New York City honors victims of 1993 World Trade Center bombing

NEW YORK — New York City commemorates the anniversary of the 1993 bombing of the old World Trade Center, which blew apart a van parked in an underground garage, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will hold a memorial Mass Monday morning at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan.

That will be followed by a ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum for family members of the victims, survivors, first responders and residents and workers of Lower Manhattan.

At 12:18 p.m., a bell will ring to mark the time of the February 26 attack and a moment of silence will honor the victims, whose names are inscribed on one of the September 11 memorial pools.

The attack was carried out by Islamic extremists seeking to punish the US for its Middle East policies, especially its support for Israel.

Six people were convicted for the attack, including accused leader Ramzi Yousef. A seventh bombing suspect remains on the FBI’s most wanted list.

The attack was a precursor to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that eventually destroyed the city’s tallest skyscrapers, killing nearly 3,000 people in the worst attack on U.S. soil.

Yousef’s uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would later become the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9/11, when hijacked planes were used as missiles to bomb the buildings.