Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

CHRONOLOGY • xliii2001 2 January: Trial of four defendants accused of the conspiracyto bomb U.S. embassies in East Africa in August 1998 begins in U.S.Federal District Court in New York. 24 July: Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam attack Bandaranaika International Airport outside Colombo,killing six and injuring nine others. Attackers destroy eightmilitary aircraft, five commercial aircraft, and several ammunitiondumps and oil storage tanks, with damages totaling nearly $500 million.24 July: Two Hamas suicide bombers kill 12 people in Jerusalemmall while injuring more than 120 others. Secondary car bomb intendedfor first responders explodes prematurely. 18 August: BasqueFatherland and Liberty car bombs hotel in Salou, Spain, injuring fiveSpanish and eight foreign tourists. 27 August: Israeli Defense Forceskill Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Mustafa Zibriin reprisal for involvement in bombing attacks in Israel. 9 September:Al Qa’eda suicide bombers assassinate Ahmad Shah Massoud, leaderof the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. 11 September: Suicidebombers hijack four American domestic flights, crashing one intothe north tower of the World Trade Center, another into the southtower of the World Trade Center, and another into the east side of thePentagon. The fourth flight crashes in a field in Pennsylvania after anapparent struggle between the hijackers and passengers. At least 2,603victims are killed at the World Trade Center and 125 killed at thePentagon. All 19 hijackers and 238 passengers and crew also perishin this attack. 14 September: U.S. Congress approves Joint ResolutionNo. 23 authorizing the use of military force against agents andsuspected state sponsors responsible for the 11 September attacks onthe World Trade Center and the Pentagon. After the Taliban refusesto hand over al Qa’eda elements within Afghanistan, the United Stateslaunches Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 againstTaliban and al Qa’eda forces within Afghanistan. 18 September–9October: Anthrax-contaminated letters mailed to American Media,Inc. (AMI), Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, the New York Post,Tom Brokaw of NBC news, and other targets. On 5 October AMI employeeRobert Stevens dies of inhalation anthrax. By mid-November,17 cases of anthrax exposure and five deaths from inhalation anthraxare confirmed. 9–13 November: Following a month of U.S. air strikeson Taliban and al Qa’eda positions, the opposition Northern Allianceforces occupy Mazar-i Sharif, Herat, and Kabul after rout of Taliban