Chapter I

Antiterrorism: Background and Evolution

The hijacking of airliners and attacks on El Al flights during 1968 and 1969 certainly brought the threat of terrorism to the attention of world governments. Many governments, however, viewed the threat of Middle Eastern terrorism as a primarily Israeli problem and either ignored the threat or made concessions to Palestinian groups in the hope that they would look elsewhere for targets. The September 1970 hijackings of multiple airliners from multiple countries, their landings in Jordan, and their destruction on the ground should have warned the world that the threat had become endemic and was not going to disappear. As might be expected, however, Israel, the primary target of terrorism, was the first country to see the need for units trained and ready to take action against terrorists. The May 8, 1972 hijacking of a Sabena airliner and its landing in Tel Aviv set the stage for a successful Israeli rescue of the passengers. Using many techniques that would later become standard with antiterrorist units—including practice on a similar airliner, the use of disguise to get the rescue team close to the aircraft, and the use of deception (more than 300 Israeli soldiers posing as freed Palestinian militants on fake Red Cross buses)—the Israeli team successfully killed or captured the terrorists and freed all the hostages. (An interesting side note to this rescue is that two future Israeli prime ministers—Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu—took part in the assault. Netanyahu was wounded during the operation.) Israel had demonstrated that it was not necessary to make concessions to terrorists and that effective action could be taken if trained personnel and national resolve were present.

The scene of the 1972 Munich hostage crisis—#31 Connollystrasse—as it looked in March 2006; note the balconies on which the terrorists observe police activity. Note also the glass-covered stairway.

The view of the back of #31 Connollystrasse. The hostages were held in the second floor room to the right rear.

It was not until the September 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre stunned the world, however, that many countries realized that they were impotent when faced with a terrorist act. The German response to the taking of Israeli athletes was a virtual textbook study of how not to deal with a terrorist incident. Long before the Olympics, the Germans had ignored the potential threat and had not trained the Munich police to deal with a hostage incident. A police psychologist had warned of the likelihood of an incident that would play out much as the actual event transpired. Security at the Olympic Village was so lax that the terrorists were able to gain entry to the dormitory that would house Israeli athletes and reconnoiter it before the Olympics began.

Once the hostages had been taken, negotiations were carried out incompetently and offers of assistance from the Israelis, who were considered to be the most experienced antiterrorist force in the world at the time, were ignored. The attempted rescue by the German police at the Olympic Village was inept and was compromised by being broadcast live on television, a broadcast viewed by the hostage takers! The German police ignored the possibility of a rescue when the terrorists were transporting the hostages by bus to two waiting helicopters, an option many antiterrorism experts now think offered the highest likelihood of success. At Fürstenfeldbruk Airport, located 15 miles out of Munich, the Germans did not deploy enough trained snipers. They had not rehearsed the operation with the helicopter crews landing the hostages to offer the snipers optimum shooting angles. The “snipers” lacked intelligence and didn’t even have radios. All the elements were there for a disaster and those elements came together to cause the death of all of the hostages.

In the aftermath, many Western democracies vowed not to exhibit the same inability to cope with a major terrorist incident. To implement that vow, however, specialized and highly trained units would be required. Stung by world criticism and by the disaster that had befallen the Olympics it had hoped would truly erase the stigma of Nazism, Germany was one of the first countries to take action. Ulrich Wegener, who had actually been present during the Munich hostage incident as an aide to the West German Interior Minister, would be charged with forming an antiterrorist unit within the German Federal Border Guards (Bundesgrenzschutz, BGS). This unit, designated GSG-9, became active in 1973. Among other units that became active in 1973 were France’s GIGN and Austria’s GEK Cobra.

The suspicion toward elite units within the German Army that harked back to the World War II SS made the Border Guards a compromise choice for an antiterrorist unit since the BGS was a paramilitary formation with some law enforcement powers. As countries around the world formed their own antiterrorist units, they faced a similar dilemma. Military units already had elite formations with many of the qualifications that were desirable in an antiterrorist commando. As a result, a pool of well-qualified manpower was there to be tapped. They also possessed ready access to aircraft, helicopters, and boats/ships to transport troops. Additionally, they had access to the types of training facilities that could be modified for antiterrorist training. On the negative side, many countries either had laws that prevented the armed forces from operating within the country or a historical dislike of the military carrying out raids. Generally, too, military personnel are trained to solve problems with overwhelming firepower rather than in the surgical manner required of the antiterrorist unit.

During the early days of their existence, members of GSG9 practice free climbing the side of a building prior to an assault. (BGS)

If a national antiterrorist unit were to be formed within the police, then, substantial time and expense would be required to train it to the standard of military special operations troops. A clear chain of command and jurisdiction for its employment would also have to be established. Some countries with formations having police powers while also functioning in a quasi-military role chose these formations as a compromise. In many countries, more than one antiterrorist unit was formed—a military one with responsibilities outside of the country and a police one with responsibilities within the country. Still a third unit might eventually be deemed necessary to handle MAT (Maritime Antiterrorism) operations. Military units with antiterrorist responsibilities would include the British, Australian, and New Zealand Special Air Service, the U.S. Delta Force, and the ROK 707th Special Mission Battalion. Police units with military or quasi-military status would include the French GIGN, Spanish GEO, Belgian ESI, Italian GIS, German GSG-9, and Dutch BBE (which employed a mix of Dutch Marines and police). Units such as the U.S. FBI HRT or Italian NOCS were drawn from non-militarized national law enforcement agencies. Specialized maritime antiterrorist units included the British SBS, U.S. SEAL Team Six, and Italian COMSUBIN.

There is a less obvious advantage to forming a national antiterrorist unit within a law enforcement agency. A national antiterrorist unit has to be trained to a very high standard. As a result, it is very hard to keep the edge necessary to perform at the level required over years and years when the unit is not employed operationally. A police unit can keep its personnel sharp by using them on high-risk warrant service, apprehension of dangerous felons, prison sieges, criminal hostage situations, and other types of entries. Many antiterrorist units have come to the conclusion that SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams in big U.S. cities make more raids and entries in a single month than most major antiterrorist units have in years. Just as the medics for special ops and antiterrorist units find the best place to train is big city emergency rooms, many also realize that the best place to train operators is on big city SWAT teams. This has resulted in personnel from some military antiterrorist units being assigned as “observers” with big city SWAT teams.

While many Western democracies were forming antiterrorist units in response to the Munich Massacre, Israel took a more Old Testament approach as it launched its Wrath of God teams around the world to track down those involved in the Munich Massacre and assassinate them.

Throughout the 1970s, additional countries formed specialized antiterrorist forces while terrorist groups continued to take hostages, offering governments the incentive to spend the money to form such units. Israel, of course, had formed Unit 101 in 1953 with an antiterrorist mission. This unit would evolve into other units with various designations including General Staff Deep Reconnaissance Unit, Unit 262, and Sayaret Matkal. Incidents targeting Israel continued and Israel used its antiterrorist forces not just for hostage rescue missions but for retaliatory operations against the Palestinians. Other Middle Eastern states learned they were not exempt from terrorism, however. In March 1973, the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum was seized by Black September terrorists. The House of Saud would be the target again in September 1973, when a Black September splinter group seized the Saudi Embassy in Paris.

In fact, throughout 1973, governments that may have been hesitant about forming antiterrorist units should have seen the ever-increasing terrorist violence as a call to action. Major terrorist incidents occurred almost weekly during the year, with the later half of 1973 being especially bloody. Although Israel remained a prime target, Western airlines flying into and out of Israel were often targeted as well. On August 5, 1973, at Athens Airport there was a machinegun attack against passengers on a TWA flight that had just landed from Israel. A month later, on September 5, members of Black September attempted to shoot down an El Al flight in Rome using SAM-7s. In a particularly vicious attack, on 17 December, a Palestinian terrorist group set fire to a Pan Am plane in Rome, killing 32, then hijacked a Lufthansa flight to Kuwait.

A GIGN Operator practices firing the compact HK MP5K. (Gendarmerie Nationale)

Members of GIGN engaging targets from their holsters using the Manurhin .357 Magnum revolver. (Gendarmerie Nationale)

Not all attacks were by Middle Eastern terrorists. In the same year the IRA carried out a fire and letter bomb campaign in England, and on September 20, 1973, the Spanish Prime Minister was assassinated in Madrid by ETA terrorists.

Within Northern Ireland in 1972 alone there were 10,000 shooting incidents. In an attempt to take proactive action against the IRA, the MRF (Mobile Reconnaissance Force) had been formed in 1971 to operate in undercover four-man teams. The MRF made good use of turned IRA members for intelligence. In 1974 this unit was replaced by the highly effective 14 Intelligence Company, which specialized in surveillance of IRA suspects in cooperation with the RUC Special Branch. In 1976, the SAS (Special Air Service) deployed to Northern Ireland, where they set ambushes for terrorists visiting weapons caches or preparing to carry out terrorist acts. The SAS also snatched some of the IRA leadership, reportedly even from within the Irish Republic.

The years 1974 and 1975 might be termed the years of the Jackal as Carlos made his presence felt in various acts of terrorism. Carlos was especially active in France, culminating in June 1975, when he killed two French security agents and wounded another in a shootout during a raid on his Paris apartment. Undaunted, however, Carlos led an attack in December 1975, against the symbol of Arab wealth and power, the OPEC headquarters in Vienna. During 1975, the Baader-Meinhof gang was very active as well, especially in carrying out kidnappings in Germany.

The most interesting event in the evolution of antiterrorist units during this period was the 1974 formation in the Soviet Union of KGB Alpha, designed as a special operations unit capable of SAS-type missions for the Committee for State Security. Antiterrorist operations fell within Alpha’s responsibilities.

Israel’s reputation for successful antiterrorist operations was somewhat tarnished in May 1974, when the PDFLP seized a school at Ma’alot in Israel, and 22 were killed and 60 injured during the assault by Sayaret Matkal. The various mistakes made at Ma’alot contributed to the establishment in late 1974/early 1975 of the Ya’ma’m antiterrorist unit within the Israeli Border Police.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police formed an ERT (Emergency Response Team) in 1975 in preparation for the Montreal Olympics of 1976. (The Montreal Olympics would be the first summer Olympics held since the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics; hence the need to have a trained unit available was given high priority.)

The year 1976 would be the year in which some of the newly formed antiterrorist units would prove their value. In February, terrorists seized a school bus transporting the children of French military personnel in Djibouti. GIGN carried out a well-planned rescue using drugged food to cause the children to fall asleep and hence lie down on the seats, thus clearing the way for GIGN snipers to eliminate all but one of the terrorists. An assault team followed up to complete the rescue.

Jordan had formed an antiterrorist unit, the 101st Special Forces Battalion, in the mid-1970s. This unit saw action in March 1976, when the PFLP attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Jordan. The unit responded and engaged the terrorists in a gunfight, which resulted in three of the terrorists being killed along with two members of the antiterrorist unit.

The hijacking of an Air France flight carrying a large number of Israelis to Uganda by PFLP and Baader-Meinhof terrorists set the stage for the most ambitious antiterrorist operation yet in July 1976. The Israelis launched a rescue that required them to land at a hostile airport and eliminate Ugandan Army personnel as well as the terrorists to effect the rescue. Among the more intriguing aspects of the rescue was the use of a fake Idi Amin to distract the Ugandan guards while the assault force got close enough to act.

In 1977 the Baader-Meinhof gang continued to carry out assassinations and kidnappings in Germany and elsewhere in conjunction with other terrorist groups. In March 1977, the Royal Dutch Marines earned their place among the antiterrorist elite by carrying out a well-coordinated assault against a hijacked train and a school, both taken by South Moluccan terrorists. The train incident had dragged on long enough for psychologists to be able to work up profiles of hostages and terrorists, which aided the Marines in planning their assault. As part of BBE, the Dutch Marines had assumed the responsibility for antiterrorist ops in Holland in 1974 and had brought a prison siege to a successful conclusion in that year.

October 1977 saw GSG-9, the German antiterrorist unit formed in the aftermath of the Munich Olympic Massacre, deployed to Somalia where they performed a successful “tubular assault” on a hijacked Lufthansa airliner. This assault marked the first employment of two antiterrorist weapons that would become almost iconic among world antiterrorist units—the stun grenade and the HK MP5 SMG. The stun grenades, which had been developed by the SAS, were brought to the incident by two members of the SAS who cooperated with GSG-9 in their deployment.

Throughout 1977 and 1978, the PFLP carried out numerous assassinations of Middle Eastern officials—in Europe and elsewhere—whom they felt were unsympathetic to the Palestinian cause. The Red Brigades became one of the world’s most recognized terrorist groups in 1978 when they carried out the kidnapping and later murder of Aldo Moro. Prior to the Moro kidnapping, Italy had formed the GIS antiterrorist unit as part of the Carabinieri, but in the wake of the Moro murder, another unit—NOCS—was formed as part of the Polizia di Stato in 1978. In response to Basque terrorist acts and the general threat of terrorism throughout Europe, Spain had formed a unit—GEO—in 1977 as well.

An Italian COMSUBIN operator during the early days of that unit’s responsibility for Maritime antiterrorism. (Marina Militare)

In 1977 the USA finally authorized the U.S. Army Special Forces to form an interim antiterrorist force designated “Blue Light” until Delta Force was activated in November 1977. (Note that the term “Delta Force” is still commonly used for this unit and will appear frequently in this text, but the current designation of the unit is actually the Combat Applications Group.)

Egypt’s first antiterrorist unit, Saiqa, had been established in reaction to terrorist actions against Egyptian diplomats and political leaders. It saw action in March 1978, when it assaulted a hijacked Cypriot airliner. The precipitous assault led to a fire fight with Cypriot National Guardsmen and the death of at least 15 hostages.

The FLNC carried out 379 bomb attacks on Corsica during 1978, then in 1979 took their attacks to mainland France.

As the decade of the 1970s ended, world terrorist groups remained on the offensive despite the fact that there had been some highly successful antiterrorist operations. The IRA carried out a number of high-profile assassinations in 1979, including that of Earl Mountbatten in August. Showing once again that terrorism could strike at the heart of Islam as well as the West, the Great Mosque at Mecca was seized in November 1979, and was not retaken until a bloody assault by the Saudi National Guard and other troops advised by members of France’s GIGN.

November 1979 also saw the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. The impotence of U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the face of this act would lead to his defeat in the 1980 presidential election. Delta Force trained for a rescue mission that was delayed until the last moment due to dithering within the U.S. leadership and finally launched in April 1980. Helicopter problems caused the mission to be aborted with loss of life when a C-130 and a helicopter collided. Delta’s reputation suffered as a result of the botched rescue.

Other countries that formed antiterrorist units during the 1970s included Finland; although originally the unit was composed only of trained marksmen—it wasn’t until 1978 that the “Bear Unit” was operational with an assault capability as well. In Asia, Hong Kong started the process of forming its SDU (Special Duties Unit) in the late 1970s, but it wasn’t until the SAS and SBS (Special Boat Service) had assisted in organizing and training the unit that it truly became operational in the 1980s.

During the late 1970s or early 1980s, an operator from Italy’s COMSUBIN practices close quarters combat techniques with the Beretta M12 SMG. (Marina Militare)

In contrast to the 1980 Delta Force mission in Iran, the May 1980 assault by the SAS “Pagoda Troop” on the Iranian Embassy at Prince’s Gate in London to free hostages taken by alleged anti-Khomeni forces, but who were quite likely Iraqi intelligence agents, was a great success. The SAS showed the ability to carry out a precise assault, improvise in the midst of the plan when difficulties arose, successfully eliminate all but one of the terrorists during the assault, and save all but one of the hostages. This operation was also an example of how good hostage negotiators can work with an assault team up to the point of entry.

During 1981, noteworthy events in the hidden war between antiterrorist units and terrorists included the shooting of the Pope in May 1981 and the assassination of Anwar Sadat in October 1981. In December 1981, U.S. General James Dozier was kidnapped by members of the Red Brigades. The Italian antiterrorist unit NOCS carried out a successful rescue in January 1982, using distraction and speed to rescue Dozier and arrest the terrorists without bloodshed. During the early 1980s, too, ETA had intensified their attacks within Spain.

The Dozier rescue had been aided by the U.S. ISA (Intelligence Support Activity), a unit staffed by ex-Special Forces personnel and intelligence specialists. Using sophisticated communications intercept technology, the ISA had supplied NOCS with information about Dozier’s location. The ISA had been formed after the abortive Iranian rescue mission, as had TF160, a special operations aviation unit.

Pakistan’s SSG (Special Service Group) had been given the antiterrorist mission in the early 1970s. The unit’s first major operation occurred on September 30, 1981, when Sikh terrorists hijacked an Air India flight to Lahore. In a highly successful operation, the SSG infiltrated the aircraft dressed as airline employees, overpowered the terrorists, and freed the hostages. An interesting side note on the SSG is that veterans of the unit have often been hired by some of the Middle Eastern oil-producing countries as contract members of their antiterrorist units.

Also in 1981, on March 29, the Indonesian KOPASSANDA stormed a hijacked Indonesian plane in Thailand, killing the terrorists and releasing the hostages, though the pilot was killed. KOPASSANDA, though trained for special operations, had not received specialist antiterrorist training. As a result, the Indonesians formed Detachment 81 as a specialized antiterrorist unit.

Among the noteworthy terrorist incidents in the 1980s was the hijacking by the PLF of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in October 1985. Seal Team Six (now DevGru), which was established in 1980 by the USA for maritime antiterrorist operations, as well as the Italian COMSUBIN, were in position to launch an assault, but the Egyptians allowed the terrorists to dock in Egypt and gave them safe passage out of the country. Only after the terrorists had been released did the USA learn that an American citizen had been murdered aboard the ship. The USA launched carrier-borne fighter aircraft to force down the Egyptian airliner carrying the terrorists, but a craven Italian government released them. The 1980s were an especially busy time for the Abu Nidal Organization. During the early 1980s the group assassinated many prominent PLO or Fatah members. The organization also undertook many terrorist operations for Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, including bombings and attacks on dissident Libyans in London. Members of Abu Nidal Organisation hijacked an Egyptian airliner to Malta in November 1985, which led to another disastrous rescue attempt by the Egyptians. This assault was carried out by Unit 777 and engendered the query among many antiterrorist professionals: Would you rather be hijacked by terrorists or rescued by the Egyptians?

On December 27, 1985, the Abu Nidal Organization acting for the Libyans carried out simultaneous attacks at airports in Rome and Vienna. In September 1986, an Abu Nidal team hijacked a Pan Am plane to Pakistan where the plane was stormed by Musa Company, the antiterrorist force within Pakistan’s SSG, and the terrorists arrested.

Amidst the continued acts of terrorism around the world, the USA formed the FBI HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) in 1983 to deal with terrorist incidents within the USA since Delta and Seal Team Six were precluded by law from domestic law enforcement roles.

Other terrorist groups continued to operate throughout the 1980s. ASALA (The Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia),which had been formed in 1975, carried out attacks around the world on Turkish diplomats. Various Latin American terrorist groups remained active during the 1980s as well, including, among others, M-19, FARC, MRTA, and Shining Path.

In India the assault, in June 1984, on the center of the Sikh faith, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which had been taken over by separatists, led to the death of a reported 493 separatists and civilians and injury to 592. (It is possible casualties were at least 50 percent higher.) Indian assault forces were led by members of the SFF (Special Frontier Force), India’s antiterrorist unit at the time. Listed casualties for the SFF and other units involved were 83 killed in action and 249 injured. Five months later, on October 31,1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in revenge for the assault on the Golden Temple. In another incident in response to the Golden Temple raid, the June 1985 bombing of an Air India plane resulted in 329 deaths. India’s antiterrorist mission was assigned to a new unit, the National Security Guard, which had to assault the Golden Temple again in April 1986, then still again in May 1988, the latter with large casualties among the separatists.

In response to two attacks on RUC stations by the IRA in which they used a JCB digger with explosives in the bucket to breach the reinforced fences around the installations, the SAS acted on intelligence and set an ambush at the RUC station in Loughgall in May 1987. The ambush was highly successful, resulting in the deaths of eight IRA members, the greatest loss of life by the IRA in one incident since the 1920s. In addition to reinforcing the IRA’s healthy respect for the SAS, this incident also caused paranoia within the IRA as they searched for the suspected informant who had tipped security forces to the impending IRA attack at Loughgall. This SAS operation was an excellent example of a preemptive antiterrorist strike by well-trained operators.

One of the original members of the FBI HRT in the assault gear that was in use at the time. (Pilgrim)

In December 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, an act that was eventually attributed to Libyan intelligence operatives. Hezbollah had been formed in 1983 and immediately began carrying out attacks on Western interests in Lebanon. In April 1983, an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut resulted in 63 deaths, but this horrific attack was just a prelude to the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, which resulted in 241 deaths. Almost simultaneously, the French barracks in Beirut was attacked resulting in 58 deaths. Then, in November, 1983, an Israeli government building in Sidon was attacked with 67 killed.

Among the antiterrorist units formed during the 1980s was Portugal’s GOE, which ran its first selection course in 1982, then went operational in 1983.

Despite the setback at Loughgall, the IRA remained active into the 1990s. In 1990–91, there were new bomb attacks against British targets both in England and on the continent against British military targets. In an audacious attack in February 1991, mortar rounds were launched against 10 Downing Street. One result was that the SAS was assigned to augment security for the Prime Minister and the Queen when the threat level was considered especially high. Later in that same month, bomb attacks were carried out against the busy Victoria and Paddington railway stations. In an attempt to strike at a prime commercial target, bombs were planted in Oxford Street during the December 1992 Christmas shopping season. Bombings continued in Northern Ireland and mainland UK throughout the remainder of the 1990s.

France came under attack during the 1990s from three terrorist groups, though French antiterrorist forces did have a couple of notable successes. In August 1994, DST, acting on a tip from the CIA, captured Carlos in Khartoum. Later in the year, a French airliner was hijacked from Algiers Airport in December 1994 by Algerian extremists. It eventually landed at Marseilles Airport where a rescue was launched by GIGN. Four terrorists were killed in the successful rescue mission, though nine members of GIGN were wounded during the assault, pointing up the difficulty of combat in the close quarters of an aircraft cabin.

During 1995, Algerian Islamic terrorists affiliated with GIA planted bombs at Metro and railway stations. Late in 1995, the Corsican separatist movement, FNLC, began carrying out bombings on Corsica. In 1996, bombings also took place on the French mainland. On the island of Corsica, 1997–2000 saw an intense bombing campaign by FLNC supporters as well as some shootings of French officials. Early in 1998, French security forces made many arrests, but in a revenge attack in February 1998, the senior French administrator on Corsica was assassinated.

The bombing offensive by Algerian terrorists continued in 1996. Some ETA terrorists who were plotting acts against France either within Metropolitan France or abroad were arrested in the UK and Belgium, but ETA remained a threat.

Another threat to French interests arose when ETA terrorists who had hitherto primarily targeted the Spanish government began a bombing campaign in France in conjunction with the ARB (Breton Revolutionary Army). As a result, French forces carried out raids in the Basque regions of France and extradited many ETA terrorists who were wanted in Spain. Many members of ARB were rounded up as well.

There was some good news in the battle against Corsican extremists as the population of Corsica became so disillusioned with the violence that they refused to support the FLNC, making it much more difficult for the terrorists to operate as the traditional code of silence was now sometimes broken to tip authorities to FLNC operations.

Although ETA had been relatively quiet in Spain, in the 1990s the Basque group began a new series of bombings and assassinations, the former especially directed against tourist resorts. There were also at least two attempts to assassinate King Juan Carlos. Raids against ETA in France had also netted intelligence about plans to assassinate French officials.

Islamic terrorists targeted Muslim countries as well as France and other Western nations. GIA targeted foreigners living in Algeria as well as carrying out bombings in Algiers. Egypt had been a target ever since its peace agreement with Israel. President Anwar Sadat had been assassinated in October 1981, and other terrorist acts had been committed on Egyptian soil over the next decade. The Egyptian military and police often responded in a Draconian manner.

By the early 1990s many Egyptian militants had returned from Afghanistan, where they had fought on the side of the Mujahideen and had become even more radicalized. Beginning in 1992, the terrorists targeted Egypt’s tourist industry with a series of bloody attacks at historical sites against foreign tourists, culminating in the November 1997 Luxor massacre. Egyptian Army officers and officials were targeted as well. During this decade, too, multiple assassination attempts were made on Egyptian President Mubarak. Egyptian targets abroad were not exempt either. For example, the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad was blown up in November 1995. Earlier in 1995 there had been an attempt on the life of President Mubarak by terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida. Mubarak was not the only Middle Eastern leader in al-Qaida’s sights, however, as there had also been an attempt to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Jordan in June 1993.

Egyptian Islamic fundamentalist terrorism was exported as well. In 1990, Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman came to the USA, where he organized cells that would be involved in various plots against U.S. targets.

Israel remained a prime target of terrorism during the 1990s as three groups—Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad—carried out suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and other operations against Israel. In October 1994, Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier, then killed him as a rescue was launched after an intense Israeli intelligence operation had located him. On that same day, October 19, a suicide bomber killed 22 and injured 47 in Tel Aviv. In an eye-for-an-eye campaign terrorists would carry out suicide bombings or other atrocities against the Israelis and Israel would target and kill leaders of Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or Hezbollah.

Certainly a landmark event in the current War Against Terror was the founding of al-Qaida in 1989 by Osama bin Laden and hundreds of veterans of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. By late 1991, bin Laden and many followers were based in Sudan. The first attack against U.S. interests generally credited to al-Qaida was the December 1992 bombing of a hotel in Aden used by U.S. personnel.

In February 1993 a truck bomb was exploded at the World Trade Center in New York City with extensive damage, loss of life, and injuries. In June 1993, through information from an informant, the FBI arrested terrorists planning to blow up targets around New York City. The most prominent among those arrested was Abdul Rahman Yasin.

By 1994, al-Qaida affiliate Abu Sayyaf was active in the Philippines with many of the fighters drawn from followers of Osama bin Laden who had been with him in Afghanistan. Ramzi Youssef, who was wanted by the FBI for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was in the Philippines developing bombs to be used on airliners throughout the Far East. However, a fire in his residence in January 1995 caused him to flee leaving behind a computer that became an intelligence treasure trove. The next month, U.S. agents and ISI agents captured Youssef in Islamabad.

Osama bin Laden considered the Saudi regime a primary target as well. In November 1995 and June 1996, al-Qaida-linked bombings at facilities housing U.S. personnel in Saudi Arabia allowed him to strike at both the USA and the House of Saud. In the latter attack at the Khobar Tower, 19 U.S. airmen were killed and 385 injured. Al-Qaida attacked U.S. interests again in August 1998, when a truck bomb at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killed more than 200 and injured more than 4,000, mostly Kenyans. Almost simultaneously, a bomb was exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, killing 11 and injuring 85.

During the 1990s, Iran attempted to export its own brand of Islamic terrorism around the world by financing terror in return for groups attacking targets designated by Iran. The large Shi’ite population in the triangle where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet was an aid to operations by Iranian-backed terrorists in Latin America. The large Jewish population in Argentina made it an especially appealing target. In March 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 29 and injuring many more. Hezbollah claimed responsibility. In July 1994, there was a more devastating bomb attack against a building housing Jewish organizations in Buenos Aires, resulting in 86 killed and over 200 injured. The day after this attack, a bomb on a commuter airliner in Panama killed many visiting Israeli businessmen.

Other countries in Latin America suffered terrorist attacks during the 1990s, especially Colombia and Peru. In Colombia, FARC was particularly active against the government and foreign businesses. Kidnapping had always been a source of revenue for guerillas in Colombia and during the 1990s more than a billion dollars was paid in ransom. In 1996 alone, more than 30 foreigners were kidnapped by FARC or ELN. The Colombian oil industry was also targeted by terrorists in a move to undermine the Colombian government economically. In Peru, both the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru remained active during the 1990s.

The most notorious hostage incident of the 1990s in Latin America began on December 17, 1996 when 14 members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement took more than 500 hostages at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence in Lima, Peru. The incident would drag on for more than four months, with all but 72 of the hostages being released during the negotiation phase. Eventually, 140 operators drawn from Peruvian police and military special operations units assaulted the residence. The rescue operation, which employed a tunnel that had been dug during the prolonged incident, took 22 minutes before the residence was completely cleared. During the assault, all terrorists were killed with the loss of one hostage and two operators; nine operators were injured. Despite the months that passed as the rescue was planned and for which preparations were made, Peruvian security forces kept good operational security, which allowed them to successfully carry out the rescue. Prolonged negotiations also lulled the terrorists into a sense of complacency, which was shattered when operators carried out an explosive entry directly under the residence!

The Kurdish separatist movement PKK committed escalating acts of terrorism against the Turks during the 1990s, particularly targeting the tourist industry.

India faced terrorist threats from Kashmiri separatists and also from the Tamil Tigers of the LTTE, who wanted to undermine Indian support for the Sri Lankan government. In May 1991, a female suicide bomber killed Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Often, encounters between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan security forces became full- scale battles with heavy casualties on both sides. Sri Lankan special ops troops suffered very heavy casualties fighting the LTTE. In fact, so many government troops were killed fighting against the Tamil Tigers that in 1998 nearly 20,000 troops deserted. By 1995, government troops and bases were under heavy threat of attack, as was the Sri Lankan tourist industry. In January 1996, a truck bomb in Colombo killed 91 and injured around 1,400. In March 1998, another vehicle bomb in Colombo killed 32 and injured more than 250.

Terrorism from the Muslim world hit Singapore in March 1991, when Pakistani terrorists hijacked a Singapore Airlines jet and demanded the release of the imprisoned husband of Benazir Bhutto. When negotiations failed to release the 123 hostages and it appeared likely the terrorists would start executing them, the Special Operations Force of the Singapore Commandos assaulted the aircraft, killing all four terrorists and freeing the hostages.

One of the most feared forms of terrorism struck Japan during the 1990s as a religious sect released nerve gas in June 1994, then in March 1995 placed containers of Sarin on commuter trains killing 10 and injuring up to 5,000.

There were substantial fears that terrorists would strike the USA at the Millennium. What could have, in fact, been a major terrorist attack was thwarted on December 14, 1999 when a U.S. Customs officer noticed a man, subsequently identified as Ahmed Ressam, acting suspiciously and detained him. Within his vehicle they found explosives and timing devices. One of his intended targets was LAX (Los Angeles International Airport).

As the new century dawned in 2000, al-Qaida continued to target the USA as shown by the October attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Aden, killing 17 sailors and wounding 40 others. Among other terrorist acts of 2000 that stand out is the bombing of churches on Christmas Eve in Indonesia, killing 17 and injuring more than 150.

Thai operators rescued 700 hostages at a hospital in Ratchaburi, Thailand, in January 2000. Ten terrorists from God’s Army, a faction of the ethnic Karen rebel movement, had taken the hostages and held them during a 24-hour siege. The Thai rescue team stormed the hospital and killed all ten hostage-takers with no loss of life to the hostages.

2001 started off as a prime year for terrorist attacks as FARC exploded a car bomb in a Medellín, Colombia, shopping center resulting in 50 or more injuries. In Russia, Chechen terrorists killed 20 and injured 93 in bomb blasts in three Russian cities near the Chechen border. In Colombia, during the month of May, bomb attacks hit the major cities of Cali, Bogotá, and Medellín resulting in 15 deaths and many more injuries. In July, a suicide squad of Tamil Tigers destroyed or damaged 20 aircraft at Sri Lanka’s International airport and killed 7 airport workers or soldiers. Suicide bombers continued to be a threat in Israel with an August 2001, attack resulting in 7 deaths and 130 injured.

The most horrendous attack of 2001 occurred on September 11, when hijacked aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, resulting in 2,997 deaths and launching the USA into a battle against terrorism that goes on as this is written. U.S. and allied antiterrorist forces would cause the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and would hunt al-Qaida-linked terrorists around the globe as a result of these attacks.

Near the end of 2001, on December 13, an attack by Kashmiri terrorists based in Pakistan on India’s Parliament resulted in the death of seven plus the five terrorists and the injuring of another dozen. The attack increased tensions between India and Pakistan and led to increased troop deployments along the border.

The number of major terrorist incidents in 2002 that could be linked to al-Qaida was particularly significant, though other terrorist groups around the world remained active as well. Although only one hostage died: the January kidnapping and brutal murder of journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan individualized the threat of Islamic terrorism for many Americans.

Colombia continued to face kidnappings, assassinations, and bombings by FARC. Major bombings took place in January with 5 killed and 40 injured; in April with 12 killed and 70 injured; and in December (in two attacks just four days apart), killing one and injuring more than 50. Elsewhere in Latin America, in March a car bomb near the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, killed 9 and injured at least 30.

The suicide bombing offensive against Israel became even more bloody in 2002 with the March 27 “Passover Massacre” that took the lives of 30 and injured 140. Just four days later, another Hamas suicide bomber in Haifa killed 15 and injured over 40. On June 18, a suicide bomber on a bus in Jerusalem killed 19 and injured at least 74. Later in the year, on November 21, another Hamas suicide bomber detonated a bomb aboard another Jerusalem bus, killing 11 and injuring more than 50. Another major disaster was averted when a diesel truck was detonated in a gas depot at Pe Gillot. The death of hundreds was averted when a sprinkler system put out the fire before the entire depot went up. Jews were the target in April, when an al-Qaida member drove a natural gas truck filled with explosives into a synagogue in Tunisia killing 21 and injuring more than 30.

The Russians suffered a major terrorist attack by Chechens when a bomb explosion at the Victory Day celebrations at Kaspiisk in Dagestan killed 42 or more and injured at least 130. Near the end of the year, on December 27, a truck bomb at the Chechen Parliament in Grozny killed 83.

The most noteworthy incident involving the Chechens, however, occurred on October 23, when Chechen terrorists seized the Nord Ost Theater in Moscow along with hundreds of hostages. The large number of terrorists involved—40 to 50,including female suicide bombers—made planning a rescue very difficult. However, the Russian national hostage rescue unit, FSB Alpha, planned a rescue using Fentanyl gas to knock out the terrorists and the hostages and allow an entry. Given the large number of hostages and terrorists, and the presence of a massive amount of explosives—enough to bring down the entire theater—there were sound arguments for the Russian decision to use gas. However, plans had not been made to give medical assistance to the large number of hostages affected by the gas and 120 hostages died along with 40 terrorists.

Islamic extremists, often fighters for Kashmiri independence, continued to target India. In May 2002, terrorists cut the rails near Jaunpur causing a train crash that killed 12. Another train derailment in September caused by suspected Naxalite terrorists killed 130 people. Still another train derailment caused by Islamic extremists killed 20 near Kurnool, India, in December. In another incident that did not target the Indian rail system, in September, two terrorists from a Jaish-e-Mohammed group attacked the Akshardham Temple complex in Ahmedabad, India, killing 30 and injuring numerous others.

Elsewhere in South Asia, the October 12 bombing in Bali killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists. Many of the tourists were from Australia and may have been targeted because of Australian support for the U.S.-led War on Terror. Five days later, bombings at Zamboanga in the Philippines killed 6 and wounded around 150.

In 2003, Colombia remained under constant threat from FARC guerillas as there were at least a dozen significant bombing attacks including one on February 7 at the El Nogal nightclub in Bogotá that resulted in 36 dead and over 200 injured and another a week later in Neiva that resulted in 18 killed, including the Chief Prosecutor and Chief of Police, plus 37 injured. Although FARC was responsible for most attacks, ELN is believed to have been responsible for a March 5 attack at a covered parking garage in Cucuta that killed 6 and injured 68. Serious attacks began again in the fall with bombings in September, October, and November in Chita, Florencia, and Bogotá, resulting in 26 deaths and over 150 injuries. FARC is believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

Israel faced continued attacks from suicide bombers in 2003 as well. On March 5 a Hamas suicide bomber killed 17 and injured 53 on a Haifa bus. In another bombing aboard a Jerusalem bus, a Hamas suicide bomber killed 23 and wounded more than 130. On October 4, a suicide bomber killed 21 and wounded 51 at a Haifa restaurant.

Russia, meanwhile, fell prey to bomb attacks from Chechen terrorists. On July 5, 15 were killed and 40 injured by a bomb at a rock festival in Moscow. Then, on August 1, an explosion at a Russian hospital in Mozdok, North Ossetia, killed 50 and injured 76. Another bomb blast struck a passenger train in southern Russia on September 3, killing 7 and injuring 90. Early December saw two more high-profile bombings—one on the 5th, when suicide bombers killed at least 46 on a train in southern Russia and a second on the 9th, when a blast in Red Square. Moscow, killed 6 and injured at least 11. There were bomb attacks within Chechnya as well. A truck bomb killed 59 in Znamenskoye on May 12 and a suicide bombing at a religious festival in southeastern Chechnya took 16 lives two days later.

Among other significant attacks in 2003 was one In the Philippines; a March bomb attack on the airport in Davao killed 21. Another bombing on a housing compound for Americans working in Saudi Arabia in May killed 26 and injured 160. Also in May, bombers linked to al-Qaida attacked five targets associated with the West or Jews, resulting in 41 dead and over 100 injured. In August, the Canal Hotel in Baghdad was bombed, killing 22 and injuring over 100. Also in August, two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India, killed 48 and injured 150. In November, two bomb attacks a few days apart struck synagogues, a British Consulate, and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank In Istanbul, Turkey, killing 57 and injuring more than 700.

Although there were fewer terrorist incidents around the world in 2004 than in 2003, the number killed was higher as many of the incidents involved very large numbers of casualties. Bus attacks in Israel continued with the January 29 suicide attack on a Jerusalem bus that killed 11 and injured more than 50. Although there were other deaths by terrorism in Israel during the year, tightening of entry from Palestinian areas to Israel cut the number of suicide bombings on buses and in commercial areas but made the checkpoints a new target. Outside Israel, three car bombs in the Sinai Peninsula in October killed 34 and injured 171, many Israeli or other foreign tourists.

Attacks against the Russians by Chechen terrorists were numerous in 2004. In February a bomb on the Moscow Metro killed 41, then, in October, aircraft bombings killed another 90. A week later, on August 31, another Moscow subway station was targeted, resulting in 10 killed and 33 injured.

But the most horrendous attack was at Beslan School, where around 50 Chechen terrorists took between 1,100 and 1,200 hostages on September 1, the opening of school. Having learned from the assault on the Nord Ost Theater, the terrorists planted explosives around the building with “dead man’s switches” that would set them off should the terrorist on the pedal switch be killed. The terrorists also took Draconian action, killing a large number of male hostages and throwing them out of the windows. Early on, it became apparent to Russian negotiators that this was not an incident that was likely to be “negotiated out.” The intent of the terrorists seemed to be to kill as many hostages as possible. Units from FSB Alpha and Vympel as well as Army Spetsnaz were on the scene and began practicing for an assault, but they faced many problems, not the least of which was the large number of relatives of hostages who were on the scene drunk and armed. Eventually, an accidental explosion of some of the booby traps on the third day of the incident started the terrorists killing hostages, which forced operators from Alpha and Vympel to go in, though the assault was not well coordinated. Snipers found themselves forced to give covering fire to escaping hostages who were being shot by terrorists from the windows. By the time the assault ended, 344 hostages had died. The Alpha and Vympel operators performed courageously, often placing themselves between escaping hostages and terrorist bullets. This incident has been a wake-up call to antiterrorist units around the world that massive hostage incidents such as this with large numbers of terrorists cannot be handled in the surgical manner for which the units train. It has also shown that in such incidents, a substantial number of snipers armed with self-loading tactical rifles may be necessary to engage the maximum number of terrorists.

In February, Abu Sayyaf bombed a ferry in the Philippines, resulting in the deaths of 116; this was only one of many attacks by al-Qaida-affiliated groups during the year. Among others were the coordinated bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, which killed 191 and injured more than 1,500. In May, 22 died in the attack on an oil compound at Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia. In August, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for bombings outside restaurants in Dubai where 37 died and around 200 were injured. Then, in December, an al-Qaida-linked group attacked the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, resulting in the death of five local employees.

On March 2, attacks against Shia Muslim processions in Iraq and Pakistan caused the deaths of 224 and the injury of over 650.

The year 2005 saw a rash of bombings and attacks by gunmen in Thailand. One of the largest occurred on February 17 when a car bomb outside a hotel killed 7 and injured 40. Many of the attacks targeted Buddhists. Muslim extremists were linked to many of the bombings. Nearby in Myanmar (formerly Burma), on May 7, multiple bombings in Yangon killed 19 and injured 160.

On February 14, a car bomb in Beirut killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri as well as 20 others. April attacks employing bombs and gunmen targeted foreign tourists. On July 23, a much more massive blow to Egyptian tourism was struck when car bombs exploded at tourist sites around Sharm el-Sheikh, killing at least 88 and wounding more than 100.

In June, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 20. Jordan was targeted as well for supporting the U.S. War on Terror as explosions at three hotels in Amman, Jordan, on November 9 killed 60 and injured 120.

London was targeted on July 7 as bombs on a bus and in underground stations killed 56 and injured over 700. Two weeks later, attempted bombings on another bus and in three underground stations caused minor damage.

India faced terrorist attacks in July when a bomb on a commuter train killed 13, then again in October when multiple bomb blasts in a market in Delhi killed 61 or more and injured more than 200. Bangladesh also faced terrorist bombs on August 17 as about 100 improvised bombs exploded around the country.

Russia faced fewer attacks within Russia during 2005, but in October, Chechen rebels attacked Russian government buildings in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. During the fighting 137 died, including 92 of the terrorists.

Although there were fewer bombings in Israel during 2005, the Jewish state was not exempt as a February suicide bomber killed five in Tel Aviv and another in Hadera during October Israel killed 6 and injured 26.

In 2006, a large-scale bombing campaign in Iraq accounted for hundreds of lives and thousands of injures. There were also numerous attacks in Afghanistan. Other terrorist groups, some of which had been relatively quiet for months, struck during 2006 in Northern Ireland, Thailand, and Colombia. On February 1, the South Korean Embassy in Damascus was targeted by extremists linked to al-Qaida resulting in the deaths of 23, 7 of whom were Korean. This attack was most likely because of South Korea’s support for the U.S. War on Terror. In April, bombings in Dahab, Egypt, killed 23 and injured 62 others.

Other than in Iraq and Afghanistan, though, the most consistent attacks were against India. In March, bombings in the Holy City of Varanasi killed 28 and injured more than 100. Then, in July, new attacks on commuter trains in Mumbai killed 209 and injured 714. In August, a bomb at a Hindu temple near Imphal killed 5 and injured nearly 50 more. Finally, in November, a bomb exploded on a train in West Bengal killing at least 8 and injuring many more. Most likely in revenge for attacks against Hindus, in September, a bomb blast at a Muslim cemetery in Malegaon killed 37 and injured 125 others.

Sectarian violence among Muslims accounted for a substantial number of terrorist acts during 2006. For example, in April, a suicide bomber in Karachi, Pakistan, killed 57 Sunni worshippers. Elsewhere in Pakistan, an attack by a pro-Taliban group on a church in Rawalpindi killed 67, including 23 Americans. Pakistani investigators believed that a local Sunni cleric had ordered the attack.

In Sri Lanka, during June, LTTE killed 68 and injured around 60 in an attack on a bus. Later in the year, during September, an LTTE suicide bomber rammed an explosive-filled truck into a bus transporting Sri Lankan sailors, killing at least 92.

In November, the assassination of anti-Syrian politician Perre Amine Gemayel was blamed on Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, and resulted in large-scale demonstrations and calls around the world for Syria to pull out of Lebanon. In Israel, the suicide bombing offensive had abated somewhat, but on April 17, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 and injured 70. In Somalia, an attempted assassination of President Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed involving a suicide bomber on September 18 claimed the life of the President’s brother as well as four bodyguards. During the subsequent gun battle six other assassins were killed.

Europe was not exempt from terrorist attacks during 2006. In addition to bombings of various stores in Belfast by the Real IRA in November, the Germans foiled an attack on the rail system in July and arrested Islamic militants who were allegedly incensed over satirical Danish cartoons of Muhammad. In August, British police disrupted a plot to place bombs on aircraft flying from Heathrow Airport to the USA. In Norway, during September, Muslim extremists opened fire on a synagogue in Oslo. The extremists were captured and it was discovered that they had also planned to attack the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Oslo. Finally, the year ended with a bombing at Madrid Airport on December 30.

Some of the largest terrorist incidents during 2007 took place in Iraq as extremist groups attacked fellow Muslims, either because of their brand of Islam or because they were serving in the police or military of the Iraqi state. American troops and civilian contractors as well as other foreigners were also targeted. Bombing attacks in Iraq often kill in the hundreds.

In nearby Pakistan, the number of terrorist attacks in 2007 seemed to be on the rise. On January 27 in Peshawar, a suicide bombing hit a Shia religious procession killing 14 and injuring 30. Just the day before, a suicide bomber had blown himself up attempting to enter a Marriott hotel in Islamabad. On February 17 in Quetta, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a courtroom killing 15 and injuring 24. Some of the attacks were motivated by religious differences, but others were strikes against the government for taking a hard line against Islamic militants. This targeting of government officials was illustrated in bloody fashion on April 28, when Pakistan’s Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao (the official in charge of many law enforcement functions) was targeted by a suicide bomber when making a speech. He was slightly injured but 28 were killed and 35 injured in the blast. (Sherpao was targeted again on December 21, when a suicide bombing at a mosque where he was worshipping killed at least 50.) On May 15, a bomb in a restaurant in Peshawar killed around 24 people.

Between July 3 and 11, pro-Taliban/al-Qaida forces occupied the Red Mosque in Islamabad and took hostages. In a battle that concluded after the Pakistanis used a Predator drone to gather intelligence, on July 10, after negotiations broke down, the SSG and Pakistani elite police plus some supporting military units assaulted and retook the mosque. During the prolonged siege, 1,096 people either came out of the mosque or were rescued. Ten members of the SSG were killed and 33 injured during the operation. Many civilians were killed during the siege and numerous civilians and troops were injured. It is difficult to put an exact number to the terrorists killed, as some of those classified as civilian dead may have actually been fighters. Seventy-five bodies were recovered from the mosque at the end of the operation, all or most presumed to have been terrorists. Included in those holding the mosque were foreign al-Qaida fighters including Uzbeks, Egyptians, and Afghans.

During one week in July, more than 150 were killed in Pakistan in incidents resulting from the assault on the Red Mosque by the Pakistani Army. The attacks were organized by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who had also been involved with those who took the mosque. On September 4 in Rawalpindi, two bomb blasts, one on a bus transporting government employees, killed at least 21 and injured 74. On October 1, a suicide bomber disguised as a woman killed at least 15 and injured 22 in Bannu.

In a preview of the unrest that would accompany the return of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, on October 18, twin suicide bombings with suspected Taliban/al-Qaida links struck Bhutto’s motorcade, killing 136 and injuring 387. Bhutto was uninjured. But she was not as lucky on December 27 as an assassin shot at her then blew himself up, killing at least 20. Bhutto died in the attack causing widespread belief that elements of Pervez Musharraf’s government had been involved in the attack. As an interesting side note for this book since the Pakistani Special Service Group (SSG), which has the antiterrorism mission for Pakistan, will be discussed, some conspiracy theorists in Pakistan believe that Musharraf, a former officer in the SSG, used snipers from the unit to eliminate Bhutto.

Although Pakistan has been active in the War on Terror, the elements within the ISI (Pakistani intelligence) and the Army sympathetic to al-Qaida and the Taliban, combined with the large number of terrorists sheltering in the Tribal Lands along the frontier with Afghanistan, have contributed to instability in Pakistan, an instability that has certainly spilled over in terrorist acts against India as well.

Among the larger attacks in India during the year were another train bombing in February against the Samjhauta Express, which killed 68 and injured 49, and an abortive attack in June against Rajshahi University and other nearby targets. Jadid al-Qaedi claimed credit for the latter attempts. India also had interests in Sri Lanka, where a bus was bombed on January 5 and a resort on January 6; in the two attacks 21 died and 54 were injured. Later in June, Sri Lankan security forces discovered two large truck bombs in Trincomalee and Colombo and managed to defuse them before they exploded. Also in June, a bomb in the city of Yala killed one and injured 28.

Islamic terrorists continued to be active around the Middle East during 2007. An Islamist insurgency began in Somalia in early 2007 with the first car bomb exploding in Mogadishu early in February. In June, a car bomb attack on the Somali Prime Minister’s house killed 6 guards and injured 20 others, though the Prime Minister was unscathed. Also in North Africa, on April 11 two suicide car bombers killed 33 and injured 222 in Algiers. Al-Qaida took credit. In December, more bombings in Algiers killed 37 and injured 177.

Saudi Arabia took preemptive action against terrorists in April, arresting 172 suspected al-Qaida terrorists involved in plots to use civilian aircraft for suicide attacks on oil facilities and military installations. Again in December, the Saudis pre-empted terrorist acts by arresting 28 al-Qaida militants.

In Turkey, a May bombing at a market in Izmir killed 1 and injured 14 others. Later that month, a suicide bombing in an Ankara shopping district killed 6 and injured many more. In June, a bomb outside of a store in Istanbul injured 14. In December, Turkish police stopped another bomber in Istanbul outside of a subway station. The Turks also faced attacks from PKK militants in 2007 leading to a threatened Turkish invasion of Kurdish areas of Iraq. In one attempted infiltration of Iraq, U.S. troops detained Turkish special forces personnel.

In the Philippines, there were bombings throughout the year. In June, Nairobi was hit by a blast just outside the Ambassador Hotel which killed one and injured 37 others. French tourists were killed in Mauritania on Christmas Eve by a group linked to al-Qaida.

Although tightened security at border crossings made Israel safer from suicide bombers, there were still incidents throughout the year, including a suicide bombing in January; two Israelis were shot by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades in October; Hamas launched rockets into Israel in May; and two Israeli hikers were killed by members of Fatah in December. In May, Israeli security forces stopped two female suicide bombers attempting to cross from the Gaza Strip. In November, Israeli soldiers shot and killed three suicide bombers attempting to enter Israel by climbing the Gaza fence.

Terrorism continued to threaten the West as well, especially Western Europe and U.S. interests abroad. In June, Canadian police arrested 18 conspirators for planning to blow up the Parliament and behead the Prime Minister as well as attacking other targets. Virtually at the same time, authorities in New York thwarted a plan to blow up the fuel pipeline that feeds John F. Kennedy Airport, an attack that would have likely killed or injured a great many who live nearby. Toward the end of June, Glasgow Airport was targeted by al-Qaida-linked bombers, while two other bombs were set off in London. No one was seriously injured in the attacks and eight were arrested. In September, another group of attacks was foiled in Germany as suspects were arrested before they could carry out attacks against Frankfurt Airport, Ramstein Air Base, and schools attended by American dependants. The group had links to al-Qaida. In October, an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Vienna was thwarted and the suspects were arrested. Later in October, there was a suicide attack on an Amsterdam police station in which two Dutch police officers were stabbed before one of the injured officers shot and killed the terrorist. On December 6, a bomb in Paris killed one and injured one.

Although Russia did not face anything as horrendous as the Beslan School massacre in 2007, there were still some serious terrorist incidents. Among the most noteworthy was the derailing of a Moscow–St. Petersburg train in August that injured 60 and a November bombing of a bus in North Ostia that killed 5 and injured 13.

Attacks by FARC in Colombia were a constant throughout the year. Among the more serious, many of which targeted police officers, was a bombing in March in Buenaventura that killed 16 and injured 16. In April, a bomb targeting police headquarters killed 1 and injured 30. Nine anti-narcotics police officers were killed in May by a FARC roadside bomb. The next day 10 soldiers were killed by another roadside bomb.

One thing that becomes apparent with this overview of terrorist incidents and the development of the response is that over the last decade, terrorists have learned to fear the antiterrorist units who carry out hostage rescue operations. As a result, they avoid these types of incident. A bomb is harder to counter, especially if it is an “Islamic Smart Bomb” (i.e. a suicide bomber). Although antiterrorist units must continue to train for rescue operations, other than their alert section, which remains at home ready to deal with a hostage incident, today many of the most elite antiterrorist units have much of their unit deployed on preemptive operations. Hostage rescue units, close protection teams, and air marshals, however, remain reactive forces. In many cases today, antiterrorist units are used proactively, whether to act upon intelligence and strike against terrorists before they can launch an operation or by taking the fight to the terrorists in safe havens in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Somalia, or elsewhere. Many antiterrorist units now operate on the assumption that if they can eliminate as many terrorists as possible in Afghanistan or elsewhere, they will be less likely to have to react to an incident in their home country planned by these same terrorists in the future.