Islamist Attacks in U.S.: From World Trade Center to Orlando
The murder of 50 people in Orlando, Florida is the latest U.S. violence linked to Islamist extremists over the past quarter of a century.
On Monday, the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the Florida shooting, in which 49 people were killed, saying in a radio bulletin that it was carried out by "one of the soldiers of the caliphate."
Here is a rundown of other major attacks:
- San Bernardino deaths -
On December 2, 2015, a couple opened fire during a Christmas party in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people. Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik, 29, and his wife Syed Farook, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, were armed with assault rifles and explosives, and were killed in a shootout by police.
The IS hailed the attack, but did not claim direct responsibility.
- Tennessee recruitment center -
On July 16, 2015 Kuwaiti-born U.S. citizen Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire at a recruitment center in Chattanooga, and then drove to a Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center where he continued firing. Abdulazeez killed four Marines and a sailor with an assault rifle before he was shot dead by police.
"We have concluded that the Chattanooga killer was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization's propaganda," FBI Director James Comey said.
- IS "inspired" attack in Dallas -
On May 3, 2015, police in a Dallas suburb kill two armed men who had opened fire near a site where caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were being exhibited.
The SITE group which tracks Islamist Internet sites pointed to a claim on Twitter that the two attackers were IS militants, which would have made it the first to be claimed by IS against a western country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said later that the attempted attack was inspired -- but not ordered by -- IS.
- Boston Marathon -
On April 15, 2013, two pressure-cooker bombs placed near the finish line of the Boston marathon killed three people and injured 264 others. Two brothers of Chechen descent, Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev, were tracked down. Tamerlan was killed trying to escape while Dzokhar was captured, convicted and sentenced to death. He is now in prison.
- Fort Hood -
On November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Hasan, 39, a U.S. Army psychiatrist of Palestinian origin opened fire with a pistol at the Fort Hood base in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding more than 40 before he was arrested. Hasan, who faced deployment to Afghanistan, was sentenced to death and is being held at a military prison.
- 9/11 -
On September 9, 2001, four passenger jets were hijacked with two deliberately slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another into the Pentagon outside Washington. The fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The attacks, claimed by al-Qaida, killed almost 3,000 people.
- World Trade Center/1993 -
On February 26, 1993, a car bomb exploded in the World Trade Center's underground garage, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000.
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, 24 at the time, was eventually captured and convicted of leading the attack. The Kuwaiti-born Pakistani was sentenced in 1998 to 240 years in prison.
Source: Agence France Presse
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