Big Apple bore the brunt of terror attacks in US
By IANSWednesday, May 5, 2010
WASHINGTON - New York City has borne the brunt of terrorist attacks in the US over the past four decades — the vast majority of them involving bombs or explosives.
The research is based on data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the world’s most comprehensive, unclassified collection of terror incidents.
“Explosives are by far the weapon of choice for terrorists in New York City,” says Gary LaFree, who directs University of Maryland-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and the GTD.
“Of all terror attacks in New York City from 1970 to 2007, 70 percent involved bombs or explosives,” said LaFree.
LaFree adds that “car bombs have played a small but deadly role in US terrorism.” Of the 10 terrorist car bomb attacks in the US, six have taken place in New York City.
The 1993 truck bomb attack on the World Trade Centre killed six people and injured a thousand.
Among the other trends noted in the report covering the period 1970 to 2007: New York City is, by far, the most frequent site of terrorism in the US.
It has suffered more attacks than the next four most frequently target cities combined (Miami 70; San Francisco 66; Washington DC 59, and Los Angeles 54).
More than 280 terror attacks occurred in New York’s five boroughs between 1970 and 2007.
Nearly three-fourths of these attacks took place in the 1970s, followed by less frequent, but often more deadly incidents, including the 1993 and 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks.
Businesses and government facilities are the most frequent targets - not only in New York City, but throughout the US, says a START release.
“While Al Qaeda has launched the deadliest attacks on New York City targets, almost 40 other groups have been identified, engaged in terrorism in this city from 1970 to 2007, representing a range of different ideologies, backgrounds and goals, with changing actors over time,” the report says.
Puerto Rican separatists, the Jewish Defence League and an anti-Castro group were the most active in the 1970s, with their attacks tapering off through the 1980s.
