What is a terrorist attack? In other words, it is the commission of an explosion, execution, arson or other similar actions that frighten the population and necessarily create a danger of human death.
This article will talk about the terrible world tragedies that resulted from the actions of bandit formations and led to numerous losses among the population. The article provides a list of the largest terrorist attacks in the world.
Responsibility for such catastrophes, as a rule, is assumed by groups hiding behind Islam.
Top 10 loudest of the XXI century
Here is a list of the largest tragedies in the world by number of victims.
1. The September terrorist attack in 2004 in the city of Beslan, North Ossetia. As a result, 335 people died (including 186 children), 2000 were injured.
2. March 2004 - the largest terrorist attack in Europe since the 2nd World War, committed in 4 trains in Madrid (Spain). In total, 192 people died, 2000 were injured.
4. One of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in Pakistan took place in October 2007. The result - 140 dead and 500 wounded.
5. In October 2002, a group of armed militants killed 130 people at Dubrovka in Moscow during a performance of a musical called "Nord-Ost". More than 900 people became hostages.
6. The largest terrorist attack in the world occurred in the United States of America in 2001 on September 11th. From the actions of the militants (4 passenger planes were hijacked), 2973 people became victims.
7. In September 1999 there was an explosion on the street. Guryanov in a 9-storey building in Moscow. As a result, 92 people died, 264 were injured.
Another explosion 3 days later, also in a residential building, claimed 124 lives and injured 9 people.
8. As a result of the attack of militants in June 1995 on the city of Budenovsk, 129 people died and 415 were injured. More than 1,600 hostages ended up in hospitals.
9. The explosion of an aircraft ("Boeing-747", a flight from London to New York) over Scotland in December 1988 killed 270 passengers along with crew members.
10. The plane crash of a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015 claimed the lives of 224 people.
Below is a more detailed description of some of the most tragic attacks in terms of their consequences.
Twin Towers
We will consider the largest terrorist attacks abroad using the example of 2 events that brought a huge number of victims, especially among American citizens.
The day of September 11 became mourning for all the inhabitants of this country and the people of the whole world. Terrorists in the amount of 11 people (the international terrorist organization "Al-Qaeda"), divided into 4 groups, captured four passenger airliners in the United States and sent 2 of them to the New York twin towers of a large shopping center.
Both towers were collapsed along with adjacent buildings. The 3rd plane was directed towards the Pentagon building (not far from Washington). The crew of the 4th aircraft, together with the passengers of the flight, tried to escape by taking control of the liner from the terrorists. However, it crashed in Pennsylvania (Shanksville).
The largest terrorist attack in history claimed a total of 2973 human lives (including 60 police officers and 343 firefighters). The exact figure of the damage caused is unknown (about $500 billion).
Boeing 747
As a result of the Boeing 747 crash over Scotland in 1988, 259 passengers, along with crew members, and 11 residents of the town were killed.
It was an American PanAmerican aircraft flying from London to New York. This terrible disaster turned out to be tragic for some residents of Lockerbie, due to the destruction of the liner on the ground. Most of the dead were British and American citizens.
The charge was brought against 2 Libyans, although the state itself did not officially plead guilty. However, it paid compensation to the families of the victims of this tragedy (Lockerbie).
In connection with the events that took place, in 1992, the UN Security Council imposed international sanctions against the regime of M. Gaddafi, which were lifted.
During all this time, many assumptions have been put forward about the involvement of the highest representatives of the Libyan leadership in organizing that catastrophe, but none of them (except for the guilt of the former intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi) has been proven by the court.
These two cases represent the largest terrorist attacks in the world.
Tragedy in Beslan
Russia has suffered a huge number of terrorist attacks, which resulted in many losses among innocent civilians, including children.
The terrible tragedy in Beslan (North Ossetia) is the largest terrorist attack in the world, which claimed the lives of a huge number of children.
On September 1, a detachment of terrorists (30 people) led by R. Khachbarov seized the building of school No. 1, where he held 1,128 people (mostly children) hostage. The next day (September 2), ex-president of the Republic of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, whom the bandits let into the school building, managed to persuade the invaders to release and release with him about 25 women with small children.
Everything happened spontaneously. When in the middle of the day a car drove into the site near the school in order to pick up the corpses of people killed by the bandits, several explosions were suddenly heard in the building itself, after which shooting began from all sides. Women and children began to jump out of the opening in the wall and out of the windows. At that time, all the men who were at the school had already been killed by terrorists.
The surviving children and women were released.
"Nord-Ost"
Many of the largest terrorist attacks in the world took place with the capture of a huge number of hostages. This happened in Moscow on October 23, 2002 (21:15).
Militants led by M. Baraev broke into the Theater Center located on Dubrovka (Melnikova Street) during the performance of "Nord-Ost". There were only 916 people in the building at that time (including about 100 children).
The room was completely mined by militants. Attempts to establish contact with them were crowned with success, and after a certain time State Duma deputy I. Kobzon, journalist M. Franchetti and 2 doctors from the Red Cross were able to enter the captured building. Thanks to their actions, 1 woman and three children were taken out of the building.
On October 24 in the evening, the Al-Jazeera TV channel showed Barayev. This video was recorded prior to the takeover of the theatrical center. In it, the terrorists presented themselves as suicide bombers, and their demand was to withdraw Russian troops from Chechnya.
On October 26, special forces carried out an assault with the use of nerve gas, after which they captured the building, and the terrorists, along with the head, were completely destroyed (50 people). Among them were women (18). Three bandits have been arrested.
A total of 130 people died.
Statistics on the victims of terrorist attacks in the last 10 years
Over the past 10 years, more than 6,000 terrorist attacks have occurred worldwide. More than 25 thousand people became their victims.
At present, according to various expert estimates, there are approximately 500 extremist groups and terrorist organizations. It is disturbing that in recent years, more and more often, the purpose of these bandit formations are places of mass congestion of citizens (recall the largest terrorist attack in the world).
Also, the so-called "technological terrorism" is increasingly taking place, where the latest developments and technologies are used. In addition, recently there has been an increase in extremism among young people. Foreign citizens who differ in their ethnicity are increasingly becoming targets of attacks.
2015 terrorist attack
The world's largest terrorist attack in the air occurred recently - in 2015 in the skies over Egypt.
The terrible accident with the Airbus-A321 aircraft (Russian airline Kogalymavia) was a shock to the whole society.
During the flight, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg went off on board the liner. into TNT. equivalent. It happened on October 31st. A total of 224 people died. After this tragedy, the Federal Air Transport Agency suspended regular, transit and charter passenger flights to Egypt from November 6.
The Sinai wilayat (province) of the banned Islamic State (IS) in Russia claimed responsibility for the deed.
What happened on the peninsula is one of the bloodiest in the world.
Conclusion
In the 21st century, terrorism has become quite active and more sophisticated. Numerous news about the tragedies flood the press and television channels. Almost every month (or even more often) terrible attacks are committed all over the planet, claiming the lives of civilians. This kind of action is a disease of the earth. Attempts by some authorities to protect the population from such catastrophes have so far been unsuccessful.
July 22, 2011 There was a double attack in Norway. First, in the center of the Norwegian capital Oslo, where the office of the Prime Minister of the country is located. The power of the explosive device, according to experts, ranged from 400 to 700 kilograms of TNT.
About 250 people were inside the government building at the time of the explosion.
A few hours later, a man in a Norwegian Workers' Party police uniform is on the island of Uteya, located in the Buskerud district on Lake Tyrifjord.
The criminal shot defenseless people for an hour and a half. The victims of the double attack were 77 people - 69 were killed on the island of Uteya, eight were killed in an explosion in Oslo, 151 people were injured.
At the scene of the second terrorist attack, the suspected 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian Anders Breivik was detained by the authorities. The terrorist surrendered to the police without offering resistance.
On April 16, 2012, the Oslo District Court began the trial of Anders Breivik, accused of killing 77 people. On August 24, 2012, he was declared sane and.
April 11, 2011 at the Oktyabrskaya station of the Moscow line of the Minsk metro (Belarus). The attack claimed the lives of 15 people, more than 200 were injured. The terrorists, citizens of Belarus - Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev, were soon arrested. In the fall of 2011, the court sentenced both to capital punishment - the death penalty. Kovalev filed a petition for pardon, but the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko refused to pardon the convicts - due to "the exceptional danger and severity of the consequences for society from the crimes committed." In March 2012, the sentence was carried out.
October 18, 2007 occurred . The motorcade of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, who returned to his homeland, was moving along one of the central streets of Karachi when two explosions thundered. Explosive devices went off just five to seven meters from the armored van in which Benazir and her supporters were traveling. The death toll reached 140 people, more than 500 were injured. Bhutto herself was not seriously injured.
July 7, 2005 in London (UK): four bombs exploded in succession at London Underground central stations (King's Cross, Edgware Road and Aldgate) and on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. The four suicide bombings claimed the lives of 52 passengers and injured 700 others. The attacks went down in history under the name "7/7".
The perpetrators of the "7/7 attacks" were four men aged 18 to 30 years. Three of them were born and raised in Pakistani families in the UK, and the fourth was a native of Jamaica (part of the British Commonwealth) who lived in Britain. All the perpetrators of the attacks were either trained in al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan or attended meetings of radical Muslims, where the ideas of martyrdom in the war of Islam against Western civilization were preached.
September 1, 2004 in Beslan (North Ossetia), a detachment of terrorists led by Rasul Khachbarov, numbering more than 30 people, carried out. 1128 people were taken hostage, mostly children. On September 2, 2004, the terrorists agreed to let Ruslan Aushev, ex-president of the Republic of Ingushetia, into the school building. The latter managed to convince the invaders to release only about 25 women and small children with him.
On September 3, 2004, a spontaneous operation was carried out to free the hostages. At noon, a car with four employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation arrived at the school building, who were supposed to pick up the corpses of people shot by terrorists from the schoolyard. At that moment, two or three explosions were suddenly heard in the building itself, after which indiscriminate shooting began from both sides, and children and women began to jump out of the windows and the gap formed in the wall (almost all the men who found themselves in the school were shot by terrorists during the first two days ).
The result of the terrorist action was 335 dead and died from wounds, including 318 hostages, of which 186 were children. 810 hostages and residents of Beslan were wounded, as well as members of the FSB special forces, police and military personnel.
Responsibility for the terrorist attack in Beslan was claimed by Shamil Basayev, who published a statement on the Kavkaz Center website on September 17, 2004.
March 11, 2004 at the central station of the Spanish capital Atocha.
As a result of the attack, 191 people died and about two thousand were injured. A SWAT soldier who died during the storming of a terrorist safe house in the Madrid suburb of Leganes in April 2004 became the 192nd victim.
Explosions in four Madrid electric trains were organized by international terrorists - immigrants from North African countries - in order to take revenge on Spain for participating in the war in Iraq. Seven direct participants in the attack, who did not want to surrender to the police, committed suicide in Leganes. Two dozen of their accomplices were sentenced in autumn 2007 to various prison terms.
The tragedy in Spain has been since the end of World War II.
October 23, 2002 at 9:15 pm to the building of the Theater Center on Dubrovka, on Melnikova Street (the former Palace of Culture of the State Bearing Plant), led by Movsar Barayev. At that time, the musical "Nord-Ost" was going on in the Palace of Culture, there were more than 900 people in the hall. The terrorists declared all people - spectators and theater workers - hostages and began to mine the building. After attempts by the secret services to establish contact with the militants, State Duma deputy Iosif Kobzon, British journalist Mark Franchetti and two Red Cross doctors entered the center. Soon they took a woman and three children out of the building. At 7 p.m. on October 24, 2002, the Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera showed an appeal by Movsar Baraev's militants, recorded a few days before the capture of the DC: the terrorists declared themselves to be suicide bombers and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. On the morning of October 26, 2002, the special forces launched an assault, during which nerve gas was used, soon the Theater Center was taken by special services, Movsar Barayev and most of the terrorists were destroyed. The number of neutralized terrorists was 50 people - 18 women and 32 men. Three terrorists were detained.
The attack killed 130 people.
September 11, 2001 Nineteen terrorists associated with the ultra-radical international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, divided into four groups, hijacked four regular passenger airliners in the United States.
The terrorists sent two of these planes to the towers of the World Trade Center, located in the southern part of Manhattan in New York. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the WTC-1 tower (north), and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the WTC-2 tower (south). As a result, both towers collapsed, causing serious damage to adjacent buildings. The third plane (American Airlines Flight 77) was sent by terrorists to the Pentagon, located near Washington. The passengers and crew of the fourth airliner (United Airlines Flight 93) tried to take control of the aircraft from the terrorists, the liner crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
, including 343 firefighters and 60 police officers. The exact amount of damage caused by the September 11 attacks is not known. In September 2006, US President George W. Bush announced that the damage from the September 11, 2001 attacks for the United States amounted to the lowest estimate of 500 billion dollars.
In September 1999, a whole series of terrorist attacks took place in Russian cities.
September 4, 1999 at 9:45 pm, a GAZ-52 truck, which contained 2,700 kilograms of aluminum powder and ammonium nitrate explosive, was next to a five-story residential building No. As a result of the explosion, two entrances to a residential building were destroyed, 58 people died, 146 received injuries of varying severity. The dead included 21 children, 18 women and 13 men; six people died of their wounds later.
September 8, 1999 at 23:59 in Moscow on the first floor of a nine-story residential building No. 19 on Guryanov Street. Two entrances of the house were completely destroyed. The blast wave deformed the structures of the neighboring house No. 17. As a result of the attack, 92 people were killed, 264 people, including 86 children, were injured.
September 13, 1999 at 5 o'clock in the morning (capacity - 300 kg of TNT) in the basement of an 8-storey brick residential building No. 6 building 3 on Kashirskoye Highway in Moscow. As a result of the attack, 124 residents of the house, including 13 children, were killed, and nine more people were injured.
September 16, 1999 At 5:50 am in the city of Volgodonsk, Rostov Region, a GAZ-53 truck filled with explosives was blown up, parked near a nine-story six-entrance building number 35 on Oktyabrskoye Highway. The power of the explosive device used in the commission of the crime in TNT equivalent was 800-1800 kg. As a result of the explosion, the balconies and the facade of two entrances of the building collapsed, a fire broke out on the 4th, 5th and 8th floors of these entrances, which was extinguished in a few hours. A powerful blast wave passed through neighboring houses. 18 people died, including two children, 63 people were hospitalized. The total number of victims was 310 people.
In April 2003, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office completed the investigation of the criminal case on the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk and submitted it to the court. There were two defendants in the dock - Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Adam Dekkushev, who on January 12, 2004 were sentenced by the Moscow City Court to life imprisonment in a special regime colony. The investigation also established that the Arabs Khattab and Abu Umar, who were subsequently liquidated by the special services of the Russian Federation in Chechnya, were the masterminds of the attacks.
December 17, 1996 A detachment of 20 militants from the organization "Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru" (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru-MRTA), armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, entered the Japanese embassy in Lima (Peru). The terrorists took 490 hostages, including 40 diplomats from 26 states, many Peruvian ministers, and the brother of the President of Peru. All of them were at the embassy on the occasion of the celebration of the birthday of the Japanese Emperor Akihito. The terrorists demanded the release of the leaders of the organization and 400 imprisoned associates, put forward demands of a political and economic nature. Soon the women and children were released. On the tenth day, 103 hostages remained at the embassy. April 22, 1997 - 72 hostages. The embassy was liberated by Peruvian commandos through an underground passage. During the operation, a hostage and 2 commandos were killed, all the terrorists were killed.
June 14, 1995 A large detachment of militants led by Shamil Basayev and Abu Movsayev attacked the city of Budennovsk in the Stavropol Territory of Russia. The terrorists took hostage more than 1,600 residents of Budyonnovsk, who were driven to a local hospital. The criminals demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from its territory. On June 17 at 5 o'clock in the morning, Russian special forces made an attempt to storm the hospital. The battle lasted about four hours, accompanied by heavy casualties on both sides. After negotiations on June 19, 1995, the Russian authorities agreed to the terrorists' demands and allowed a group of militants, along with the hostages, to leave the hospital. On the night of June 19-20, 1995, the vehicles reached the village of Zandak in Chechnya. After releasing all the hostages, the terrorists fled.
According to the FSB of Russia in the Stavropol Territory, 129 people died as a result of the terrorist attack, including 18 policemen and 17 military personnel, 415 people received gunshot wounds.
In 2005, the Main Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District reported that there were 195 people in the gang that attacked Budennovsk. By June 14, 2005, 30 attackers had been killed and 20 convicted.
The organizer of the terrorist attack in Budennovsk Shamil Basayev was killed on the night of July 10, 2006 on the outskirts of the village of Ekazhevo in the Nazranovsky district of Ingushetia as a result of a special operation.
December 21, 1988 shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport in the sky over Scotland, the American airline PanAmerican, operating a flight en route London ‑ New York. The wreckage of the plane fell on houses in the city of Lockerbie, causing significant damage. As a result of the disaster, 270 people died - 259 passengers and crew members of the aircraft and 11 residents of Lockerbie. Most of the dead were citizens of the United States and Britain.
Following an investigation, charges were filed against the two Libyans. Libya has not officially pleaded guilty to organizing the attack, but has agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims of the tragedy in Lockerbie in the amount of $ 10 million for each dead.
In April 1992, at the request of the United States and Great Britain, the UN Security Council imposed international sanctions against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, accusing Libya of supporting international terrorism. The sanctions were lifted in 1999.
In the years that have passed since the attack, many suggestions have been made about the possible involvement of Libya's top leaders in organizing the explosion, but none of them, except for the guilt of former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, has been proven by the court.
In 2001, al-Megrahi was sentenced by a Scottish court to life in prison. In August 2009, Scottish Attorney General Kenny MacAskill decided out of compassion to release a patient with terminal prostate cancer and let him die in his homeland, where he is.
In October 2009, the British police in the Lockerbie case.
October 7, 1985 four Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) terrorists led by Yusuf Majid al-Mulki and PLF leader Abu Abbas hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, which was en route from Alexandria (Egypt) to Port Said (Egypt) from 349 passengers on board.
The terrorists sent a ship to Tartus (Syria) and put forward a demand for Israel to release 50 Palestinians, members of the Force 17 organization who are in Israeli prisons, as well as the Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar. Israel did not agree to the demands of the terrorists, and Syria refused to accept "Achille Lauro" in Tartus.
The terrorists killed one hostage - 69-year-old American Jew Leon Klinghoffer, an invalid, chained to a wheelchair. He was shot and thrown overboard.
The liner was sent to Port Said. The Egyptian authorities negotiated with the terrorists for two days, and convinced them to leave the liner and go to Tunisia by plane. On October 10, the militants boarded an Egyptian passenger plane, but on the way the liner was intercepted by US Air Force fighters and forced to land at the NATO base in Sigonella (Italy). The three terrorists were arrested by the Italian police and soon sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Abu Abbas was released by the Italian authorities and fled to Tunisia. In 1986, Abu Abbas was sentenced in absentia by the US authorities to five life sentences. Until April 2003, he was a fugitive in Iraq, where he was detained by American special forces and subsequently died in custody on March 9, 2004.
During the Summer Olympic Games in Munich (Germany), on the night of September 5, 1972 Eight members of the terrorist Palestinian organization Black September infiltrated the Israeli national team, killed two athletes and took nine people hostage.
For their release, the criminals demanded the release of more than two hundred Palestinians from Israeli prisons, as well as two German radicals held in West German prisons. The Israeli authorities refused to fulfill the demands of the terrorists, giving permission to the German side for a forceful operation to free the hostages, which failed and led to the death of all the athletes, as well as a police representative. During the operation, five invaders were also killed. On September 8, 1972, in response to a terrorist attack, Israeli aircraft launched an airstrike on ten bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In the course of operations "Spring of Youth" and "Wrath of God", the Israeli special services managed to track down and destroy all those suspected of preparing a terrorist attack for several years.
October 15, 1970 Airliner AN-24 No. 46256, flying on the route Batumi-Sukhumi with 46 passengers on board, was hijacked by two residents of Lithuania - Pranas Brazinskas and his 13-year-old son Algirdas.
During the hijacking, 20-year-old flight attendant Nadezhda Kurchenko was killed and the crew commander, navigator and flight engineer were seriously injured. Despite the injuries received, the crew managed to land the car in Turkey. There, the father and son were arrested, refused to be extradited to the USSR, and put on trial. Brazinskas Sr. received eight years, the youngest two years.
In 1980, Pranas stated in an interview with The Los Angeles Times that he was an activist in the movement for the liberation of Lithuania and fled abroad because he faced the death penalty in his homeland (Soviet newspapers claimed that he had a criminal record for embezzlement).
In 1976, the Brazinskas moved to the United States, settling in Santa Monica.
On February 8, 2002, Brazinskas Jr. was charged with the murder of his father. In November 2002, a jury in Santa Monica found him guilty. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The terrible series of terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on November 13, 2015 showed the general unpreparedness and carelessness of the French authorities. After all, in the flow of emigrants who poured from the Middle Eastern countries to Europe were not only civilians affected by the war, but also well-trained ISIS fighters, ready to kill without hesitation, for the sake of their bloodthirsty interests.
And after all, the secret services of many countries of the world declared that there were already a huge number of religious fanatics in Europe who were ready to unleash a brutal massacre on the quiet streets of European cities, but the authorities did not take any measures, competing among themselves in tolerance and loyalty to the "poor and unfortunate" refugees. As a result, thunder still struck and 129 people died in a series of terrorist attacks in France ...
Terrorism is one of the main threats to a modern civilized society and in this rating, we will talk about the 10 worst terrorist attacks in history.
1. The explosion of the destroyer Cole. 17 dead, 39 injured
On October 12, 2000, two young Arab suicide bombers, on a small boat filled with 300 kg of explosives, attacked the American destroyer Cole. The destroyer team at that time was refueling the ship in the port of Aden, in Yemen, when suddenly a powerful explosion thundered on the port side, making a huge hole 9X12 meters in the ship.
The epicenter of the explosion was not far from the galley, where, by an unfortunate coincidence, at this time most of the crew gathered for lunch. The attack claimed the lives of 17 sailors and 39 people were injured of varying severity. By the way, it was in this port that one of the al-Qaeda suicide bombers tried to blow up the USS The Sullivans (DDG-68), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, at the beginning of the year, but to no avail.
Responsibility for the terrorist attack on the destroyer USS Cole, as one would expect, was claimed by al-Qaeda. And the American fleet after this incident, significantly increased security measures during the parking of ships in international ports.
2. Terrorist attacks with anthrax letters. 5 dead, 17 injured
Just a few days after the famous attack on the towers of the World Trade Center, when the entire American nation was in shock from the realization of its utter powerlessness in the face of world terrorism, a series of bio-terrorist attacks took place using letters with anthrax.
On September 18 and October 9, ulcer letters were sent via regular mail to the media, several news outlets, and two US senators. As a result, 5 people died and 17 fell ill. Naturally, the FBI had a version that al-Qaeda was involved in the attack, but later it fell apart and the investigation had a new suspect.
It turned out to be Dr. Bruce Ivins, who at that time worked in the federal bio-defense laboratory. He became the main defendant in the terrorist attacks. On July 27, 2008, after years of investigation, Dr. Ivins committed suicide. In terms of the number of victims, this terrorist attack is not the worst in history, but the amount of material damage is simply amazing.
As a result of mailing letters with the causative agent of ulcers, 12 federal buildings were considered potentially dangerous and the disinfection of these buildings was very costly to taxpayers. For example, the complete cleanup of the Brentwood postal complex cost US$130 million and took 26 months to complete. And the postal complex in New Jersey generally remained closed until 2005 and its disinfection cost 65 million dollars. The total damage amounted to more than $1 billion.
3. The explosion of the airline "Pan American", flight 103. 270 dead, 12 injured
Airplanes have always been a favorite target for terrorists, because such attacks have always frightened the public, because we all fly periodically and most people are afraid of flying. And if we add to this fear the fear of a bomb explosion, then flights become just a test for nerves.
On December 21, 1988, a Pan Am airliner was flying from London Heathrow Airport to Kennedy Airport when an explosion occurred on board at an altitude of more than 9,000 meters above the city of Lockerbie in Scotland. The plane was completely destroyed in the air, killing all passengers and crew members. In addition, the collapsed debris broke through several houses in the city, killing 11 and injuring 12 people.
Several extremist groups claimed responsibility for the attack and experts quickly determined that the crash was actually caused by a bomb planted on board. As the investigation progressed, investigators also concluded that the attack was authorized by the Libyan government. A Libyan, Abdul-Basit Al-Megrahi, was arrested and charged and found guilty of the attack.
In 2003, the Libyan government officially acknowledged responsibility for the terrorist attack and paid more than $2.7 billion to the relatives of the victims who died in the plane crash.
4. Explosions of the barracks of peacekeepers in Beirut. 301 dead, 168 injured
For decades, the Middle East has been engulfed in the flames of civil wars and political unrest that have killed thousands of civilians. And in the early 1980s, the UN approved the participation of a peacekeeping contingent to resolve the military conflict in Lebanon. But it didn't work.
On October 23, 1983, a Mercedes-Benz truck drove into the territory of the former airport, where American infantrymen were stationed. The car was allowed into the territory without any problems, as it looked like a water carrier that delivered drinking water to the military. The car made several circles around the parking lot, then accelerated sharply and crashed directly into the headquarters building, where at that time there were almost 400 Marines.
The monstrous force of the explosion completely destroyed the structure. As it turned out later, the force of the explosion was equal to 5 tons of trinitrotoluene. At the same time, the same truck loaded with explosives attacked the positions of the French paratroopers. As a result of the terrorist attack, 241 American soldiers (among them 220 Marines) and 58 French soldiers were killed.
For American infantrymen, this day was the deadliest in terms of the number of deaths since the famous Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. American intelligence agencies believe that the Israeli Mossad intelligence was aware of the impending attack, but they did not warn the US and French governments, hoping that they would withdraw their troops from the region after the terrorist attack. In the end, that is what happened.
5. Explosions of US embassies in Africa. 303 dead, 4954 injured
Prior to September 11, 2001, all terrorist attacks against US citizens took place on the territories of other states, but not in America. For example, the explosions of embassies in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).
On August 7, 1998, two trucks filled with 17 tons of explosives exploded almost simultaneously near the US embassies.
Both embassies were badly damaged and 12 Americans were killed, all other casualties were local civilians. The adjacent houses were badly destroyed by the blast, hence the huge number of wounded - several thousand people. Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) claimed responsibility for the attack.
6. Tragedy in Beslan. 366 dead, 747 injured
On September 1, 2004, armed Ingush and Chechen militants seized School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia. The terrorists captured 1,128 people, including more than 700 children. The seizure of the school was led by Ruslan Khuchbarov, nicknamed "Rasul", who reported directly to Shamil Basayev. The militants demanded an immediate cessation of all hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the republic.
On September 2, after negotiations with the ex-president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, the bandits released 25 women and children. On September 3, shots rang out in the school building and the special forces immediately began an assault.
Most of the hostages were rescued, but the number of victims was enormous. 334 people died, including 186 children and 10 employees of the Vympel and Alpha special forces. The special forces killed 30 terrorists, only one bandit survived - Nurpashi Kulaev, who is currently serving a life sentence.
7. Terrorist attack in Bombay, India. 257 dead, 700 injured
On March 12, 1993, in the crowded areas of Bombay (now Mumbai), 13 explosive devices hidden in parked cars went off at the same time. As a result of the attack, 257 people were killed and about 700 were injured.
The investigation found that the organizers of the attack were Islamic fundamentalists, it was their response to the clashes between Muslims and Hindus that happened shortly before the explosions. One of the organizers of this crime, Yakub Memon, was executed quite recently, on July 30, 2015. His other two accomplices are still on the wanted list.
8. Explosions of trains in Madrid, Spain. 191 dead, over 2,000 injured
On the morning of March 11, 2004, several explosive devices hidden in trains exploded at several suburban stations and the Atocha station in Madrid. The deadliest terrorist attack in Spanish history left 191 people dead and more than 2,000 injured to varying degrees.
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. Three years later, on October 31, 2007, a trial was held at which 21 people were accused. All of them received various terms of imprisonment, up to life.
9. Explosions in Bali, Indonesia. 202 dead, 209 injured.
On October 12, 2002, a suicide bombing and a car bomb parked near a nightclub in Kuta, Bali killed 202 people and injured more than 200. Among the dead, 164 were foreign tourists. During the investigation, 30 people were arrested who were involved in the attack and who at that time were active members of the extremist group Jamaa Islamiya. In 2008, three defendants were shot, the rest received various terms of imprisonment.
10. Terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001. 2093 dead, 8.900 injured
By far the largest and bloodiest terrorist attack took place in America on September 11, 2001. The attack was carried out by al-Qaeda suicide bombers on the orders of their leader, Osama bin Laden. 19 members of Al-Qaeda, threatening the crew with cold weapons, were able to capture 4 airliners.
As a result of the attack, two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one crashed near the Pentagon in Washington and another plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers tried to neutralize the hijackers.
This tragedy was the worst in US history. Both towers - the symbols of New York were completely destroyed, the Pentagon building was badly damaged, and in terms of the number of dead and wounded, this attack knows no equal. Subsequently, this attack became the reason for the US military operation in Afghanistan.
The chronicle of world events has long proved that it is impossible to be completely safe on the ground and underground, in the center of the most civilized cities in the world, in your apartment or in a nightclub in a paradise resort. "Chaskor" recalls the most notable terrorist attacks in the world of the last decade.
The chronicle of world events has long proved that it is impossible to be completely safe on the ground and underground, in the center of the most civilized cities in the world, in your apartment or in a nightclub in a paradise resort. "Chaskor" recalls the most notable terrorist attacks in the world of the last decade.
Moscow-1999
Attacks of fighters were undertaken at night at once on 10 objects. First of all, these are the international hotels Oberoi and Taj Mahal, as well as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, the Colaba market, the Ville Parle hotel, near which a taxi was blown up, an art school and a Metro cinema. It is also reported that the terrorists seized the house where the Jewish family lived - the rabbi, his wife and two children.
On September 9, 1999, Moscow was rocked by an explosion in a multi-storey residential building on Guryanov Street. 87 people died. It was the first shock, the country stuck to the TVs in horror, seeing the sequel.
Four days later, the shock began to develop into panic - on September 13, 1999, an explosion occurred in the capital on the Kashirskoye Highway, killing 121 people.
In the same September, explosions thundered in Buynaksk and Volgodonsk, in all these terrorist attacks more than 300 people died.
Every Russian has learned what hexogen is and what it looks like, looked at every suspicious "gazelle" with apprehension. At the same time, under the universal righteous anger, Putin’s quotes “wet in the toilet” were sold.
In 2003, the Prosecutor General's Office named customers and executors. The explosions were carried out by Karachay and Dagestan Wahhabis on the order of Arab mercenaries Amir Khattab and Abu Umar in order to divert the attention of the Russian authorities from the events in Dagestan, where at that time there were battles between federal troops and invading armed groups of militants from Chechnya, led by Shamil Basayev and an Arab mercenary Khattab. Khattab was closely associated with the terrorist Osama bin Laden, who was famous, among other things, for the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Metro - 2000-2004
February 6, 2004 at 8:30 am between the stations "Avtozavodskaya" and "Paveletskaya" there was a terrible tragedy - a subway car was blown up. The epicenter of the explosion was at the first left door of the second car. 41 people died, 148 were injured, including one child.
Even earlier, on August 8, 2000, an explosion in the subway under Pushkinskaya Square claimed the lives of 13 people, 61 people were seriously injured.
People have realized that it is impossible to be safe either at home or underground.
USA-2001
The date of September 11 was turned into the global anti-terrorist brand "9/11": the terrorists did the seemingly unbelievable - they attacked the very heart of the most powerful civilized state. On the morning of the fateful day, 19 terrorists, divided into four groups, hijacked scheduled passenger airliners.
The invaders sent two planes into the towers of the World Trade Center, causing the towers to collapse. The third plane was sent to the Pentagon building. The passengers and crew of the fourth airliner, heading, according to one version, to the White House building, tried to take control of the plane from the terrorists, the plane crashed in a field near the city of Shanksville in Pennsylvania.
In addition to the terrorists, as a result of the attacks, according to official information, 2974 people were killed, another 24 were missing.
Again, a shock for the whole world, who spent that day watching TV around the clock broadcasting about the tragedy. According to the official version, the responsibility for the most heinous terrorist attack in the world lies with the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
The Taliban, who controlled Afghanistan and, according to one version, were hiding the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, were hit back. Later, the US launched a preemptive strike against Iraq.
Bali-2002
The paradise island, beloved by Russians, was shocked by a powerful explosion that killed more than 200 people, and more than three hundred were injured. A bomb exploded at the Sari nightclub in Kuta Beach in October 2002. At the same time, most of the victims were foreigners vacationing at the resort, mostly citizens of peaceful Australia. Witnesses of the tragedy recall that a powerful explosion was felt at a distance of 10 km. The shock wave shattered the windows of all buildings within a radius of half a kilometer. After the explosion, the club building caught fire, the fire spread to neighboring buildings.
The United States suspects al-Qaeda of this attack. The fact is that the explosion in Bali was arranged on the day of the anniversary of another terrorist attack by al-Qaeda - when suicide bombers exploded on board the American destroyer Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.
Philippines - 2002-2006
In the Philippines, where there are also quite a few Islamists, explosions are not uncommon.
In the city of Zamboanga, a bomb that exploded in a crowded shopping center killed four people on the spot, about 80 were taken to hospitals with injuries.
At a gym in the Philippine province of Mindanao in January 2004, at least 10 people were killed and 40 others were injured. The bomb was hidden in a motorcycle near a hall where hundreds of people had gathered for a basketball game.
12 people were killed and 20 injured in an explosion that occurred in the city of Makilala in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines on October 11, 2006. And the day before, on October 10, another explosion occurred in the market in the city of Thakurong, 50 km from Makilala, as a result of which four people were injured.
Madrid 2004
Three days before the March 2004 parliamentary elections, 13 bombs exploded on four commuter trains during the morning rush hour. Explosive devices were planted in backpacks and bags lying in the compartments for hand luggage. 190 people died. The authorities blame the Basque separatist organization ETA as the perpetrators of the tragedy, but there is also a version about the revenge of Islamic fundamentalists for Spain's participation in the American Iraqi campaign.
London 2005
On July 7, 2005, the biggest terrorist attack in British history took place in London - four carefully orchestrated suicide bombings. At 8:50 in the morning, with an interval of 50 seconds, three London Underground trains were blown up. Almost an hour later, at 9:47, there was a fourth explosion on a bus in Tavistock Square. 52 people were killed, about 700 were injured. The names of four suicide bombers were later established by Scotland Yard: Habib Hussein, Mohammed Sidiq Khan, Jermaine Lindsey and Shehzad Tanver. Multinational London is a safe haven not only for disgraced wealthy businessmen, but also for the huge Islamic diaspora, numbering more than 100 thousand people in the British capital. And some suicide bombers have lived in London for years without arousing suspicion.
