Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

xlii • CHRONOLOGY1998 7 August: Near-simultaneous bomb attacks on U.S. embassiesin Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, kill 212 people andinjure more than 4,000 (Nairobi attack) and kill 10 people and injure 85(Dar es Salaam attack).1999 17 February: Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the KurdishWork ers’ Party, which has waged a 14-year insurgency against Turkey,is captured in Kenya and flown back to Turkey to stand trial. 13November: Rocket attacks on U.S. and UN offices in Pakistan followthe Taliban’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermindof August 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa. 13December: Supporters of Taliban open fire on U.S. embassy and UNoffices in Islamabad, Pakistan, in response to U.S. and UN demands forsurrender of Osama bin Laden. 14 December: U.S. Customs arrests anAlgerian, Ahmad Rassam, try ing to smuggle explosives into the UnitedStates from Canada. Rassam is suspected of ties to a radical AlgerianIslamic group and al Qa’eda. 24–31 December: Kashmiri separatistshijack Indian Airlines Flight 814 out of Kathmandu destined for Delhiwith 153 passengers and crew from India to Qandahar, Afghanistan, inthe course of which one passenger is murdered. The hijackers are apparentlyaided by the Taliban.2000 21 January: Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) carriesout two car bombings in Madrid, killing an army officer and injuringbystanders, thus ending a cease-fire that the ETA had declared on 16September 1998. 23 April–10 September: Abu Sayyaf Group seizesseveral European and American tourists, both within the Philippinesand also in nearby Malaysian island resorts, holding many of themfor ransom and killing several before releasing the remainder. 8 June:November 17 assassinates the British military attaché to Greece, Brig.General Stephen Saunders, as he drives to work in Athens. 28 September:Outbreak of second Palestinian intifada in Gaza and West Bankin reaction to visit by Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon to disputed holysites in East Jerusalem. 12 October: USS Cole badly damaged by largebomb deployed by two al Qa’eda suicide bombers by skiff along shipduring docking in harbor of Aden, Yemen. Blast kills 17 sailors andcripples ship. 8 November: Japanese Red Army leader, Fusako Shigenobu,captured in western Japan town after 31-year hunt for her bypolice forces throughout the world.