30 January 2002
The
following is a list of Americans who have been killed or injured by Middle
East-based terrorists. Including the September 11 attacks, which left approximately
3,385 dead, 4,071 Americans have been killed and 7,500 wounded in 98 terrorist
attacks since 1970.
February
23, 1970, Halhoul, West Bank. Palestinian
Liberation Organization terrorists
open fire on a busload of pilgrims killing Barbara Ertle of Michigan and
wounding two other Americans.
March
28-29, 1970, Beirut, Lebanon. The Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fired seven rockets at
the U.S. Embassy, the American Insurance Company, Bank of America and the
John F. Kennedy library.
September
14, 1970, En route to Amman, Jordan. The PFLP
hijacked a TWA flight from Zurich, Switzerland and forced it to land in
Amman. Four American citizens were injured.
May
30, 1972, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel. Three members of the Japanese Red
Army, acting on the PFLP's
bbehalf, carried out a machine-gun and grenade attack at Israel's main
airport, killing 26 and wounding 78 people. Many of the casualties were
American citizens, mostly from Puerto Rico.
September
5, 1972, Munich, Germany. During the Olympic Games in Munich,
Black September, a front for Fatah,
took hostage 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Nine athletes were
killed including weightlifter David Berger, an American-Israeli from Cleveland,
Ohio.
March
2, 1973, Khartoum, Sudan. Cleo A. Noel, Jr., U.S. ambassador to Sudan,
and George C. Moore, also a U.S. diplomat, were held hostage and then killed
by terrorists at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. It seems likely that Fatah
was responsible for the attack.
June
29, 1975, Beirut, Lebanon. The PFLP
kidnapped the U.S. military attaché to Lebanon, Ernest Morgan, and
demanded food, clothing and building materials for indigent residents living
near Beirut harbor. The American diplomat was released after an anonymous
benefactor provided food to the neighborhood.
November
14, 1975, Jerusalem, Israel. Lola Nunberg, 53, of New York, was injured
during a bombing attack in downtown Jerusalem.
Fatah
claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed six people and wounded
38.
November
21, 1975, Ramat Hamagshimim, Israel. Michael Nadler, an American-Israeli
from Miami Beach, Florida, was killed when axe-wielding terrorists from
the Democrat Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO
faction, attacked students in the Golan
Heights.
August
11, 1976, Istanbul, Turkey. The PFLP
launched an attack on the terminal of Israel's major airline, El Al, at
the Istanbul airport. Four civilians, including Harold Rosenthal of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, were killed and 20 injured.
January
1, 1977, Beirut, Lebanon. Frances E. Meloy, U.S. ambassador to Lebanon,
and Robert O.Waring, the U.S. economic counselor, were kidnapped by PFLP
members as they crossed a militia checkpoint separating the Christian from
the Muslim
parts of Beirut. They were later shot to death.
March
11, 1978, Tel Aviv, Israel. Gail Rubin, niece of U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff,
was among 38 people shot to death by PLO
terrorists on an Israeli beach.
June
2, 1978, Jerusalem, Israel. Richard Fishman, a medical student from Maryland,
was among six killed in a PLO
bus bombing in Jerusalem. Chava Sprecher, another American citizen from
Seattle, Washington, was injured.
May
4, 1979, Tiberias, Israel. Haim Mark and his wife, Haya, of New Haven,
Connecticut were injured in a PLO
bombing attack in northern Israel.
November
4, 1979, Teheran, Iran. After President Carter agreed to admit the Shah
of Iran into the U.S., Iranian radicals seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran
and took 66 American diplomats hostage. Thirteen hostages were soon freed,
but the remaining 53 were held until their release on January 20, 1981.
May
2, 1980, Hebron, West Bank. Eli Haze'ev, an American-Israeli from Alexandria,
Virginia, was killed in a PLO
attack on Jewish worshippers walking home from a synagogue
in Hebron.
July
19, 1982, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah
members kidnapped David Dodge, acting president of the American University
in Beirut. After a year in captivity, Dodge was released. Rifat Assad,
head of Syrian Intelligence, helped in the negotiation with the terrorists.
August
19, 1982, Paris, France. Two American citizens, Anne Van Zanten and Grace
Cutler, were killed when the PLO
bombed a Jewish restaurant in Paris.
March
16, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. Five American Marines were wounded in a hand
grenade attack while on patrol north of Beirut International Airport. The
Islamic Jihad and Al-Amal, a Shi'ite
militia, claimed responsibility for the attack.
April
18, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A truck-bomb detonated by a remote control exploded
in front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 employees, including
the CIA's Middle East director, and wounding 120. Hizballah,
with financial backing from Iran, was responsible for the attack.
July
1, 1983, Hebron, Israel. Aharon Gross, 19, an American-Israeli from New
York, was stabbed to death by PLO
terrorists in the Hebron
marketplace.
September
29, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. Two American marines were kidnapped by Amal
members. They were released after intervention by a Lebanese army officer.
October
23, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A truck loaded with a bomb crashed into the
lobby of the U.S. Marines headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 soldiers
and wounding 81. The attack was carried out by Hizballah
with the help of Syrian intelligence and financed by Iran.
December
19, 1983, Jerusalem, Israel. Serena Sussman, a 60-year-old tourist from
Anderson, South Carolina, died from injuries from the PLO
bombing of a bus in Jerusalem
13 days earlier.
January
18, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Malcolm Kerr, a Lebanese born American who was
president of the American University of Beirut, was killed by two gunmen
outside his office. Hizballah
said the assassination was part of the organization's plan to "drive all
Americans out from Lebanon."
March
7, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah
members kidnapped Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of Cable News Network
(CNN). Levin managed to escape and reach Syrian army barracks. He was later
transferred to American hands.
March
8, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Three Hizballah
members kidnapped Reverend Benjamin T. Weir, while he was walking with
his wife in Beirut's Manara neighborhood. Weir was released after 16 months
of captivity with Syrian and Iranian assistance.
March
16, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah
kidnapped William Buckley, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
Buckley was supposed to be exchanged for prisoners. However when the transaction
failed to take place, he was reportedly transported to Iran. Although his
body was never found, the U.S. administration declared the American diplomat
dead.
April
12, 1984, Torrejon, Spain. Hizballah
bombed a restaurant near an U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon, Spain, killing
18 servicemen and wounding 83 people.
September
20, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in
East Beirut killed 23 people and injured 21. The American and British ambassadors
were slightly injured in the attack, attributed to the Iranian backed Hizballah
group.
September
20, 1984, Aukar, Lebanon. Islamic Jihad detonate a van full of explosives
30 feet in front of the U.S. Embassy annex severely damaging the building,
killing two U.S. servicemen and seven Lebanese employees, as well as 5
to 15 non-employees. Twenty Americans were injured, including U.S. Ambassador
Reginald Bartholomew and visiting British Ambassador David Miers. An estimated
40 to 50 Lebanese were hurt. The attack came in response to the U.S.
veto September 6 of a U.N. Security Council resolution.
December
4, 1984, Tehran, Iran. Hizballah
terrorists hijacked a Kuwait Airlines plane en route from Dubai, United
Emirates, to Karachi, Pakistan. They demanded the release from Kuwaiti
jails of members of Da'Wa, a group of Shiite extremists serving sentences
for attacks on French and American targets on Kuwaiti territory. The terrorists
forced the pilot to fly to Tehran where the terrorists murdered two passengers--American
Agency for International Development employees, Charles Hegna and William
Stanford. Although an Iranian special unit ended the incident by storming
the plane and arresting the terrorists, the Iranian government might also
have been involved in the hijacking.
June
14, 1985, Between Athens and Rome. Two Hizballah
members hijacked a TWA flight en route to Rome from Athens and forced the
pilot to fly to Beirut. The terrorists, believed to belong to Hizballah,
asked for the release of members of the group Kuwait 17 and 700 Shi'ite
prisoners held in Israeli and South Lebanese prisons. The eight crewmembers
and 145 passengers were held for 17 days during which one of the hostages,
Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver, was murdered. After being flown twice
to Algiers, the aircraft returned to Beirut and the hostages were released.
Later on, four Hizballah
members were secretly indicted. One of them, the Hizballah
senior officer Imad Mughniyah, was indicted in absentia.
October
7, 1985, Between Alexandria, Egypt and Haifa, Israel. A four-member PFLP
squad took over the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, as it was sailing
from Alexandria, Egypt, to Israel. The squad murdered a disabled U.S. citizen,
Leon Klinghoffer, by throwing him in the ocean. The rest of the passengers
were held hostage for two days and later released after the terrorists
turned themselves in to Egyptian authorities in return for safe passage.
But U.S. Navy fighters intercepted the Egyptian aircraft flying the terrorists
to Tunis and forced it to land at the NATO airbase in Italy, where the
terrorists were arrested. Two of the terrorists were tried in Italy and
sentenced to prison. The Italian authorities however let the two others
escape on diplomatic passports. Abu Abbas, who masterminded the hijacking,
was later convicted to life imprisonment in absentia.
December
27, 1985, Rome, Italy. Four terrorists from Abu
Nidal's organization attacked El Al offices at the Leonardo di Vinci
Airport in Rome. Thirteen people, including five Americans, were killed
and 74 wounded, among them two Americans. The terrorists had come from
Damascus and were supported by the Syrian regime.
March
30, 1986, Athens, Greece. A bomb exploded on a TWA flight from Rome as
it approached Athens airport. The attack killed four U.S. citizens who
were sucked through a hole made by the blast, although the plane safely
landed. The bombing was attributed to the Fatah
Special Operations Group's intelligence and security apparatus, headed
by Abdullah Abd al-Hamid Labib, alias Colonel Hawari.
April
5, 1986, West Berlin, Germany. An explosion at the "La Belle" nightclub
in Berlin, frequented by American soldiers, killed three--2 U.S. soldiers
and a Turkish woman-and wounded 191 including 41 U.S. soldiers. Given evidence
of Libyan involvement, the U.S. Air Force made a retaliatory attack against
Libyan targets on April 17. Libya
refused to hand over to Germany five suspects believed to be there. Others,
however, were tried including Yassir Shraidi and Musbah Eter, arrested
in Rome in August 1997 and extradited; and also Ali Chanaa, his wife, Verena
Chanaa, and her sister, Andrea Haeusler. Shraidi, accused of masterminding
the attack, was sentenced to 14 years in jail. The Libyan diplomat Musbah
Eter and Ali Chanaa were both sentenced to 12 years in jail. Verena Chanaa
was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Andrea Haeusler was acquitted.
September
5, 1986, Karachi, Pakistan. Abu Nidal members hijacked a Pan Am flight
leaving Karachi, Pakistan bound for Frankfurt, Germany and New York with
379 passengers, including 89 Americans. The terrorists forced the plane
to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, where they demanded the release of two Palestinians
and a Briton jailed for the murder of three Israelis there in 1985. The
terrorists killed 22 of the passengers, including two American citizens
and wounded many others. They were caught and indicted by a Washington
grand jury in 1991.
September
9, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Continuing its anti-American attacks, Hizballah
kidnapped Frank Reed, director of the American University in Beirut, whom
they accused of being "a CIA agent." He was released 44 months later. September
12, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah
kidnapped Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University
in Beirut. Cicippio was released five years later on December 1991.
October
15, 1986, Jerusalem, Israel. Gali Klein, an American citizen, was killed
in a grenade attack by Fatah
at the Western
Wall in Jerusalem.
October
21, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah
kidnapped Edward A. Tracy, an American citizen in Beirut. He was released
five years later, on August 1991.
February
17, 1988, Ras-Al-Ein Tyre, Lebanon. Col. William Higgins, the American
chief of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization, was abducted
by Hizballah
while driving from Tyre to Nakura. The hostages demanded the withdrawal
of Israeli forces from Lebanon and the release of all Palestinian and Lebanese
held prisoners in Israel. The U.S. government refused to answer the request.
Hizballah
later claimed they killed Higgins.
December
21, 1988, Lockerbie, Scotland. Pan Am Flight 103 departing from Frankfurt
to New York was blown up in midair, killing all 259 passengers and another
11 people on the ground in Scotland. Two Libyan agents were found responsible
for planting a sophisticated suitcase bomb onboard the plane. On 14 November
1991, arrest warrants were issued for Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima and Abdel
Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi. After Libya refused to extradite the suspects
to stand trial, the United Nations leveled sanctions against the country
in April 1992, including the freezing of Libyan assets abroad. In 1999,
Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi agreed to hand over the two suspects, but
only if their trial was held in a neutral country and presided over by
a Scottish judge. With the help of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown Prince
Abdullah, Al-Megrahi and Fahima were finally extradited and tried in Camp
Zeist in the Netherlands. Megrahi was found guilty and jailed for life,
while Fahima was acquitted due to a "lack of evidence" of his involvement.
After the extradition, UN sanctions against Libya were automatically lifted.
January
27, 1989, Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. Three simultaneous bombings were
carried out against U.S. business targets--the Turkish American Businessmen
Association and the Economic Development Foundation in Istanbul, and the
Metal Employees Union in Ankara. The Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) was held
responsible for the attacks.
March
6, 1989, Cairo, Egypt. Two explosive devices were safely removed from the
grounds of the American and British Cultural centers in Cairo. Three organizations
were believed to be responsible for the attack: The January 15 organization,
which had sent a letter bomb to the Israeli ambassador to London in January;
the Egyptian Revolutionary Organization that from out 1984-1986 carried
out attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets; and the Nasserite Organization,
which had attacked British and American targets in 1988.
June
12, 1989, Bosphorus Straits, Turkey. A bomb exploded aboard an unoccupied
boat used by U.S. consular staff. The explosion caused extensive damage
but no casualties. An organization previously unknown, the Warriors of
the June 16th Movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.
October
11, 1989, Izmir, Turkey. An explosive charge went off outside a U.S. military
PX. Dev Sol was held responsible for the attack.
February
7, 1991, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Dev Sol members shot and killed a U.S.
civilian contractor as he was getting into his car at the Incirlik Air
Base in Adana, Turkey.
February
28, 1991, Izmir, Turkey. Two Dev Sol gunmen shot and wounded a U.S. Air
Force officer as he entered his residence in Izmir.
March
28, 1991, Jubial, Saudi Arabia. Three U.S. marines were shot at and injured
by an unknown terrorist while driving near Camp Three, Jubial. No organization
claimed responsibility for the attack.
October
28, 1991, Ankara, Turkey. Victor Marwick, an American soldier serving at
the Turkish-American base, Tuslog, was killed and his wife wounded in a
car bomb attack. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the
attack.
October
28, 1991, Istanbul, Turkey. Two car bombings killed a U.S. Air Force sergeant
and severely wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Istanbul. Turkish Islamic
Jihad claimed responsibility.
November
8, 1991, Beirut, Lebanon. A 100-kg car bomb destroyed the administration
building of the American University in Beirut, killing one person and wounding
at least a dozen.
October
12, 1992, Umm Qasr, Iraq. A U.S. soldier serving with the United Nations
was stabbed and wounded near the port of Umm Qasr. No organization claimed
responsibility for the attack.
January
25, 1993, Virginia, United States. A Pakistani gunman opened fire on Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees standing outside of the building. Two
agents, Frank Darling and Bennett Lansing, were killed and three others
wounded. The assailant was never caught and reportedly fled to Pakistan.
February
26, 1993, Cairo, Egypt. A bomb exploded inside a café in downtown
Cairo killing three. Among the 18 wounded were two U.S. citizens. No one
claimed responsibility for the attack.
February
26, 1993, New York, United States. A massive van bomb exploded in an underground
parking garage below the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six
and wounding 1,042. Four Islamist activists were responsible for the attack.
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the operation's alleged mastermind, escaped but was
later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the United States. Abd al-Hakim
Murad, another suspected conspirator, was arrested by local authorities
in the Philippines and handed over to the United States. The two, along
with two other terrorists, were tried in the U.S. and sentenced to 240
years.
April
14, 1993, Kuwait. The Iraqi intelligence service attempted to assassinate
former U.S. President George Bush during a visit to Kuwait. In retaliation,
the U.S. launched a cruise missile attack two months later on the Iraqi
capital, Baghdad.
July
5, 1993, Southeast Turkey. In eight separate incidents, the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) kidnapped a total of 19 Western tourists traveling in southeastern
Turkey. The hostages, including U.S. citizen Colin Patrick Starger, were
released unharmed after spending several weeks in captivity.
March
8, 1995, Karachi, Pakistan. Two unidentified gunmen armed with AK-47 assault
rifles opened fire on a U.S. Consulate van in Karachi, killing two U.S.
diplomats, Jacqueline Keys Van Landingham and Gary C. Durell, and wounding
a third, Mark McCloy.
April
9, 1995, Kfar Darom and Netzarim, Gaza Strip. Two suicide attacks were
carried out within a few hours of each other in Jewish settlements
in the Gaza
Strip. In the first attack a suicide bomber crashed an explosive-rigged
van into an Israeli bus in Netzarim, killing eight including U.S. citizen
Alisa Flatow. Over 30 others were injured. In the second attack, a suicide
bomber detonated a car bomb in the midst of a convoy of cars in Kfar Darom,
injuring 12. The Palestine
Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Shaqaqi Faction claimed responsibility for the
attacks.
July
4, 1995, Kashmir, India. In Kashmir, a previously unknown militant group,
Al-Faran, with suspected links to a Kashmiri separatist group in Pakistan,
took hostage six tourists, including two U.S. citizens. They demanded the
release of Muslim militants held in Indian prisons. One of the U.S. citizens
escaped on July 8, while on August 13 the decapitated body of the Norwegian
hostage was found along with a note stating that the other hostages also
would be killed if the group's demands were not met. The Indian Government
refused. Both Indian and American authorities believe the rest of the hostages
were most likely killed in 1996 by their jailers.
August
1995, Istanbul, Turkey. A bombing of Istanbul's popular Taksim Square injured
two U.S. citizens. This attack was part of a three-year-old attempt by
the PKK to drive foreign tourists away from Turkey by striking at tourist
sites.
August
21, 1995, Jerusalem, Israel. A bus bombing in Jerusalem by the Islamic
Resistance Movement (Hamas) killed four, including American Joan Davenny,
and wounded more than 100.
November
9, 1995, Algiers, Algeria. Islamic extremists set fire to a warehouse belonging
to the U.S. Embassy, threatened the Algerian security guard because he
was working for the United States, and demanded to know whether any U.S.
citizens were present. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) probably carried out
the attacks. The group had threatened to strike other foreign targets and
especially U.S. objectives in Algeria, and the attack's style was similar
to past GIA operations against foreign facilities.
November
13, 1995, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A car bomb exploded in the parking lot
outside of the Riyadh headquarters of the Office of the Program Manager/Saudi
Arabian National Guard, killing seven persons, five of them U.S. citizens,
and wounding 42. The blast severely damaged the three-story building, which
houses a U.S. military advisory group, and several neighboring office buildings.
Three groups -- the Islamic Movement for Change, the Tigers of the Gulf,
and the Combatant Partisans of God -- claimed responsibility for the attack.
February
25, 1996, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bomber blew up a commuter bus in
Jerusalem, killing 26, including three U.S. citizens, and injuring 80 others,
among them another three U.S. citizens. Hamas
claimed responsibility for the bombing.
March
4, 1996, Tel Aviv, Israel. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device
outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel
Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 persons and injuring 75 others,
including two U.S. citizens. Both Hamas
and the Islamic
Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. May 13, 1996, Beit-El,
West Bank. Arab gunmen opened fire on a hitchhiking stand near Beit El,
wounding three Israelis and killing David Boim, 17, an American-Israeli
from New York. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, although either
the Islamic Jihad or Hamas are suspected.
June
9, 1996, Zekharya, West Bank. Yaron Ungar, an American-Israeli, and his
Israeli wife were killed in a drive-by shooting near their West Bank home.
The PFLP
is suspected.
June
25, 1996, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded
outside the U.S. military's Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran,
killing 19 U.S. military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including
240 U.S. personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack.
In June 2001, a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, identified
Saudi Hizballah
as the party responsible for the attack. The court indicated that the members
of the organization, banned from Saudi
Arabia, "frequently met and were trained in Lebanon, Syria, or Iran"
with Libyan help.
August
17, 1996, Mapourdit, Sudan. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels
kidnapped six missionaries in Mapourdit, including a U.S citizen. The SPLA
released the hostages on August 28.
November
1, 1996, Sudan. A breakaway group of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army
(SPLA) kidnapped three workers of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), including one U.S citizen. The rebels released the hostages
on December 9 in exchange for ICRC supplies and a health survey of their
camp.
December
3, 1996, Paris, France. A bomb exploded aboard a Paris subway train, killing
four and injuring 86 persons, including a U.S. citizen. No one claimed
responsibility for the attack, but Algerian extremists are suspected.
January
2, 1997, Major cities worldwide, United States. A series of letter bombs
with Alexandria, Egypt postmarks were discovered at Al-Hayat newspaper
bureaus in Washington, DC, New York, London, and Riyadh. Three similar
devices, also postmarked in Egypt, were found at a prison facility in Leavenworth,
Kansas. Bomb disposal experts defused all the devices, but one detonated
at the Al-Hayat newspaper office in London, injuring two security guards
and causing minor damage.
February
23, 1997, New York, United States. A Palestinian gunman opened fire on
tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State building in New York,
killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States,
Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A
handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack
against the "enemies of Palestine."
July
30, 1997, Jerusalem, Israel. Two bombs detonated in Jerusalem'sMahane
Yehuda market, killing 15 persons, including a U.S. citizen and wounding
168 others, among them two U.S. citizens. The Izz-el-Din al-Qassam Brigades,
Hamas'
military wing, claimed responsibility for the attack.
October
30, 1997, Sanaa, Yemen. Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a U.S. businessman
near Sanaa. The tribesmen sought the release of two fellow tribesmen who
were arrested on smuggling charges and several public works projects they
claim the government promised them. The hostage was released on November
27.
November
12, 1997, Karachi, Pakistan. Two unidentified gunmen shot to death four
U.S. auditors from Union Texas Petroleum and their Pakistani driver as
they drove away from the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. Two groups claimed
responsibility -- the Islamic Inqilabi Council, or Islamic Revolutionary
Council and the Aimal Secret Committee, also known as the Aimal Khufia
Action Committee.
November
25, 1997, Aden, Yemen. Yemenite tribesmen kidnapped a U.S citizen, two
Italians, and two unspecified Westerners near Aden to protest the eviction
of a tribe member from his home. The kidnappers released the five hostages
on November 27.
April
19, 1998, Maon, Israel. Dov Driben, a 28-year-old American-Israeli farmer
was killed by terrorists near the West Bank town of Maon. One of his assailants,
Issa Debavseh, a member of Fatah Tanzim,
was killed on November 7, 2001, by the IDF after being on their wanted
list for the murder.
June
21, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon. Two hand-grenades were thrown at the U.S. Embassy
in Beirut. No casualties were reported.
June
21, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon. Three rocket-propelled grenades attached to
a crude detonator exploded near the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut, causing
no casualties and little damage. August 7, 1998, Nairobi, Kenya. A car
bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The
attack killed a total of 292, including 12 U.S. citizens, and injured over
5,000, among them six Americans. The perpetrators belonged to al-Qaida,
Usama bin Ladin's network.
August
7, 1998, Dar es Sala'am, Tanzania. A car bomb exploded outside the U.S.
Embassy in Dar es Sala'am, killing 11 and injuring 86. Osama bin Laden's
organization al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack. Two suspects
were arrested.
November
21, 1998, Teheran, Iran. Members of Fedayeen Islam, shouting anti-American
slogans and wielding stones and iron rods, attacked a group of American
tourists in Tehran. Some of the tourists suffered minor injuries from flying
glass.
December
28, 1998, Mawdiyah, Yemen. Sixteen tourists--12 Britons, two Americans
and two Australians--were taken hostage in the largest kidnapping in Yemen's
recent history. The tourists were seized in the Abyan province (some 175
miles south of Sanaa the capital). One Briton and a Yemeni guide escaped,
while the rest were taken to city of Mawdiyah. Four hostages were killed
when troops closed in and two were wounded, including an American woman.
The kidnappers, members of the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, an offshoot
of Al-Jihad, had demanded the release from jail of their leader, Saleh
Haidara al-Atwi.
October
31, 1999, Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. EgyptAir Flight 990
crashed off the U.S. coast killing all 217 people on board, including 100
Americans. Although it is not precisely clear what happened, evidence indicated
that an Egyptian pilot crashed the plane for personal or political reasons.
November
4, 1999, Athens, Greece. A group protesting President Clinton's visit to
Greece hid a gas bomb at an American car dealership in Athens. Two cars
were destroyed and several others damaged. Anti-State Action claimed responsibility
for the attack, but the November 17 group was also suspected.
November
12, 1999, Islamabad, Pakistan. Six rockets were fired at the U.S. Information
Services cultural center and United Nations offices in Islamabad, injuring
a Pakistani guard.
October
8, 2000, Nablus, West Bank. The bullet-ridden body of Hillel Lieberman,
a U.S. citizen living in the Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh, was found
at the entrance to the West Bank town of Nablus.
Lieberman had headed there after hearing that Palestinians had desecrated
the religious site, Joseph's
Tomb. No organization claimed responsibility for the murder.
October
12, 2000, Aden Harbor, Yemen. A suicide squad rammed the warship the U.S.S.
Cole with an explosives-laden boat killing 13 American sailors and injuring
33. The attack was likely by Osama bin Ladin's
al-Qaida
organization.
October
30, 2000, Jerusalem, Israel. Gunmen killed Eish Kodesh Gilmor, a 25-year-old
American-Israeli on duty as a security guard at the National Insurance
Institute in Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada," a group
linked to Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack. Gilmor's family
filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington against the Palestinian
Authority, the PLO,
Chairman Yasser Arafat and members of Force 17, as being responsible for
the attack.
May
9, 2001, Tekoa, West Bank. Kobi Mandell, 14, an American-Israeli, was found
stoned to death along with a friend in a cave near the Jewish settlement
of Tekoa. Two organizations, the Islamic Jihad and Hizballah-Palestine,
claimed responsibility for the attack.
May
29, 2001, Gush Etzion, West Bank. The Fatah Tanzim
claimed responsibility for a drive-by shooting of six in the West
Bank that killed two American-Israeli citizens, Samuel Berg, and his
mother, Sarah Blaustein.
August
9, 2001, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bombing at Sbarro's, a pizzeria situated
in one of the busiest areas of downtown Jerusalem,
killed 15 people, including a 31-year-old tourist from New Jersey, Shoshana
Greenbaum and wounded more than 90. Hamas
claimed responsibility for the attack.
September
11, 2001, New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, United States. During
a carefully coordinated attack, 19 Islamist extremists hijacked four U.S.
jetliners and forced them to crash into the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. In all, 266 people perished in the four planes, and more than
3,000 people were killed on the ground. U.S. investigators determined on
the basis of extensive evidence that Usama bin Ladin's al-Qaida
group was responsible for the attack. The first plane, American Airlines
Flight 11 en route from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade
Center's north tower at 8:48 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, United Airlines
Flight 175, also headed from Boston to Los Angeles, smashed into the World
Trade Center's south tower. At 9:40 a.m. a third airplane, an American
Airlines Boeing 757 that left Washington's Dulles International Airport
for Los Angeles, crashed into the western part of the Pentagon where 24,000
people worked. The fourth plane, a United Airlines Flight 93 flying from
Newark to San Francisco, crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, most likely
before it could hit its target. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers
and other rescue workers who arrived in the site after the first plane
crash were killed or injured.
January
15, 2002, Bethlehem, West Bank. Avraham Boaz, 71, a dual Israeli-American
citizen, was kidnapped at a PA
security checkpoint in Beit Jala and murdered.
January, 29, 2002, Jerusalem, Israel. Mark Sokolow, 43, an American citizen was injured in a Jerusalem suicide bomb attack which left one dead and injured over 100.
Sources:
Chronology on Terrorist Incidents 1961-2001, State Department; "Patterns
of Terrorism" reports 1995-2000; State Department Institute for Counter-Terrorism
Database; Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya; Peacewatch,
The
Washington Institute for New East Policy; AIPAC
HTTP://WWW.MFA.GOV.IL