9781422277119

Even before 1998, some Muslims who were not part of Al-Qaeda shared bin Laden’s desire for a jihad, or “holy war,” against Americans. One of them was Ramzi Yousef, who came to New York City in 1992 determined to carry out a terrorist attack in the city. He finally decided to try to blow up the World Trade Center. On February 26, 1993, a rental truck packed with explosives blew up in the garage underneath the Twin Towers at the center. The blast created a hole several stories deep, killed six people, and injured more than 1,000. But the explosion didn’t do what Yousef hoped it would—cause one tower to collapse onto the other and kill thousands of people.

The 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center was one of the first times terror- ists had hit US targets.

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