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Was the World Trade Center bombing really part of a larger terrorist plan?

On February 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the basement of the World Trade Center, a 110-story, twin-tower office complex in New York City. Six people were killed in the blast. As smoke billowed through the building, nearly 100,000 people had to escape and hundreds were injured in the effort. In what turned out to be the largest arrest of terrorists in U.S. history, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) caught the men directly involved in the Trade Center bombing. They were members of an Islamic terrorist group (followers of the Islamic religion who engage in secret attacks) headed by Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman (1933– ).

Through evidence gathered by an informant, the FBI traced the Trade Center attack to Rahman and fourteen of his followers, including Mohammed Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, and Mah-mud Abouhalima. The...

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