Based on the perspective of people to a situation,terrorist definition varies from place to place. So basing on what the larger population in the world condemned and perceived as terrorism, we hereby come up with a list of the worst terrorist attacks to have happened in the world over. Terrorism is no longer a phenomenon that can be ignored by masses as it is rampant in the present times with extremists seeking weapons of mass destructions and making the threat real everywhere.
Top 10 biggest terrorist attacks in the world include:
10. Bombing of USS Cole
In this attack, 17 lost their lives and 39 were injured. It happened on October 12, 2000. In this attack, a suicide bomber attacked the American Warship USS Cole when it was in port at Aden, Yemen in transit to transport fuel. It is this same port that earlier in the year, Al Qaeda had attempted an attack on the USS The Sullivans and failed.
9. Anthrax Letter Attacks
5 died and 17 were injured in this terrorist attack. It happened weeks after the 9/11 attacks where, on September 18 and October 9, 2001, letters containing the agent Anthrax in powder form were mailed to two senators and several media news outlets. The notes enclosed pointed to the extremist groups, but later investigations suspected Dr. Bruce Ivins who, was working for Federal bio-defense lab. Before investigations were completed, Dr. Bruce committed suicide but the final investigations pointed out that he was behind it all.
8. Salmonella Attack
It happened on September 19, 1984 in Oregon, where several people were injured by the Salmonella attack. A total of 750 people were affected. It was an attack by a cultic group called Rajneeshee who were led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an Indian mystic. He wanted to incapacitate voters so that the Indians gain control of one of the open seat on the local circuit court. 10 restaurants were contaminated with salmonella and two county commissioners drinking water were contaminated with the virus.
7. Mid Air Bombing of Pan AM Flight 103
In this attack, 270 lost their lives and 12 were injured. It happened on December 21, 1988 when the AM flight 103 was coming from Heathrow to JFK. It exploded in mid air in Scotland over the town of Lockebie. All passengers and crew overboard were killed and the injuries were caused by the flying debris which injured residents. Several extremist claimed responsibility and investigation indeed showed that a bomb did cause the explosion.
6. Bombing of Marine Barracks
On October 23, 1983 in Lebanon, a UN compound which housed US Marines and French Paratroopers was bombed killing 241 US servicemen. The truck bombs had TNT weighing 12,000 pounds. The Islamic Jihad which was aligned to the Hezbollah claimed responsibility claiming the unwanted presence of the Americans in the area.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.