Page 48 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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Al Qaeda———21

N
T
O
F FRONT It has been reported
R
that the first terrorist
attack carried out by Al
Qaeda was the bombing
of two hotels in Aden,
Yemen, in December
1992. The attack injured
several tourists, but was
likely intended for U.S.
troops that were on their
way to carry out the
humanitarian mission
Operation Restore Hope
in Somalia. At this
point, however, reports
indicate that Western
intelligence had not yet
linked the attack in
B BACK Yemen to bin Laden’s
A
C
K
newly formed network.
Al Qaeda has also
been associated with the
1993 attack on the World
Trade Center, where six
people were killed and
1,000 were injured. The
attacks were linked to
a cell of the Egyptian
Gama’a al-Islamiyya,
which operated under
the aegis of Al Qaeda. It
was later learned that the
convicted bomb-maker,
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef,
had lived in one of bin
Reward poster offering up to $25 million for information leading to the capture of Laden’s “guest houses”
Al Qaeda leaders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden
in Peshawar, Pakistan,
Source: U.S. Department of Defense.
both before and after the
attack.
With the help of American CIA funding and train- Al Qaeda was next linked to the attacks on
ing, the mujahideen defeated the Soviets, who with- American service members in Mogadishu, Somalia,
drew from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. But the in 1993. In this attack, Al Qaeda-trained guerrillas
fighting continued for bin Laden. In 1989, he formed thwarted a U.S. attempt to capture a radical Muslim
Al Qaeda to continue the jihad. Through a network of warlord. The guerrillas shot down two American
the thousands of jihad fighters that had trained in his Black Hawk helicopters, and forced a third to make a
Services Office, bin Laden sent militant Muslims crash landing. In the end, 18 American soldiers were
home to create terror cells and wage guerrilla warfare killed, and 78 were injured. In 1994, additional
to topple what he perceived to be heretical regimes. Al Qaeda plots were thwarted, including plans to
Other mujahideen were sent to join the jihad struggles assassinate the pope and to blow up 11 passenger jets
in Somalia, the Balkans, and Chechnya. in the air.