Al-Qaeda Attacks USS Cole Columbus Day 10/12/2000 same day hijack pilots Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi & Ziad Jarrah Meet at Sahara Cafe in Sarasota
FBI Report: on October 12, 2000, Columbus Day , two Al-Qaeda suicide pilots of a small bomb-laden boat pulled alongside of the USS Cole at midship, offered friendly gestures to several crew members, and detonated their explosives. The USS Cole bombing occurred during the morning at approximately 11:18 a.m. local time (08:18 UTC) in the port of Aden, Yemen. It is 4:18 am in New York City, NY when it is 11:18 am in Aden, Yemen. New York is exactly 7 hours behind Aden. The blast ripped a 40-foot-wide hole near the waterline of the Cole , killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring nearly 40 other crew members. The FBI quickly sent to Yemen more than 100 agents from the Counterterrorism Division. The extensive FBI investigation ultimately determined that members of the A l Qaeda terrorist network planned and carried out the bombing. The investigation also revealed that the USS Cole bombing followed an unsuccessful attempt on January 3, 2000, to bomb another U.S. Navy ship, the US...