On the morning of 12 October 2000, the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole, commanded by Commander Kirk Lippold, docked in Aden harbor, Yemen, for a routine refueling stop. Around 11:18 local time, a small fiberglass boat carrying more than 1,000 pounds of C4 explosives and two suicide bombers approached the port side of the ship and detonated, tearing a 40-by-60-foot gash in the hull. The blast struck a mechanical space beneath the ship's galley, killing crew members who were lining up for lunch. Seventeen U.S. Navy sailors were killed and 37 were injured. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. naval vessel since the 1987 USS Stark incident.
The attack was organized and directed by al-Qaeda, following a failed attempt against USS The Sullivans in the same harbor in January 2000. Planning was discussed at a January 2000 al-Qaeda summit in Kuala Lumpur attended by future September 11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar, who Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani later said was a key planner present in Yemen at the time of the bombing.
The British frigate HMS Marlborough was first to assist, and injured sailors were evacuated to a French military hospital in Djibouti and then to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. U.S. Air Force and Marine forces arrived within hours to secure the ship. Cole was later transported to the United States aboard the heavy-lift ship MV Blue Marlin and arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 13 December 2000 for repairs.
FBI and NCIS investigators faced a hostile environment in Yemen, including armed guards, threats, and a CCTV recording of the incident with the moment of the explosion deleted.
Several individuals have been identified in different accounts as masterminds or key organizers of the attack, including Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Abu Ali al-Harithi, Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi, Fahd al-Quso, and Tawfiq bin Attash. Al-Nashiri, held at Guantanamo Bay, was charged by U.S. military authorities in 2008 with organizing and directing the bombing, with prosecutors indicating they would seek the death penalty; charges were later dropped without prejudice in 2009. A Yemeni court in 2004 sentenced al-Nashiri and Jamal al-Badawi to death in absentia/in custody for their roles. Al-Badawi escaped Yemeni custody multiple times and was killed in a U.S. drone strike on 1 January 2019. Al-Harithi was killed in a 2002 U.S. drone strike, and al-Quso was killed in a 2012 U.S. airstrike.
U.S. federal courts subsequently found the governments of Sudan (2007) and later Iran (2015) civilly liable for supporting the attack, resulting in various financial judgments to victims' families. In October 2020, Sudan and the United States signed a bilateral claims agreement, under which Sudan agreed to pay $335 million in compensation related to the Cole bombing and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania; the agreement took effect in February 2021. A separate $314 million default judgment against Sudan was later vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Republic of Sudan v. Harrison (2019).
A memorial to the 17 sailors was dedicated at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, on 12 October 2001.
Key facts
- Victims
- Kenneth Clodfelter
- Date
- 2000
- Location
- Aden harbor, Yemen
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
2000-01-03
Al-Qaeda attempts a similar boat-bomb attack on USS The Sullivans in Aden, but the overladen boat sinks and the attack is abandoned.
2000-01
Planning for the Cole attack is discussed at an al-Qaeda summit in Kuala Lumpur, attended by future 9/11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar.
2000-10-12
A small boat carrying explosives and two suicide bombers detonates against the port side of USS Cole in Aden harbor, Yemen, killing 17 sailors and injuring 37.
2000-12-13
USS Cole arrives in Pascagoula, Mississippi, aboard the heavy-lift ship MV Blue Marlin for repairs.
2001-01-19
The U.S. Navy releases its JAGMAN investigation into the bombing.
2001-06
An al-Qaeda recruitment video featuring Osama bin Laden boasts about the Cole attack.
2001-10-12
A memorial to the 17 sailors is dedicated at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia.
2002-11-03
A CIA-operated Predator drone strike kills suspected bombing planner Abu Ali al-Harithi in Yemen.
2004-09-29
A Yemeni judge sentences Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Jamal al-Badawi to death for their roles in the bombing.
2006-02-03
23 suspected or convicted al-Qaeda members, including 13 convicted in the Cole bombing, escape from a Yemeni jail.
2007-03-14
U.S. federal judge Robert G. Doumar rules the Sudanese government liable for the bombing.
2007-07-25
Doumar orders Sudan to pay $8 million to families of the 17 sailors killed.
2007-10-17
Jamal al-Badawi surrenders to Yemeni authorities and is later released.
2008-06-30
The U.S. military announces charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri for organizing and directing the Cole bombing.
2009-02-05
The U.S. drops charges against al-Nashiri without prejudice amid Guantanamo closure efforts.
2009
Federal judge Kimba Wood releases $13.4 million in frozen Sudanese assets to families of the sailors killed.
2012-01-31
Co-conspirator Abdul Mun'im Salim al-Fatahani is reportedly killed in a U.S. drone strike.
2012-05-06
Fahd al-Quso is killed in a U.S. airstrike in southern Yemen.
2012
A U.S. federal court awards a default judgment of more than $314 million to Cole sailors and spouses against Sudan.
2015-03
U.S. federal judge Rudolph Contreras finds Iran, along with Sudan, complicit in the bombing.
2019-01-01
Jamal al-Badawi is killed in a U.S. air strike in Marib governorate, Yemen.
2019-03
The U.S. Supreme Court vacates the Second Circuit's decision and overturns the $314 million default judgment against Sudan in Republic of Sudan v. Harrison.
2020-02-13
Sudan announces an agreement to compensate victims' families as a step toward removal from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
2020-10-30
Sudan and the United States sign a bilateral claims agreement, with Sudan agreeing to pay $335 million in compensation.
2021-02
The Sudan-U.S. bilateral claims agreement enters into force.
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People
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
CHARGEDCharged by U.S. military authorities in 2008 with organizing and directing the Cole bombing; charges later dropped without prejudice in 2009; also sentenced to death in absentia by a Yemeni court in 2004.
Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi
CONVICTEDConvicted in Yemen and sentenced to death for his role in the bombing; escaped custody multiple times and was killed in a U.S. air strike on 1 January 2019.
Kenneth Clodfelter
VICTIMOne of 17 U.S. Navy sailors killed in the bombing.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- On 12 October 2000, al-Qaeda suicide bombers detonated an explosives-laden boat against the USS Cole while it refueled in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 U.S. Navy sailors and injuring 37 others.
- Where did the bombing happen?
- Aden harbor, Yemen.
- Who was convicted?
- Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi (Convicted in Yemen and sentenced to death for his role in the bombing; escaped custody multiple times and was killed in a U.S. air strike on 1 January 2019.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved.
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Sources
- USS Cole bombingwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
- Contemporaneous coverage — The Washington Postnews · The Washington Post · 2026-07-07
- Contemporaneous coverage — 9-11commission.govnews · 9-11commission.gov · 2026-07-07