Timeline of Osama Bin Laden’s life, attacks, end

By Satya Nagendra Padala | May 02 2011 9:22 AM

Osama bin Laden has been killed in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital Islamabad and his body has been recovered by U.S. authorities, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

REUTERS

In a will written three months after the September 11 US attacks, founder of Al-Qaeda organization Osama Bin Laden has apologized to his wives and children for neglecting them throughout their lives.

Sponsorship Link

Timeline of Osama Bin Laden’s life and attacks:

1957: Born on March 10 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden was the 17th of 52 children Muhammad Awad bin Laden, a wealthy businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family, had.

1976: Studied economics and business administration at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. Some reports suggest he earned a degree in civil engineering too in 1979.

1979: Bin Laden joined Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar Abdullah Azzam to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. He became the chief financier of the organization, which evolved into al-Qaeda.

1984: Bin Laden established Maktab al-Khadamat, which funneled money arms and Muslim fighters from around the Arabic world into the Afghan war.

1986 - Bin Laden moved to Peshawar, began importing arms and formed his own brigade of volunteer fighters.

1988: Bin Laden had split from Maktab al-Khidamat and established al-Qaida, an organization of ex-mujahedeen and other supporters. The main reason behind spilt from Maktab al-Khidamat and establishes al-Qaida was Azzam's insistence that Arab fighters be integrated among the Afghan fighting groups instead of forming a separate fighting force.

1989: Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to work for the family construction firm after the Soviets pull out of Afghanistan. There he used his network to raise funds for veterans of the Afghan war.

1991: Bin Laden expelled from Saudi Arabia as he continued to speak publicly against the Saudi government for harboring American troops.

Feb 1993: The first World Trade Center attack and the first al-Qaeda terrorist attack on America was carried out killing six and injuring hundreds. Six Muslim radicals, whom the US officials suspect have links to bin Laden, are eventually convicted for the bombing.

1994: The Saudi government revokes bin Laden citizenship and freezes his assets after he issued fatwas, or Islamic religious pronouncements, denouncing both the royal family and the United States.

Nov 1995: A truck bomb exploded near the Saudi National Guard Communications Center in central Riyadh, killing five American soldiers and two Indian police. The attack is attributed to bin Laden's group, which did not claim responsibility but made clear its support for those responsible.

June 1996: A truck loaded with explosives destroyed a building at the US military base of Khobar in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen American servicemen were killed and 386 were wounded.

August 1996: Bin Laden formally declared a holy war against the US forces.

August 1998: Suicide bombings on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania kill 224 people including 12 Americans. The United States indicted bin Laden for role in embassy bombings.

2000: The destroyer U.S.S. Cole was attacked while refueling in Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed.

Sept 11, 2001: Two hijacked US airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and a third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington, killing more than 3,000 people.

Sept 13, 2001: the US government named bin Laden as a principal suspect for coordinating the attacks in New York and Washington.

Dec. 26, 2001 - Bin Laden said in a video that the 9/11 suicide attacks were intended to stop the US support for Israel.

Nov. 2002 - Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for three suicide car bombs which blew up the Mombasa Paradise resort hotel full of Israelis, killing 15 other people and wounding 80.

2003-2007: Al-Qaeda continued to release time-sensitive and professionally-verified videos demonstrating Bin Laden's continued survival as recently as August 2007.

September 2007: Osama bin Laden appeared in his first videotape in nearly three years, to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Jan. 24, 2010 - Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the failed Dec. 25 bombing of US airliner in an audio tape and threatened more strikes on US targets.

Aug. 2010 – US gets initial lead on Osama’s hideout in Pakistan and President Barack Obama ordered an all-out mission to capture him alive or kill him.

May 1, 2011: President Barack Obama announced late night on Sunday that Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan and his body was recovered.