2001 Sept 11th - Three hijacked aircraft are flown into major US landmarks, destroying New York's twin World Trade Centre towers and ploughing into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked aircraft crashes in rural Pennsylvania. 2,976 people are killed.
2002
April 11th - A truck explodes near El Ghriba synagogue on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba, killing 14 Germans, five Tunisians and a Frenchman. al-Qaeda claims responsibility.
May 8th - An assailant in a car kills himself, 11 French navy experts and three Pakistanis outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan. A Pakistani court later finds three members of the banned Islamic group Harkat-ul Muhajideen guilty of planning the attack.
June 14th - A car bomb outside the US consulate in Karachi kills at least 11 people and wounds 45. Four members of Harkat-ul Muhajideen are later found guilty.
Oct 12th - Bombs explode in Kuta Beach nightclub district of Bali in Indonesia, killing 202 people and wounding hundreds. A third bomb explodes near the US consulate in Sanur near Kuta, without causing casualties. Members of the banned Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah, linked to al-Qaeda, admit responsibility.
Nov 28th - At least 15 people are killed in car bomb attack on hotel frequented by Israeli tourists in Kenyan port of Mombasa while two missiles miss Israeli airliner taking off from the city. Al-Qaeda admits responsibility.
2003
May 12th - Suicide bombers in vehicles shoot their way into housing compounds for expatriates in Saudi capital of Riyadh. Some 35 people, including nine Americans, are killed. US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, blames al-Qaeda.
May 16th -- Suicide bombers set off at least five blasts in Casablanca, Morocco, which hit a Spanish restaurant, a five-star hotel and a Jewish community centre, killing 45 people, including 12 bombers, and wounding about 60. Members of the Moroccan organisation the Salafist Jihad, which has indirect links to al-Qaeda, are found guilty.
June 7th - A suicide car bomber blows up a bus full of German peacekeepers east of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing four and wounding 31.
An Afghan civilian and the bomber are also killed. German Defence Minister, Mr Peter Struck, blames al-Qaeda.
Aug 5th - A huge bomb kills 10 people and wounds 150 when it rips through the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The militant group Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed by Indonesian Defence Minister, Mr Matori Abdul Djalil, for the blast.
Aug 19th - The Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri, said to be an al-Qaeda division, claim responsibility for a massive truck bomb which devastates the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Twenty two people are killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy to Iraq.
Nov 15th - Two car bombs explode outside synagogues in central Istanbul, killing up to 25 people.
An Arabic newspaper says the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri claim responsibility.
Nov 20th - Explosions hit the HSBC bank and the British consulate in Istanbul, killing at least 27 people, according to television reports.
A caller to Anatolian news agency claims responsibility on behalf of al-Qaeda and a Turkish Islamist group.