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| 1001 | Al Qaeda |  |
| 23rd Dec Arrested on a flight from Paris to Miami after trying to blow up the plane with explosives hidden in his shoes, during his trial in the US Richard Reid pledges allegiance to Osama Bin Laden
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| 1957 | Birth | |
| Birth of Osama bin Laden
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| 1988 | Al Qaeda | |
| As Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan Osama Bin Laden and other Arab fighters in the country form alQaeda which in Arabic means quotthe basequot
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| 1990 | Invasion of Kuwait | |
| 2nd Aug Saddam Hussein's army invades Kuwait, in response to the perceived threat to Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden offers to bring an army of jihadist fighters against Saddam to protect the kingdom
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| 2nd Aug The Saudi royal family's decision to seek protection from American troops rather than bin Laden's jihadists is considered a turning point in bin Laden's life
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| 1991 | Al Qaeda | |
| A bomb explodes at the World Trade Center
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| Sudan becomes alQaeda's base for business operations and preparations for jihad, from here a number of attacks on Western targets are alleged to have been organised or supported
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| 1991 | Bombing of New York | |
| 26th Feb New York Arabia A bomb explodes at the World Trade Center
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| 26th Feb New York Arabia Al Qaeda's involvement is unclear but some analysts believe after the attack the group seeks out the plotter Ramzi Yousef and offers him money, Yousef later serves a life sentence for the attack
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| 1993 | Al Qaeda | |
| 4th Oct Members of a Somali militia shoot down two Black Hawk helicopters, the US believes that Al Qaeda fighters helped train those responsible for the incident in which 18 American servicemen were killed
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| 1996 | Alliance | |
| Osama bin Laden had lived in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban
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| 1996 | Al Qaeda | |
| May Bin Laden leaves Sudan and returns to Afghanistan
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| 1996 | Bombing of Dhahran | |
| 25th June Dhahran Arabia A bomb rips through a US military housing complex near Dhahran Saudi Arabia killing 19 Americans
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| 1998 | Al Qaeda | |
| 22nd Feb Bin Laden issues fatwa calling for attacks on US citizens
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| 7th Aug US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed
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| 1998 | Bombing of US Embassies | |
| 7th Aug US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed
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| 20th Aug The US retaliates against the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania with air strikes against alleged training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan
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| 2000 | Al Qaeda | |
| 12th Oct Two suicide attackers ram a boat carrying explosives into the USS Cole in Aden port killing 17 American sailors
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| 2000 | Bombing of USS Cole | |
| 12th Oct Two suicide attackers ram a boat carrying explosives into the USS Cole in Aden port killing 17 American sailors
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| 2001 | Al Qaeda | |
| 11th Sep New York Arabia Al Qaeda hijack aeroplanes & destroy the Twin Towers, nearly 3,000 are killed
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| 12th Dec A French citizen of Moroccan origin is charged with conspiring with Osama Bin Laden and other suspects to kill thousands of Americans in the 11 September attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui is detained in the US on immigration charges
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| 2001 | Anthrax Letters | |
| Letters containing anthrax are sent to the US Senate
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| 2001 | Bombing of al Qaeda | |
| 7th Oct Kabul Arabia American and British forces begin an aerial bombing campaign targeting Taliban forces and al-Qaeda, strikes were reported in the capital, Kabul
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| 2001 | Bombing of New York | |
| 11th Sep New York Arabia Al Qaeda hijack aeroplanes & destroy the Twin Towers, nearly 3,000 are killed
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| 12th Dec New York Arabia A French citizen of Moroccan origin is charged with conspiring with Osama Bin Laden and other suspects to kill thousands of Americans in the 11 September attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui is detained in the US on immigration charges
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| 2001 | Invasion of Afghanistan | |
| Oct The officially-stated purpose of the invasion is to target al-Qaeda members, and to punish the Taliban government in Afghanistan which had provided support and haven to al-Qaeda
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| 2001 | United Nations | |
| 19th Dec The UN Security Council had issued Resolution 1333 directed towards the Taliban demanding that the Taliban turn over bin Laden to the USA.index.html title="History of USA">United States or a third country
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| 2002 | Al Qaeda | |
| 22nd Mar Abu Zubaydah believed to have served as Osama Bin Laden's field commander and chief recruiter is captured during a raid on a house in Pakistan
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| 11th April Kuta Arabia Two bombs rip through a nightclub area in the Balinese town of Kuta killing 202 people most of them foreign tourists, Indonesian authorities believe the attacksare carried out by the South East Asian network Jemaah Islamiah, linked to Al Qaeda
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| 2002 | Bombing of Djerba | |
| 11th April Djerba Arabia A fuel tanker is blown up outside a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba killing 19 people including 14 German tourists, an al Qaeda spokesman later says the organisation is behind the suicide attack
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| 2002 | Bombing of Kuta | |
| 11th April Kuta Arabia Two bombs rip through a nightclub area in the Balinese town of Kuta killing 202 people most of them foreign tourists, Indonesian authorities believe the attacksare carried out by the South East Asian network Jemaah Islamiah, linked to Al Qaeda
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| 2003 | Broadcast | |
| 11th Feb A bin Laden broadcast by al-Jazeera says, "we will fight for our brothers in Iraq"
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| 2004 | Bombing of New York | |
| New York Arabia Says the attacks were carried out because "we are a free people who do not accept injustice, and we want to regain the freedom of our nation"
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| New York Arabia Shortly before the US presidential election, in a taped statement, bin Laden publicly acknowledged al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks on the US, and admitted his direct link to the attacks
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| 21st May New York Arabia In an audiotape posted on a website that the US claims is "frequently used by al-Qaeda", bin Laden says he had personally directed the 19 hijackers
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| 22nd July New York Arabia The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the US is formed by the US government, called the 9/11 Commission, concludes the attacks were planned & carried out by al-Qaeda
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| 2004 | Bombing of USS Cole | |
| Six suspected Al Qaeda militants are charged in connection with the attack by a Yemeni court
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