9/11 was only the beginning
The following is a timeline of major terror events across the world in past decade:
Dec. 22, 2001: British citizen attempts to blow up plane
Richard Reid, also known as the “shoe bomber,” was stopped by fellow passengers and flight attendants on American Airlines Flight 63 as he tried to set off explosives implanted in his sneakers in midflight. Reid, a London native and convert to Islam, pleaded guilty to all eight counts, including a count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder.
April 1, 2002: Deadly attack in Israel
Three bombs were planted, all timed to coincide with festivals in Israel celebrating Passover. One hits a Passover dinner at a hotel in Netanya, killing 20 people. Another in Tel Aviv kills 29 and a suicide bomber attacks an Arab-owned restaurant in Haifa and kills 14.
Oct. 12, 2002: The Bali bombings in Indonesia
Just before midnight, a backpack bomb went off inside a bar and another went off in a car, killing 202 civilians, 88 of which of were Australians. About 30 suspects were arrested for some kind of involvement in the bombings.
March 11, 2004: Madrid attacked
Explosions blast four jam-packed commuter trains during the morning rush hour. Bombs were in backpacks, and detonated using a mobile phone, killing 191 people and injuring an estimated 1,800. The Spanish government of Jose Maria Aznar at first suggests the Basque separatist group ETA is to blame, but evidence later strongly pointed to Islamic extremists.
Aug. 2, 2004: Man arrested for NYSE bomb plot
British national Dhiren Barot, 39, was arrested and charged with conspiring to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank along with fellow Pakistani
co-conspirators. Barot originally faced up to 40 years in prison, but in 2007 his sentence was reduced to 30 years.
Aug. 27, 2004: Attempted bombing in Herald Square
The NYPD foiled a terror plot by James Elshafay, 19 and Shahawar Matin Siraj, 22. The two were arrested on charges of conspiracy to detonate a bomb around the time of the Republican National Convention, scheduled to begin on Aug. 28. Elshafay was considered an accomplice and was given five years in prison while Sirji, seen as the mastermind, was given 30 years to life.
Sept. 1, 2004: Militants take over school in Russia
Chechen Islamic militants take over a school in Beslan, North
Ossetia, located in the heart of Russia. The perpetrator, Nurpashi
Kulayev, and his group of rebels claimed the lives of 330 people,
including 156 children and leaving 756 injured. Kulayev was the only
surviving attacker.
July 5, 2005: London bombings
Four suicide attackers strike central London, killing 52 people and
injuring more than 770. Some media outlets report that radical imam
Anwar al-Awlaki inspired the bombers. In the year following the attack,
British police unearthed a terrorist plot to detonate bombs on nine
different planes traveling from Britain to the United States. Several
people were arrested on suspicions of involvement in the plot.
Nov. 26, 2008: Mumbai terrorist attacks
Islamic terrorists killed 164 people and wounded 308 in 10 planned
attacks that spanned several terror-filled days. The attacks targeted
local luxury hotels, a hospital and a Jewish center. The attacks started
on Wednesday night, Nov. 26, and lasted until Saturday, Nov. 29.
Sept. 9, 2009: An attempt on the anniversary of 9/11
A Queens native planned to coordinate suicide bombings on the New
York City subway on Sept. 14-16. Najibullah Zazi, 25, had been training
with al Qaeda forces in Pakistan and planned to detonate backpack bombs
near Grand Central and Times Square during rush hour, police say, on the
1, 2, 3 and 6 lines.
April 11, 2011: Minsk bombing kills 12
A bomb planted on the subway rips though the heart of Minsk,
Belarus. According to local police, 12 people were killed and more than
200 more were injured.
July 11, 2011: A nation known for peace destroyed
In Norway, a gunman who posed as a police officer opened fire on a youth camp, killing 69 people, many of them teenagers. That same man, Anders Behring Breivik, 35, also set off a bomb that hit government offices in downtown Oslo. Breivik said he did it to stem the tide of growing Muslim domination.
