It's been a year since the tragic bombings rocked the finish line of Boston Marathon on 15 April. Two Pressure-cooker bombs that tore through the onlookers at the 2013 Boston Marathon managed to grab international headlines, forever linking the race to the bloodshed that followed.
The deadly attack and the ensuing dramatic manhunt, deadly shootouts and eventual arrest of the surviving suspect Dzhonkar Tsarnaev, were nothing short of a remarkable movie plot - perhaps the reason why Boston remained the focus of world attention for many days following the carnage.
Memorial ceremonies are due Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the deadly bombings.
US Vice-President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will give a tribute at the Hynes Convention Center at midday local time, the BBC reports.
A flag-raising ceremony will be held and a moment of silence will be observed later in the day at the finish line of the marathon, where the bombings took place.
Three people were killed and some 264 injured when the two bombs exploded near the finish line. On Tuesday, representatives from families of the victims, members of the emergency services, government agencies and civic organizations are all expected to be present for the ceremonies.
Motives and Backgrounds
The dramatic action-packed events that followed days after the bombings - including Tsarnaev Brothers' firefight with police on April 19 where the older brother Tamerlan was shot dead and the manhunt that ultimately led to the capture of the younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - were vivid things to remember. However, what has baffled people around the world more than anything else is the queer motive behind the bombings.
According to FBI interrogators, Dzhokhar and his brother were not connected to any known terrorist groups, but were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs. To the surprise of many Americans, it was known that the brothers had learnt to build explosive weapons from an online magazine published by al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen.
It has also been further alleged that the brothers had even considered suicide attacks for the Fourth of July, but ultimately decided to use pressure cooker bombs during the Boston Marathon. The duo was reportedly seeking to defend Islam from the US, which conducted the war in Iraq and Afghanistan against Muslims.
In a surprising note scrawled by Dzhokar with a marker on the wall of a boat in which he was hiding, he had said that the bombings were "retribution for US military action in Afghanistan and Iraq" and the Boston victims were 'collateral damage' just like the innocent victims were also the 'collateral damage' in US wars around the World.
(ED:VS)
