Shehzad Tanweer
Encyclopedia
Shehzad Tanweer was one of four men who detonated explosives in three trains on the London Underground
and one bus in central London
during the 7 July 2005 London bombing. 52 people were killed and over 700 wounded in the attacks.
Tanweer was named by Scotland Yard
as the man who detonated a bomb while travelling eastbound on the Circle Line between Liverpool Street
and Aldgate
, killing both himself and seven of the 52 killed in the attacks. The other three men were identified as Hasib Hussain
, Germaine Lindsay
, and Mohammad Sidique Khan
. All four homegrown terrorists
were killed in the explosions.
to Parveen Akhtar, whose husband, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, was originally from the Faisalabad
region of Pakistan
. In 1984, the family moved to the Beeston area of Leeds, then to Colwyn Road, Leeds when Tanweer was seven. Known as Kaka (little one) by his family, he attended Wortley High School
, where he was described as politically moderate by his friends, who knew him as an outstanding sportsman, excelling at cricket, triple jump, long-distance running, football, and ju-jitsu.
. He then attended Leeds Metropolitan University
, where he studied sports science
before leaving for Pakistan in 2004 to attend a course in Islam
ic studies.
At the time of his death, Tanweer is believed to have worked occasionally in his father's fish and chip shop. His family had previously owned a curry
takeaway
and a butcher's
shop and was respected locally as a prominent businessman.
Tanweer attended several mosques including Bengali and Stratford Street mosque
in Beeston, where two of the other London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan
and Hasib Hussain
, are also believed to have worshipped. He also frequented the Hamara Youth Access Point
, a drop-in centre for teens, alleged to have been used as a recruitment centre by Khan.
Police have confirmed that Khan and Tanweer went on a two-hour rafting trip together on June 4, 2005 at the National Whitewater Centre in Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Forensic evidence found in rucksacks after the abortive July 21 London attacks has linked those attacks to a second group of young men of Asian appearance who booked a rafting trip there on the same day as Tanweer and Khan
Relatives in Pakistan have said that Tanweer had boasted of wanting to die as a "holy warrior" and that he was enamoured with Osama bin Laden
. They noted that incidents such as the Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005
had "always been in his mind". Tanweer's body was buried at the shrine of a local Islamic saint in Tanweer's ancestral village in Samundari, Pakistan on October 27, 2005.
earlier in the year, Tanweer travelled to Pakistan for a course in Islamic studies
at a madrasa. The Pakistani government has released footage of Tanweer arriving at Karachi International Airport
with Mohammad Sidique Khan
, believed to be the ringleader of the London bombers, on Turkish Airlines Flight TK 1056 on November 19, 2004. Tanweer and Khan stayed in Pakistan until February 8, then flew back to London together. The youngest of the London cell, Hasib Hussain
, arrived in Karachi from Riyadh
, Saudi Arabia
, on July 15, 2004 on Saudi Arabian Airlines
Flight SV 714.
Intelligence sources say the school was located in Muridke
, Pakistan, 20 miles outside Lahore
, named Jamia Manzoorul Islam and is believed to be connected with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
, a banned militant Islamist group. The madrasa has denied any connection with Tanweer.
It is believed there was a meeting in Faisalabad
between Tanweer and Osama Nazir, a suspected member of Jaish-e-Mohammed
, who has since been arrested for his role in a grenade
attack on a church in Islamabad
that killed five. Investigators also believe that Tanweer may have met Zeeshan Siddiqui, who is associated with a number of militant groups and who was arrested in Pakistan two months ago.
On 7 July Tanweer, Khan, Hussain, and Lindsay are believed to have picked up the bombs from a house in the Burley area of Leeds, hiding them in large rucksacks, then to have driven to Luton
, Bedfordshire
in the red Nissan, which he left parked in Luton railway station car park.
In Luton, the men boarded the 07.48 Thameslink train, arriving at King's Cross in London at 08.20 hours, where they went their separate ways and detonated their bombs.
London Underground Ltd has confirmed that the three underground bombs exploded within 60 seconds of each other at 8:50 a.m.
Tanweer travelled eastbound on the Circle line from Kings Cross, detonating his bomb on train number 204 between Liverpool Street
and Aldgate
stations, also killing at least seven people. He was identified from body parts found in the carriage he blew up.
After the bombings, police found 16 other bombs in Tanweer's car, several of them so-called "initiators" for the rucksack bombs: plastic bottles turned into nail bombs, containing a detonator attached to an electrical cable. Felt-roofing nails were fixed to the outside of the bottles with their tips pointing outwards, apparently intended to cause maximum soft-tissue damage. The devices would then have had cakes of high explosive packed around them.
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
, Tanweer said:
"What have you witnessed now is only the beginning of a string of attacks that will continue and become stronger until you pull your forces out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And until you stop your financial and military support to America and Israel." Tanweer argued that the non-Muslims of Britain deserve such attacks because they voted for a government which "continues to oppress our mothers, children, brothers and sisters in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya"
Tanweer's statement was therefore clearer in making this link with British foreign policy than that of Mohammad Sidique Khan
, the presumed lead bomber. The video has also served to solidify speculation that both Khan and Tanweer had contact with Ayman Al-Zawahiri
and other senior figures in the Al-Qaeda
organisation while in Pakistan
.
The video also featured a segment by Adam Yahiye Gadahn
.
will
. A spokesman for the probate department at the High Court said: “The net amount figure of £121,000 is the realizable figure which is what is left after taxes and debts on the estate have been deducted."
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and one bus in central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the 7 July 2005 London bombing. 52 people were killed and over 700 wounded in the attacks.
Tanweer was named by Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
as the man who detonated a bomb while travelling eastbound on the Circle Line between Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
and Aldgate
Aldgate
Aldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...
, killing both himself and seven of the 52 killed in the attacks. The other three men were identified as Hasib Hussain
Hasib Hussain
Hasib Mir Hussain was one of four homegrown terrorists who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings....
, Germaine Lindsay
Germaine Lindsay
Germaine Maurice Lindsay , also known as Abdullah Shaheed Jamal, was one of the four homegrown terrorists who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings, killing 56 people , and injuring more than 700...
, and Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
. All four homegrown terrorists
Homegrown terrorism
Homegrown terrorism is commonly associated with an international organization rather than being a ‘lone wolf’ act committed by isolated and disturbed individuals. It constitutes terrorist attacks from within the target nation, often Western...
were killed in the explosions.
Biography
Tanweer was born in St Luke's maternity hospital, BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
to Parveen Akhtar, whose husband, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, was originally from the Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
region of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. In 1984, the family moved to the Beeston area of Leeds, then to Colwyn Road, Leeds when Tanweer was seven. Known as Kaka (little one) by his family, he attended Wortley High School
Wortley High School
Wortley High School was a smaller than average secondary school which served an area of high socio-economic deprivation in the Wortley, Armley, and Bramley areas of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, before it merged with local high school West Leeds High School...
, where he was described as politically moderate by his friends, who knew him as an outstanding sportsman, excelling at cricket, triple jump, long-distance running, football, and ju-jitsu.
. He then attended Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University is a British University with three campuses. Two are situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England while the third is situated in Bhopal, India...
, where he studied sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
before leaving for Pakistan in 2004 to attend a course in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic studies.
At the time of his death, Tanweer is believed to have worked occasionally in his father's fish and chip shop. His family had previously owned a curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
takeaway
Take-out
Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...
and a butcher's
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
shop and was respected locally as a prominent businessman.
Tanweer attended several mosques including Bengali and Stratford Street mosque
Stratford Street mosque
Stratford Street Mosque is a mosque in Beeston, Leeds, England.Three people responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings were regulars at Friday prayers at the mosque. The mosque is close to the home of Tanweer, who caused the Aldgate explosion...
in Beeston, where two of the other London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
and Hasib Hussain
Hasib Hussain
Hasib Mir Hussain was one of four homegrown terrorists who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings....
, are also believed to have worshipped. He also frequented the Hamara Youth Access Point
Hamara Youth Access Point
The Hamara Youth Access Point is a drop-in centre for teens in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, operated by the Hamara Healthy Living Centre, an Islamic charity partly funded by the UK government...
, a drop-in centre for teens, alleged to have been used as a recruitment centre by Khan.
Police have confirmed that Khan and Tanweer went on a two-hour rafting trip together on June 4, 2005 at the National Whitewater Centre in Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Forensic evidence found in rucksacks after the abortive July 21 London attacks has linked those attacks to a second group of young men of Asian appearance who booked a rafting trip there on the same day as Tanweer and Khan
Relatives in Pakistan have said that Tanweer had boasted of wanting to die as a "holy warrior" and that he was enamoured with Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. They noted that incidents such as the Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005
Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005
The 2005 Qur'an desecration controversy began when Newsweek's April 30 issue contained a report asserting that United States prison guards or interrogators had deliberately damaged a copy of Islam's holiest book, the Qur'an....
had "always been in his mind". Tanweer's body was buried at the shrine of a local Islamic saint in Tanweer's ancestral village in Samundari, Pakistan on October 27, 2005.
Trip to Pakistan
After completing the hajjHajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
earlier in the year, Tanweer travelled to Pakistan for a course in Islamic studies
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
at a madrasa. The Pakistani government has released footage of Tanweer arriving at Karachi International Airport
Jinnah International Airport
Jinnah International Airport is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport. It is located in Karachi, Pakistan, and its passenger terminal is also commonly known as the جناح ٹرمینل Jinnah Terminal...
with Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
, believed to be the ringleader of the London bombers, on Turkish Airlines Flight TK 1056 on November 19, 2004. Tanweer and Khan stayed in Pakistan until February 8, then flew back to London together. The youngest of the London cell, Hasib Hussain
Hasib Hussain
Hasib Mir Hussain was one of four homegrown terrorists who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings....
, arrived in Karachi from Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, on July 15, 2004 on Saudi Arabian Airlines
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Saudi Arabian Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 90 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America...
Flight SV 714.
Intelligence sources say the school was located in Muridke
Muridke
Muridke is a major commercial area near the city of Lahore, Pakistan, it is located at 31°45'35N 73°50'16E and has an elevation of 205 m and is situated on the famous Grand Trunk Road and at the crossroads to Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Narang Mandi/ Narowal...
, Pakistan, 20 miles outside Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, named Jamia Manzoorul Islam and is believed to be connected with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
, a banned militant Islamist group. The madrasa has denied any connection with Tanweer.
It is believed there was a meeting in Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
between Tanweer and Osama Nazir, a suspected member of Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistani-based, militant Islamic group established by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000...
, who has since been arrested for his role in a grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
attack on a church in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
that killed five. Investigators also believe that Tanweer may have met Zeeshan Siddiqui, who is associated with a number of militant groups and who was arrested in Pakistan two months ago.
London bombing
A few days before the bombing, Tanweer rented a red Nissan Micra from a local car-rental agency, and at around the same time, dyed his hair and eyebrows light brown, according to friends .On 7 July Tanweer, Khan, Hussain, and Lindsay are believed to have picked up the bombs from a house in the Burley area of Leeds, hiding them in large rucksacks, then to have driven to Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
in the red Nissan, which he left parked in Luton railway station car park.
In Luton, the men boarded the 07.48 Thameslink train, arriving at King's Cross in London at 08.20 hours, where they went their separate ways and detonated their bombs.
London Underground Ltd has confirmed that the three underground bombs exploded within 60 seconds of each other at 8:50 a.m.
Tanweer travelled eastbound on the Circle line from Kings Cross, detonating his bomb on train number 204 between Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
and Aldgate
Aldgate
Aldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...
stations, also killing at least seven people. He was identified from body parts found in the carriage he blew up.
After the bombings, police found 16 other bombs in Tanweer's car, several of them so-called "initiators" for the rucksack bombs: plastic bottles turned into nail bombs, containing a detonator attached to an electrical cable. Felt-roofing nails were fixed to the outside of the bottles with their tips pointing outwards, apparently intended to cause maximum soft-tissue damage. The devices would then have had cakes of high explosive packed around them.
Video statement
On 6 July 2006, a video statement by Tanweer was broadcast by Al-Jazeera. In the video, which included remarks by al-QaedaAl-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
, Tanweer said:
"What have you witnessed now is only the beginning of a string of attacks that will continue and become stronger until you pull your forces out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And until you stop your financial and military support to America and Israel." Tanweer argued that the non-Muslims of Britain deserve such attacks because they voted for a government which "continues to oppress our mothers, children, brothers and sisters in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya"
Tanweer's statement was therefore clearer in making this link with British foreign policy than that of Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
, the presumed lead bomber. The video has also served to solidify speculation that both Khan and Tanweer had contact with Ayman Al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
and other senior figures in the Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
organisation while in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
The video also featured a segment by Adam Yahiye Gadahn
Adam Yahiye Gadahn
Adam Yahiye Gadahn is an American who is a senior operative, cultural interpreter, spokesman and media advisor for the Sunni islamist group Al-Qaeda. Since 2004, he appeared in a number of videos produced by Al-Qaeda as "Azzam the American"...
.
Assets
Tanweer left behind £121,000, but left noIntestacy
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of their enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of...
will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. A spokesman for the probate department at the High Court said: “The net amount figure of £121,000 is the realizable figure which is what is left after taxes and debts on the estate have been deducted."
Girlfriend
Tanweer's religious credentials as a serious Islamic extremist were cast in a questionable light when, in 2011, evidence emerged that he had a 'secret girlfriend' with whom he had been intimately involved with until the very end, for a period of three years beginning in 2002. This evidence seems to cast Tanweer in a somewhat contradictory light, as sex outside of marriage is deeply frowned upon in even the most liberal Islamic circles, being assigned the label of a major sin in traditional Islamic Jurisprudence."See also
- Mohammad Sidique KhanMohammad Sidique KhanMohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
, Edgware Road underground train - Hasib HussainHasib HussainHasib Mir Hussain was one of four homegrown terrorists who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings....
, No. 30 Transport for London omnibus - Germaine Lindsay, Piccadilly Line underground train
- 21 July 2005 London bombings21 July 2005 London bombingsOn 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks disrupted part of London's public transport system two weeks after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Shoreditch...