The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks (44 page)

Zarqawi was killed in a coalition airstrike on June 7, 2006. The U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice Program had offered $25 million for his apprehension.

Overview:
A coordinated attack on the Taba Hilton Hotel and two nearby resort campsites often used by vacationing Israelis signaled the possible entrance of al Qaeda to the Sinai Peninsula. Adding incongruity to the devastating attacks was that the hotel is often used for Middle East peace negotiations.

Incident:
On October 7, 2004, at 9:45
P.M
., a Peugeot SUV loaded with 440 pounds of explosives crashed into Egypt's five-star Taba Hilton, killing at least 32 people, injuring more than 100, and ripping the front off the 11-story hotel, which had housed vacationers from Israel, Russia, and Egypt. Among the dead were 3 receptionists, a secretary, a tourist policeman, the hotel security officer, the rental car man, 6 or 7 Egyptians, 2 Italians, 16 Israelis, and a Russian. The body of a woman was found in a bathtub that had fallen from the eighth floor to the ground. Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said the powerful bombing appeared to be the work of al Qaeda, observing “It's not the kind of attack that we know comes from Palestinian terror organizations.” Two American employees of the U.S. Embassy in Israel were among the scores of wounded. All the vacationers fled, many to Israel, only 300 yards away. Although 150 people were unaccounted for, Israeli officials believed that many had crossed the border into Israel.

Meanwhile, a 440-pound car bomb exploded at 10:00
P.M.
at the resort of Ras Shytan (variant Ras al-Sultan), 30 miles south of Taba, killing 5 people and injuring another 38. A suicide bomber drove a taxi near the dining room of the Moon Island Resort, killing two Egyptians— the hotel's assistant chef and a buffet manager. A third Egyptian and two Israelis later died of their wounds. Some witnesses claimed a missile had been fired at the hotel. Later reports said that it was a timerdetonated jeep. Among the injured was Mohammed Ramadan, 24, a chef on duty, who suffered deep wounds to his head and arms. He said he heard a second car bomb go off outside the gates of Mobarak, the camp next door. A security guard had stopped the driver, who ran off and abandoned the car. No one was harmed in the blast, which went off via a timer.

Another 440-pound car bomb went off at the resort of Nuweiba, 40 miles south of Taba.

The next day, the United States issued a travel advisory for the next three months for the northeastern Sinai Peninsula. The State Department said Americans did not appear to have been targeted.

On October 10, 2004, Egyptian police reported that a Bedouin tribesman confessed to selling the explosives that might have been used in the bombings. The Bedouin said he was told by the purchasers that the
explosives would be used in the Palestinian territories. Police were also investigating the possible involvement of Palestinian terrorists.

On October 25, 2004, Egyptian police announced the arrests of five people involved in planning the bombings. They said Ayad Said Salah, the Palestinian leader of the attacks, died accidentally in the blasts. He had lived in el-Arish, in the northern Sinai near the Gaza border. Also dead was Egyptian terrorist Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil at the hotel. Two other Egyptians still at large were identified as Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil (Suleiman's brother) and Hammad Gaman Gomah. Officials said that the three cars used in the bombings had been stolen. The explosives were pulled from artillery shells and other battlefield materials found across the Sinai from battles in World War II, 1967, and 1973. The timers came from washing machine parts.

Three Egyptian citizens identified as Younes Mohammed Mahmoud, Osama al-Nakhlawi, and Mohammed Jaez Sabbah were sentenced to death in November 2006 for the bombing.

Overview:
Train bombings by various Kashmiri separatists, Maoists, Islamic insurgents, and others became fairly common methods of attacks in the 1990s and 2000s in India. India and Pakistan often traded charges of assisting terrorists operating across their borders. The Mumbai train bombings continued a tradition begun by Italian right-wing terrorists and Spain-based al Qaeda terrorists. This particular incident was especially bloody, leaving more than 1,000 dead or wounded at the scene.

Incident:
On July 11, 2006, during a monsoon rain, terrorists set off eight bombs between 6:00 and 6:30
P.M
. in first class rail cars at the Mahim railway station in Mumbai, India, killing 207 people and wounding more than 800. Police detained 350 people for questioning. A man claiming membership in al Qaeda told a Kashmiri news service that the group had set up a branch in Kashmir and praised the attacks.

India's prime minister said that the terrorists had assistance from inside Pakistan. Authorities believed the terrorists were members of the Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic insurgents or perhaps smaller homegrown groups, including the Students Islamic Movement of India. Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi denied involvement.

On July 13, 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Squad released photos of suspects Sayyad Zabiuddin and Zulfeqar Fayyaz. Police said that they had been on the run since May 2006, when police in western India arrested three Muslim insurgents and confiscated arms, ammunition, and plastic explosives. A man known as Rahil was a third person being sought.

On July 14, 2006, police in Nepal arrested two Pakistanis in connection with the 2001 seizure of plastic explosives in Katmandu. Police were looking into the detainees' connection to the Mumbai bombings.

Police said on July 17, 2006, that the military explosive RDX, ammonium nitrate, and fuel oil were used in the bombs.

On July 20, 2006, police arrested a trio in connection with the bombing, saying the suspects had links with terrorists in Nepal and Bangladesh, and unspecified links to Pakistan. Khaleel Aziz Sheikh and Kamal Ahmed Ansari were picked up in Bihar State, while Mumtaz Ahmed Chowduhury was detained in Mumbai. None were charged. A fourth suspect, Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, 32, a practitioner of traditional Muslim medicine, was picked up on July 24, 2006. He allegedly contacted Muslim militants during a 2001 visit to Bahrain and learned to make bombs during a 2004 visit to Pakistan. Another two Indian Muslims, one a chemical engineer, were arrested on July 26, 2006; police believe they provided logistical support and trained in Pakistan. The same day, the Indian Army in Kashmir said it was questioning two soldiers for links to Lashkar.

Senior Indian police officials claimed that six of the eight suspects had trained in Pakistan in arms and explosives, and that one detainee said he had been trained by a member of Lashkar. Among the detainees were Faisal Shaikh, 30, a Lashkar leader in Mumbai; his younger brother, Muzamil, 23, a software engineer who had recently tried to get a job with Oracle, the U.S. software firm; Zameer Shaikh, 31, a key maker in Mumbai; Sohail Shaikh, 30, from Pune; and Tanvir Ansari. On July 31, 2006, police arrested two more people, including a journalist.

On September 30, 2006, Mumbai police commissioner A. N. Roy said his investigation had determined that Pakistan's Director for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the bombing, a charge Pakistan rejected. He claimed ISI planned the attacks in March 2006 and trained the bombers in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, citing evidence provided by the bombers under truth serum. Roy said, “The terror plot was ISI-sponsored and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives with help from the Students Islamic Movement of India.” As of the interview, 15 people, including 11 Pakistanis, had been arrested in the case. Three Indians remained at large; a Pakistani was killed in the bombings. Roy said the bombs were packed into pressure cookers. Some of the Pakistanis went across the India–Pakistan border; others went through Nepal and Bangladesh. They were housed by cooperative Indians in Mumbai apartments. Police found the terrorists when they tracked a caller from Mumbai to the Nepalese border. They arrested a suspect who led them to others.

On November 30, 2006, Indian police filed charges against 28 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Students Islamic Movement of India. Thirteen were in custody. They could face the death penalty.

The case remains under investigation.

Overview:
Islamabad is Pakistan's Washington, D.C., and this distinguished Marriott Hotel is conveniently located near government buildings and embassies. The nighttime explosion caused a natural gas line to burst into flames and engulf most of the building. It left a 6 feet wide and 20 feet deep crater near the hotel. Amazingly, the hotel was rebuilt and reopened by the end of the year. Although several theories about individual and group perpetrators were investigated, no consensus or proof was established.

Incident:
On September 20, 2008, a suicide dump truck bomb carrying a ton of explosives went off at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, killing at least 60 and injuring 266. Some observers said the death toll could reach 100. At least 21 foreigners, including the Czech Republic's ambassador, were among the casualties. Several guards who had examined the truck were killed. Two Department of Defense employees were dead, a contractor was missing, and three State Department officers were hurt. Pakistani authorities said the attackers had targeted the official residence of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a block away from the hotel. Authorities blamed terrorists from South Waziristan, saying Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, was the chief suspect. By October 24, 2008, police had arrested four men in Punjab who were suspected of “indirect involvement” in the bombing. The government blamed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi for assisting the attackers. The detainees were acquitted for lack of evidence.

On January 1, 2009, the BBC reported that an air strike killed al Qaeda's Pakistan operations chief Usama al-Kini, whom U.S. officials said was behind the hotel bombing and the 1998 embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania.

Overview:
An individual claiming to have intelligence on al Qaeda's leadership was brought onto the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) base in Khost Province, Afghanistan, by his Jordanian handler. The individual instead blew himself up while trying to take as many Americans with him as he could. Some used this incident to question U.S. security and the wisdom of training Afghan forces in preparation for U.S. troop withdrawal. Some questioned whether this was an act of terrorism or an act of war. CIA director Leon E. Panetta recentered the discourse when he said, “Their devotion to duty is the foundation of our country. . . . Our resolve is unbroken, our energy undiminished and our dedication to each other and to our nation unshakable.”

Incident:
On December 30, 2009, Jordanian Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Taliban terrorist posing as an agent willing to provide details to the CIA and Jordanian intelligence regarding the al Qaeda leadership, set off an explosives belt under his clothes, killing seven CIA officers and a Jordanian and wounding eight people, including six Americans, at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province. The murdered Americans were identified as Khost base chief Jennifer Lynne Matthews, 45, of Fredericksburg; Daren James LaBonte, 35, of Alexandria; Scott Michael Roberson, 39; Harold E. Brown Jr., 37; Elizabeth Hanson, 30; and security contractors Jeremy Jason Wise, 35, and Dane Clark Paresi, 46. The Jordanian was identified as Sharif Ali bin Zeid, a captain in the Jordanian Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah (General Intelligence Department), who was running the supposed agent. Arghawan, the Afghan external security chief, was also killed. Al Qaeda later took credit for the attack. On January 7, 2010, Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda's commander of operations in Afghanistan and its No. 3 leader, took credit for the attack as revenge for the deaths of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, and al Qaeda operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdullah al-Libi.

The White House website on December 31, 2009, carried President Barack Obama's message to the CIA workforce, in which he said: