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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
1994 APRIL: PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, 1993

Department of State Publication 10136

Office of the Secretary
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism


THE YEAR IN REVIEW


There were 427 international terrorist attacks in 1993, an increase from the 364 incidents recorded in 1992. The main reason for the increase was an accelerated terrorism campaign perpetrated by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) against Turkish interests. Most of the group's 150 attacks took place on only two days, 24 June and 4 November, and were staged throughout Western Europe. Had it not been for these two days of coordinated attacks, the level of terrorism would have continued the downward trend of recent years.

Anti-US attacks fell to 88 last year from the 142 recorded in 1992. Approximately 21 percent of the international terrorist attacks last year were directed at US targets [2].

The one international terrorist "spectacular" was the 26 February bombing of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. This massive explosion left a 30 x 30- meter (100 X 100-foot) opening in the underground parking garage, scattered debris throughout an adjacent subway station, and filled all 110 floors of the north tower with smoke. The effects of the blast and the ensuing fire and smoke caused six deaths and 1,000 injuries.

The six dead, all Americans, were John DiGiovanni of Valley Stream, New York; Robert Kirkpatrick of Suffern, New York; Steve Knapp of New York City; Monica Smith of Seaford, New York; William Macko of Bayonne, New Jersey; and Wilfredo Mercado of Brooklyn, New York.

The WTC bombing is considered an act of international terrorism because of the political motivations that spurred the attack and because most of the suspects who have been arrested are foreign nationals. However, the FBI has not found evidence that a foreign government was responsible for the bombing.

Some of the suspects arrested in the case are closely linked to others arrested in July in a thwarted plot to blow up selected targets in New York City, including the United Nations building and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. Umar Abd al-Rahman, the Muslim cleric from Egypt who resided in New Jersey, and several of his followers were indicted in connection with this plot and were charged with conspiracy. The case went to trial in September 1993, and four suspects were convicted in March 1994.

The WTC bombing was the only terrorist attack in 1993 that produced American fatalities. Two Americans, Jill Papineau and Raymond Matthew Chico, were wounded when a bomb exploded in a cafe in Cairo, Egypt, on the same day as the WTC bombing. Three people were killed, and 16 others were wounded in the cafe bombing.

Western Europe had more international terrorist incidents in 1993-- 180 attacks--than any other region, primarily because of the two waves of PKK violence. The Middle East had the next highest number-- 101--followed by Latin America with 97.

Iran remains the world's most active and most dangerous state sponsor of terrorism, through its own state agents and the radical groups it supports. Iraq also continues to sponsor terrorism. Iraq planned to assassinate former President George Bush during his visit to Kuwait in April, and its agents were responsible for numerous attacks on international humanitarian and relief Personnel in Iraq.

Last year 109 people were killed in terrorist attacks, and 1,393 were wounded, the highest casualty total in five years.


[2] We have not included in our terrorism data base the 25 January 1993 shooting outside CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in which two CIA employees were killed and three others wounded. Mir Aimal Kansi, who is being sought in connection with the attack and is still at large, is not known to be affiliated with a terrorist group or to be an agent of a foreign government.
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