London Underground Bombings

On July 7, 2005, London was hit by four bombs that killed 52 people, in addition to the four suicide bombers. The series of attacks echoed those in Madrid, 16 months earlier. The bombers had planned to destroy four trains in the London Underground (subway), and to detonate their devices within a minute of each other, just before 9 am, at the height of the rush hour. However, one bomber had a problem with the technology, and chose instead to destroy a London bus, detonating his device nearly one hour later. Some 700 people were injured by the bombers, who were all Britons who professed to be Muslims. Echoing the attacks of September 11, 2001, which were soon referred to as simply “9/11,” the London bomb attack became known after its date, as “7/7.”

The attack was a shattering blow, not only to those whose relatives and friends were killed on the day, but to the country at large. Britain was in the midst of a wave of euphoria, because the previous day the International Olympic Committee had announced that London had won the competition to host the 2012 Olympic Games. In addition, the G8 leaders were meeting in Scotland that day, with hopes of real advances for Africa's development, a cause with a high degree of public interest.

The four bombers—Mohammad Sidique Khan (age 30), Shehzad Tanweer (22), Germaine Lindsay (19), and Hasib Hussain (18)—were all Britons, and their actions drew attention to the dangers of “homegrown terrorism,” Native-born perpetrators, or “homegrown jihadis,” are often harder for counterintelligence agencies to track than foreign-born terrorists. Charles Clarke, the home secretary at the time, referred to the bombers as “clean skins,” although it subsequently emerged that Khan had been scrutinized by the British intelligence service, MI5, at one point. Khan, the leader, lived in Dewsbury with his wife and young child, and he was a respected member of the local community, working as a teacher. Both Tanweer and Hussain lived in the nearby and larger city of Leeds, while Lindsay lived in Buckinghamshire, outside London, with his pregnant wife. Khan, Tanweer, and Hussain had left Leeds before 4 am by car, and had driven to Luton. They met up with Lindsay at the Luton rail station, and then all four continued to London by train.

This is a video grab taken from the pan-Arab television TV channel Al Jazeera and aired on September 1, 2005, that allegedly shows Mohammed Sidique Khan, one of the suicide bombers of the July 7, 2005, attacks in London. al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the July 7 bombings in London and threatened more attacks in Europe, Al-Jazeera reported.

(AP Photo/Al Jazeera. © 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The reasons for the attacks were explained by two of the bombers in so-called martyrs videos. Mohammed Sidique Khan's video was released first, and in it he declared, “Our drive and motivation doesn't come from tangible commodities that [Page 360]this world has to offer. Our religion is Islam, obedience to the one true God and following the footsteps of the final prophet messenger. Your democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world. And your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters. Until we feel security you will be our targets and until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people we will not stop this fight.” Khan delivered his speech in his broad regional accent, aurally underscoring the Britishness of the bombers.

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