papers is found a day after the explosion. June 1985 - A TWA airliner is hijacked over the Mediterranean, the start of a two-week hostage ordeal. The last 39 passengers are eventually released in Damascus after being held in various locations in Beirut. June 1985 - In San Salvador, El Salvador, 13 people are killed in a machine gun attack at an outdoor café, including four U.S. Marines and two American businessmen. April 1985 - A bomb explodes in a restaurant near a U.S. air base in Madrid, Spain, killing 18, all Spaniards, and wounding 82, including 15 Americans. November 1984 - A bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Bogota, Colombia kills a passer-by. The attack was preceded by death threats against U.S. officials by drug traffickers. October 1983 - A suicide car bomb attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 servicemen. A simultaneous attack on a French base kills 58 paratroopers. April 1983 - A suicide car bombing against the U.S. embassy in Beirut kills 63, including 17 Americans.   Compiled by CDI Senior Analyst Chris Hellman, chellman@cdi.org   Printer-Friendly Version   BACK TO THE TOP    HOT SPOTS    CDI ISSUE AREAS    CDI HOME
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[Taxman]

Sobering. I'll wager that the perp profile in each instance was remarkably similar?

[jocon307]

A good list, but incomplete. It should start with the murder of RFK by the palestinian Sirhan Sirhan, in 1969.

[CyberAnt]

I'd like to see what legislation was happening during those times.

[Chi-townChief]

Need to add '72 Olympics and our embassy in Tehran.

[thoughtomator]

It's amazing how they learned they could get away with it under Clinton after the anemic response to the 1993 WTC bombing, and kept going and going and going until 9/11, when we finally fought back. Then nothing! NOT a coincidence.

[jerseygirl]

I worry that the worst is yet to come. There is some very chilling information on the daily threat matrix thread.

[Viking2002]

But it's a law enforcement problem, don'cha understand?

[doug from upland]

The damage done by Clinton is incalculable. And yet, the *itch is attack Bush and saying we should go back to the Clinton policies of the '90s that worked so well. Pardon me while I go vomit.

[spodefly]

Bookmark

[Diogenesis]

1968 Robert Kennedy assassinated
1972 Munich Olympic Massacure Sep-5,1972 (Black September)
1976 Entebbe Hostage Crisis, June 27, 1976
1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, Nov. 4, 1979 444 days
1979 Grand Mosque Seizure, Nov 20,1979
1981 Assassination of Egyptian President, Oct 6,1981
1982 Assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister, Sept 14, 1982
1983 Bombing of US Embassy in Beirut6, April 18,1983
1983 Bombing of Maring Barricks, Beruit, Oct 23,1983
1984 Hizballah Restaurant Bombing, April 12,1984
1985 Egyptian Airliner Hijacking, Nov 23,1985
1985 Rome Airport murders
1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacked, U.S. Navy diver murdered
1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, Homacidal maniac lived in saddams Iraq
1986 Aircraft Bombing in Greece, March 30, 1986
1988 Pan Am 747 Flight 103 Bombing, Lockerbie, 100's murdered
1988 Berlin Discoteque Bombing, Dec 21,1988
1992 Bombing in Israeli Embassy in Argentina, March 17,1992
1993 Attempted Assassination of Pres. Bush Sr., April 14,1993
1993 First World Trade Center bombing, February 26th, 7 Killed, Hundreds injured, Billions
1994 Air France Hijacking, Dec 24,1994
1995 Attack on US Diplomats in Pakistan, Mar 8,1995
1995 Saudi Military Installation Attack, Nov 13, 1995
1995 Kashmiri Hostage taking, July 4,1995
1996 Khobar Towers attack
1996 Sudanese Missionarys Kidnapping, Aug 17,1996
1996 Paris Subway Explosion, Dec 3,1996
1997 Israeli Shopping Mall Bombing, Sept 4, 1997
1997 Yemeni Kidnappings, Oct 30,1997
1998 Somali Hostage taking crisis, April 15,1998
1998 U.S. Embassy Bombing in Peru, Jan 15, 1998
1998 U.S. Kenya Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1998 U.S. Tanzania Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1999 Plot to blow up Space Needle (thwarted)
2000 USS Cole attacked, many U.S. Navy sailors murdered
2000-2003 Intifada against Israel - 100's dead and injured
2000 Manila Bombing, Dec 30,2000
2001 4 Commercial airliners hijacked, 250+ murdered
2001 World Trade Center attacked, 2800+ murdered
2001 Flight 93 murders
2001 Pentagon attacked, 180+ murdered
2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and murdered
2002 Philippines American missionary, Filipino nurse killed
2002 July 4, El Al attack Los Angeles LAX, several murdered
2002 Bali bombing - 200 dead, 300 injured
2002 Yemen, French Oil Tanker attacked
2002 Marines attacked / murdered in Kuwait
2002 Washington D.C. sniper
2002 Russian Theater attacked, 100+ dead
2002 Nigerian riots against Miss World Pageant, 200 dead, dozens injured
2002 Mombasa Hotel Attacked, 12 dead, dozens injured
2002 Israeli Boeing 757 attacked by missiles, fortunately no one injured
2002 August Hotel bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia. 12 dead, dozens injured.
2003 Rusian concert bombing
2003 Phillipines airport and market bombing
2003 Foiled SAM plot in the USA
2003 UN Baghdad HQ Bombing
2003 Ticrit Mosque Bombing
2003 Neveh Shalom Synagogue Bombing in Istanbul, Turkey

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[null and void]

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[Straight Vermonter]

10/12/02 US consulate in Indonesia is bombed
10/10/02 Philippines - Bus depot attacked
10/08/02 US troops shot in Kuwait
10/06/02 French oil tanker bombed near Yemen
10/02/02 Philippines - restaurant full of US troops is nail bombed
06/07/02 Philippines - Kidnapped American missionary killed in rescue attempt
03/17/02 Pakistan - 2 American women killed in church grenade attack
01/31/02 Philippines - hikers attacked, 1 killed
01/23/02 Daniel Pearl is kdnapped and later murdered
10/08/01 Plot to bomb US Embassy and Eagle Base airfield is stopped
09/13/01 Plots to bomb NATO headquartes and US Embassy in Paris are foiled
09/11/01 WTC and Pentagon attacked
08/03/01 14 Foreigners arrested in Afghanistan, accused of propogating Christianity
12/25/00 Terrorists arrested attempting to bomb Strasbourg Cathedral in Germany
10/12/00 USS Cole Bombed
06/27/00 Americans kidnapped in Uzbekistan
12/1999 Jordan- Terrorists arrested in millenium bombing plot
12/14/99 Millennium bomber arrested in Washington state
09/1999 Chechens bomb apartment buildings in Moscow
12/28/98 Tourits kidnapped and killed in Yemen
08/07/98 2 US Embassies in Africa are truck bombed
11/12/98 Americans murdered in Karachi
02/23/97 Palestinian gunman shoots tourists at Empire State Building obsevation deck
06/25/96 Khobar Towers are truck bombed
02/15/96 US Embassy in Athens takes rocket fire
11/13/95 US servicemen killed in bombing in Saudi Arabia
08/23/96 OBL declares war on USA
06/26/95 Unsuccesful assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
04/18/95 OKC - Murrah building bombing
03/08/95 Karachi Pakistan - American diplomats assassinated
01/06/95 "Operation Bojinka" plot to hijack 12 US airplanes is foiled
07/18/94 Jewish center in Bueon Aries is bombed
11/1933 Assassination attempt on Egyptian Prime Minister
10/1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident in Mogadishu
08/1993 Assassination attempt on Egyptian Interior Minister
04/14/93 Assassination attempt on GHW Bush and family
02/26/93 WTC is truck bombed
01/25/93 CIA Employees shot in Langley, VA
12/29/92 Hotel that housed US troops bombed in Yemen
03/17/92 Israeli embassy in Argentina is bombed
12/21/88 Pan-Am 103 bombed
08/08/88 Pakistan - US Ambassador & Pakistan President killed in plane bombing
04/14/88 USO Club bombed in Naples, Italy
04/24/87 Greece bus carrying American servicemen is attacked
04/05/86 Berlin discofull of US servicemen is bombed
04/02/86 Anthens Greece plane bombing
12/27/85 Rome and Vienna airport shootings
10/07/85 Achille Lauro highjacking
08//08/85 Rhein-Main airbase car bombing
06/14/85 TWA 847 hijacked to Beirut
06/13/85 Madrid Spain - Restaurant frequented by US servicemen bombed
12/03/84 Kuwait Airlines 221 hijacked and American passengers murdered
09/20/84 Beirut - US Embassy bombing
12/12/83 Kuwait - US Embassy is truck bombed
04/18/83 Beirut - Marine Barracks truck bombed
1982-1991 18 Americans kidnapped
10/06/81 Anwar Sadat Assassinated
11/04/79 Tehran - US Embassy seized

[Taxman]

RIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!