Terrorist attacks on subway, metro rails
A Washington, D.C., Metro Transit police officer was arrested Wednesday on charges of trying to help the Islamic State, becoming the first U.S. law enforcement officer accused of assisting the terrorist organization.
Federal prosecutors charged Nicholas Young with trying to provide material support for ISIL. Paul J. Wiedefeld, the CEO and General Manager of Metro Transit, said in a statement that the FBI began investigating Young after the MTPD alerted their "concerns" about him.
Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Young posed no threat to the Metro system.
On a few occasions over the years, metro and subway stations across the world have been targets of terrorist attacks. Here are some of those attacks:
Tokyo, March 1995: A Sarin gas attack on several lines of the Tokyo subway killed 13 people and injured about 6,000. Members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo carried out the attack.
Moscow, February 2004: A suicide bomber detonated explosives on the subway during morning rush hour, killing 41 people.
Madrid, March 2004: Bombings on a series of commuter trains killed 191 people and injured more than 1,800, marking the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Spain’s interior minister called the bombings Madrid’s “worst-ever terrorist attack.” The Islamic terrorists who carried out the attack were homegrown and inspired by al-Qaeda.
London, July 2005: Four al-Qaeda-inspired terrorists set off bombs on three London subway trains and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring nearly 800 during the morning rush hour.
Moscow, March 2010: Two female suicide bombers set off bombs at two stations on the Moscow Metro, killing 40 people and injuring more than 120.
Brussels, March 2016: An Islamic State suicide bomber struck a Brussels metro station, killing 16 people in a terrorist attack that also targeted the Brussels airport, where 16 more were killed. Hundreds were injured during the series of attacks.