Over the years terrorist activities have become more pronounced across the world with terrorist groups proudly claiming responsibilities of the same. And as such, it is challenging to discern which attacks have massive impacts compared to the rest; because timing and location, rather than the number of causalities are the factors to consider. It is on the same line of thought that I think the following three terrorist attacks are the ones that had the strongest impact all over the world.
Air India Flight 182.
The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings.
1993 World Trade Centre Bombing.
Air India Flight 182
On 23 rd June 1985 an Indian passenger plane, Boeing 747-237B flying from Toronto Canada never made it to its destination in Delhi India as it was bombed mid-air at an altitude of 31,000 feet (Sawe, 2017). The blast killed all the 329 passengers on board in what was believed to be an attack by the Sikh militant group Babber Khalisa. The attack remains to be Canada’s worst terror attack seeing as it was the first bombing of a 747 jumbo jet.
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The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings
Three days before Spain went to the 14 th March 2004 general elections, Madrid experienced a series of simultaneous, coordinated bombings against its Cercanias commuter train system that left 192 people dead and injured over 2,000 (Hodges & Nilep, 2007). The Spanish judiciary believed that the explosions were directed by an al-Qaeda terrorist cell even though the group never came forward to claim responsibility. The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in the history of Spain.
1993 World Trade Center Bombing
The World Trade Center in New York, USA first experienced its deadliest attacks on February 26 th , 1993 after a bombed truck detonated below the North Tower of the center killing six people and injuring over 1000. The explosion, which was executed by the al-Qaeda group, was initially intended to crush the North Tower into the Southern Tower, bringing both wings of the Center down to kill tens of thousands (Parachini, 2000). This was the first al-Qaida attack on America.
As shown above, the timing of an attack is what gives it magnitude, rather than the number of casualties, or the forces targeted.
References
Hodges, A., & Nilep, C. (2007). Discourse, war and terrorism (p. 205). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Parachini, J. (2000). World Trade Center Bombers (1993) . Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=191595
Sawe, B. (2017). Worst Terrorist Attacks in World History, Worldatlas . Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst-terrorist-attacks-in-history.html
