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Authors: Edward Mickolus,Susan L. Simmons

The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks

BOOK: The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks
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The 50 Worst
Terrorist Attacks

The 50 Worst
Terrorist Attacks

EDWARD
F.
MICKOLUS
AND
SUSAN
L.
SIMMONS

Praeger Security International

Copyright 2014 by Edward F. Mickolus and Susan L. Simmons

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mickolus, Edward F.
   The 50 worst terrorist attacks / Edward F. Mickolus and Susan L. Simmons.
     pages cm
   Includes indexes.
   ISBN 978-1-4408-2827-0 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-4408-2828-7 (ebook)
1. Terrorism—History. I. Simmons, Susan L. II. Title. III. Title: Fifty worst terrorist attacks.
   HV6431.M487   2014
   363.32509—dc23      2014004392

ISBN: 978-1-4408-2827-0
EISBN: 978-1-4408-2828-7

18  17  16  15  14  1  2  3  4  5

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All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information or Agency endorsement of the authors' views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

To our parents

Contents
Preface
Introduction
The 1960s
The 1970s
   
March 31, 1970: Japan Airlines Flight 351 Hijacking to North Korea
   
September 6, 1970: Dawson's Field Multiple Aerial Hijackings
   
May 30, 1972: Machine Gun Attack in Lod Airport
   
September 5, 1972: Munich Olympics Attack
   
May 15, 1974: Ma'alot Massacre
   
December 21, 1975: Vienna OPEC Hostage-Taking
   
June 27, 1976: Entebbe
   
October 6, 1976: Cubana Flight 455 Bombing
   
October 13, 1977: Landshut Hijacking and GSG 9 Rescue in Mogadishu
   
March 16, 1978: Aldo Moro Kidnapping
   
August 27, 1979: Mountbatten Assassination
   
November 4, 1979: Iran Hostage Crisis
   
November 20, 1979: Mecca Grand Mosque Takeover
The 1980s
   
August 2, 1980: Bologna Train Bombing
   
October 6, 1981: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat Assassination
   
April 18, 1983: U.S. Embassy in Beirut Bombing
   
October 23, 1983: U.S. Marine and French Paratrooper Barracks in Lebanon Bombing
   
June 23, 1985: Air India Flight 182 Bombing
   
October 7, 1985:
Achille Lauro
Seajacking
   
April 5, 1986: Berlin La Belle Discotheque Bombing
   
September 5, 1986: Pan Am 73 Hijacking
   
December 21, 1988: Lockerbie Bombing
   
September 19, 1989: French Airline UTA 772 Bombing
The 1990s
   
March 17, 1992: Buenos Aires Israeli Embassy Bombing
   
February 26, 1993: World Trade Center Bombing
   
July 18, 1994: Buenos Aires AIMA Bombing
   
March 20, 1995: Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack
   
April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City Bombing
   
June 14, 1995: Budennovsk, Russia, Hospital Hostage-Taking
   
November 23, 1996: Ethiopian Airlines ET961 Hijacking
   
December 17, 1996: Japan Embassy in Peru Takeover
   
November 17, 1997: Luxor Attack
   
August 7, 1998: Tanzania and Kenya U.S. Embassy Bombings
   
August 15, 1998: Omagh, Northern Ireland, Bombing
The 2000s
   
October 12, 2000: Yemen USS
Cole
Attack
   
September 11, 2001: Al Qaeda U.S. World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Pennsylvania Hijackings
   
October 12, 2002: Indonesia Bali Bombings
   
October 23, 2002: Moscow Theater Takeover
   
May 12, 2003: Riyadh Western Compound Bombings
   
February 27, 2004: Philippines Superferry 14 Bombing
   
March 11, 2004: Madrid Train Bombings
   
August 24, 2004: Two Russian Planes Bombing
   
September 1, 2004: Russia Beslan School Takeover
   
July 7, 2005: U.K. Subway Bombings
   
July 23, 2005: Sharm el-Sheikh Bombing
   
November 26, 2008: India Mumbai Attacks
The 2010s
   
March 29, 2010: Russia Moscow Subway Bombings
   
July 11, 2010: Uganda World Cup Bombings
   
January 16, 2013: Algerian Gas Plant Takeover
   
September 21-24, 2013: Nairobi, Kenya, Westgate Shopping Mall Attack
The
Worst
51-68
   
September 4, 1969: Brazil U.S. Ambassador Burke Elbrick Kidnapping
   
March 1, 1973: Sudan U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel Assassination
   
December 27, 1974: U.S. Ambassador Shelton Party Attack
   
December 23, 1975: CIA Chief of Station/Athens Richard Welch Assassination
   
March 9, 1977: Takeover of Washington, D.C., Buildings
   
September 5, 1977: Hans-Martin Schleyer Kidnapping and Assassination
   
1978–1995: The Unabomber
   
1985–1986: Lebanon Kidnappings of Westerners
   
January 25, 1993: CIA Headquarters Route 123 Entrance Attack
   
2001: Anthrax Attacks
   
February 27, 2002: India Sabarmati Express Train Firebombing
   
March 2, 2004: Baghdad and Karbala Mosques Attack
   
October 7, 2004: Sinai Hilton Taba Hotel Suicide Bombing
   
July 11, 2006: India Mumbai Train Bombings
   
September 20, 2008: Islamabad Marriott Hotel Bombing
   
December 30, 2009: Afghanistan Bombing of CIA Khost Base
   
October 31, 2010: Iraq Our Lady of Salvation Church Takeover
   
July 22, 2011: Oslo Shooting and Bombing Spree
Unsuccessful Attempts
   
May 13, 1981: Attempted Papal Assassination
   
January 1995: Bojinka Planned Bombing of 10 U.S.-Bound Planes
   
December 15, 1999: Planned Millennium Bombing of Space Needle and Airport
   
December 22, 2001: The Shoe Bomber
   
2003: Mubtakkar Chemical Weapons Attack on NYC Subway
   
August 10, 2006: Planned Liquid Bombings of U.K.-to-U.S. Planes
   
December 25, 2009: The Underwear Bomber
   
May 1, 2010: Would-Be Bombing of Times Square
   
October 29, 2010: Printer Toner Cartridge Bombs on Planes
   
February 17, 2012: Would-Be Suicide Bomber at U.S. Capitol
Bibliography
Country Index
Name and Group Index
Preface

Unfortunately, when considering international terrorism, any list of the
worst
is a “living document,” requiring continuous adjustment as new incidents occur. When this book was in final editing in late September 2013, three significant attacks needed to be reflected upon and evaluated for the
50 Worst
list.

On Sunday, September 22, 2013, a bombing at a Protestant church in Peshawar, Pakistan, killed at least 85 people and wounded 141, numbers comparable to other attacks included in the list. The day before saw a wave of bombings in Iraq that led to 96 deaths and an al-Shabaab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed at least 62 people and injured 175 people, including many foreigners. Although the bombings entailed more deaths, the Kenya attack is a more important milestone in the maturation of international terrorism. Al-Shabaab demonstrated that although it was riven with factionalism, it was able to assemble a multinational strike team that could engage in a sophisticated operation outside its primary sanctuary, involving multiple attack points and a more nuanced style of attack. Not limiting itself to a straightforward multipledeath bombing, al-Shabaab used the Westgate attack to seize international headlines for several days, likely establishing its credentials as a group worthy of its new al Qaeda affiliation and attractive to wannabe jihadis as capable of daring exploits.

Sadly, the use of terrorism by an individual or group to attempt to achieve political ends continues to gain traction. Whether or not terrorism is an effective coercive tactic in the short term continues to be debated. As a long-term strategy, terrorism can only achieve a Pyrrhic victory so the
stated motives of anyone choosing to perpetrate an act of terrorism must be questioned. Destroying lives is the ultimate price and takes resolute malevolence—not virtue or justice.

BOOK: The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks
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