UNCLASSIFIED Chronology of Key Events As of 3/10/2004 6:48 PM
CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS Dec 1979 through Sep 2001 As of 3/10/2004 6:48 PM The Early Years December 26, 1979
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
August 17-20, 1988
Al Qaeda is founded
February 15, 1989
Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan
December 1992
Al Qaeda attacks hotel in Yemen quartering U.S. military personnel
January 1993
Kansi attacks cars at CIA HQ, kills three CIA employees
February 26, 1993
First terrorist attack is made on the World Trade Center in New York by Ramzi Yousef.
March 1994
Bin Ladin is stripped of Saudi citizenship
1995 Early 1995
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is discovered in Doha, Qatar.
February 10, 1995
Ramzi Yousef is sent from Pakistan to the United States to stand trial for the 26 Feb 93 attack on the World Trade Center
March 1995
Bin Ladin is seen as a terrorist financier by U.S. intelligence
March 20, 1995
Aum Shinrikyo conducts sarin gas attack in Tokyo subway
April 19, 1995
Timothy McVeigh conducts Oklahoma City bombing
November 13, 1995
OPM/SANG conducts Riyadh bombing
1996 May 1996
Bin Ladin moves to Afghanistan when Sudan expels him
June 25, 1996
Khobar Towers is bombed
Chronology of Key Events UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED Chronology of Key Events As of 3/10/2004 6:48 PM
August 23, 1996
Bin Ladin issues first fatwa
September 1996
Taliban forces occupy Kabul and assert control over Afghanistan 1997
May 1997
Saudis and Pakistanis formally recognize the Taliban government
June 1997
Kansi is taken into custody in Pakistan and rendered to the United States to stand trial. 1998
February 22,1998
Bin Ladin issues second fatwa
April-May 1998
War in Afghanistan: significant fighting between Taliban and Northern Alliance
May 11-13, 1998
India conducts nuclear test
May 28, 1998
Pakistan conducts nuclear test
June 10, 1998
U.S. indicts Bin Ladin (under seal)
August 7, 1998
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed
August 20, 1998
U.S. military conducts Operation INFINITE REACH with cruise missile strikes against targets in Afghanistan and Sudan
September 1998
Saudi Arabia suspends diplomatic relations with the Taliban 1999
March/April 1999
Spring fighting in Afghanistan begins
Late May 1999
Kargil crisis begins
October 12, 1999
President Sharif is ousted by General Musharif
October 15, 1999
UNSC adopts first resolution 1267 imposing sanctions on Taliban
November, 1999
In Jordan, the first bombing plot cell is arrested before the Millennium. Other arrests follow
Chronology of Key Events UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED Chronology of Key Events As of 3/10/2004 6:48 PM
December 14, 1999
US Border Patrol arrests Ahmed Ressam along Canadian border with bomb-making gear intended for LAX.
December 15, 1999
In Jordan, the second bombing plot cell is arrested 2000
January 3, 2000
Potential al Qaeda attack on USS Sullivans fails in Yemen
October 12, 2000
USS Cole is attacked
2001 September 9, 2001
AQ assassinates Masood.
September 11,2001
AQ terrorists attack of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
October 7, 2001
U.S. military launches Operation ENDURING FREEDOM
Chronology of Key Events UNCLASSIFIED
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