OSAMA BIN LADEN TIMELINE Events in the life of the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks
1957
Osama bin Laden is born in Saudi Arabia. He is the 17th of 52 children
of construction magnate Muhammad Awad bin Laden, an immigrant The young bin Laden goes to Afghanistan to help Afghan resistance
1957 from neighboring Yemen, who runs a construction company, the
Saudi bin Laden Group. His mother, one of four wives of Muhammad
fighters, known as the mujahedeen, repel the Soviet invasion of the
country. Abdullah Azzam founds an
1979
bin Laden, was Syrian by some accounts, Palestinian by others. organization to provide assistance
His father dies in a helicopter accident when bin Laden is 10. He to the mujahedeen. Bin Laden
eventually inherits a share of the family fortune. Bin Laden marries for becomes the chief financier of the
the first time at age 17 to a Syrian cousin. He attends King Abdul Aziz organization, which evolves into a
University in Jidda, where one of his teachers is Abdullah Azzam, a
1979
group known as al Qaeda (the base).
Palestinian who played a large role in the resurgence of Islamic religiosity. The Arabs assisting the mujahedeen
become known as “Arab Afghans.”
1989
After the Soviets pull out of Afghanistan, bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia
to work for the family construction firm. He uses his network to raise funds
for veterans of the Afghan war.
In February, a bomb at the World Trade Center kills six and wounds
hundreds. Six Muslim radicals, who U.S. officials suspect have links to bin 1993
1989 1990 1991
The Saudi government allows U.S. Laden, are eventually convicted for the bombing.
troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia
1990 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, In October, 18 U.S. servicemen who
which leads to the Persian Gulf War. Bin are part of a humanitarian mission
Laden is outraged by the U.S. military to Somalia are killed in an ambush in
presence in Saudi Arabia, considered Mogadishu. Bin Laden later says that
the cradle of Islam, and begins to write some of the Arab Afghans were involved
treatises against the Saudi regime in the killings and calls Americans “paper
tigers” because they withdrew from
1991 Bin Laden is expelled from Saudi Arabia due to his anti-government
activities. He takes refuge in Sudan. Eventually, Saudi Arabia revokes his
Somalia shortly after the soldiers’ deaths.
citizenship, and his family disowns him as well.
1993
Under pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia, the Sudanese
expel bin Laden from the country. Bin Laden moves with his 10 children 1996
and three wives (he is rumored to have since added a fourth) to
1995 A truck bombing at a military base
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kills five Afghanistan. Bin Laden declares a jihad, or holy war, against U.S. forces.
Americans and two Indians. Nineteen U.S. soldiers die in a bombing of the Khobar military complex
1995
in Saudi Arabia. The United States indicts bin Laden on charges of
training the people involved in the 1993 attack that killed 18 U.S.
1993
servicemen in Somalia.
Algerian Ahmed Ressam pleads guilty in connection
1998 Bin Laden declares that Muslims should kill Americans,
civilians included, wherever they can find them.
with a failed plot to bomb Los Angeles Airport during
2000
the millennium celebrations. He claims he was trained
On August 7, a pair of truck bombs explodes outside at an Afghanistan camp run by bin Laden.
the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya (right), and Dar Bombing of USS Cole (right) kills 17 U.S.
1998
es Salaam, Tanzania (below), killing 224 people. sailors.
On August 20, U.S. President Clinton orders cruise
missile attacks against suspected terrorist training
camps in Afghanistan and
a pharmaceutical plant in
Khartoum, Sudan, that he says
is involved in making weapons.
2000
In November, the United States indicts bin Laden
on charges of masterminding the attacks on the
U.S. embassies
2001
In February, bin Laden appears
in public at his son’s wedding in
2002 The U.S.-led military operation progresses as the Taliban falls. The allied
forces increase ground troops flanked by air support in an effort to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where the
rout out hold-out al Qaeda forces. In March, the battle intensifies in the Taliban’s spiritual leader lives.
2001
2002 2003
mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan, where reports say bin Laden Four of bin Laden’s alleged
is located and, according to some, directing troops. supporters are convicted May 29 of
Despite claims of success, U.S. officials say they have no proof that the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa.
bin Laden died in the operation -- an assertion repeated by al Qaeda On September 11, 2001, Hijackers fly jetliners into World Trade Center
members and an Arabic-language magazine editor in June. and Pentagon. U.S. mount air and land attacks on al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Bin Laden maintains a low profile in spring and summer 2002 but makes Following the September 11 terrorism attacks in the United States, the
headlines again in the fall when Al-Jazeera broadcasts two audio tapes U.S. government names bin Laden as a prime suspect.
2004
featuring what U.S. intelligence officals say are most likely authentic
recordings of bin Laden’s voice.
2002 As bin Laden calls Muslims across the world to set aside their differences
and join in the “blessed and thankful jihad,” London-based Arabic-
On January 4, Al-Jazeera broadcasts
audiotape that CIA officials say is likely a 2004
language newspaper Al-Sharq Al Awsat reports, talks of another possible recent recording of bin Laden. On the tape,
war heat up among U.S. and coalition forces focused on the activities of
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In February, Al-Jazeera broadcasts a bin
Laden audio tape urging Muslims and Islamic nations to fight against any
bin Laden says the U.S. occupation of Iraq is
the beginning of an occupation of Persian
Gulf states to control their oil reserves.
U.S.-led attack on Iraq. In March, the defense officials say U.S. forces
Days before the March 19 U.S.-led coalition attack on Iraq, the Associated
Press and Reuters news services report that a Pakistani provincial leader
said two of Osama bin Laden’s sons were in U.S. custody after a raid in
in Afghanistan will intensify search operations near the Pakistan border,
preparing for a broader offensive to hunt down al Qaeda fugitives,
including Osama bin Laden. The U.S. House of Representatives votes
southwestern Afghanistan near Rabat. Six months later, messages from unanimously March 18 to double the reward for bin Laden ‘s capture to
al Qaeda and bin Laden surfaced at Arab news organizations. The CIA $50 million.
2011
cited some of the messages as having specific references to recent events,
leaving the question of whether or not bin Laden is alive unanswered.
Osama Bin Laden killed by American Forces in a helicopter raid in
Abbottabad, Pakistan. 2011