On March 23, 2003, Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar killed two fellow military officers and wounded 14 others in an attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait that bore many similarities to the November 5, 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood by Major Nidal Malik Hasan.
Both Akbar and Hasan were born and raised in the United States, and both had personal, academic, and military careers punctuated with difficulty and failures.
Both subscribed to a militant brand of Islam that led them to believe that their attacks on fellow military personnel were committed in the defense of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This NEFA backgrounder profiles Hasan Akbar and provides insight into his radicalization, which ultimately led to the deaths of CPT Christopher Seifert and Major Gregory Stone.
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The NEFA Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt, charitable organization created after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Foundation strives to help prevent future tragedies in the U.S. and abroad by exposing those responsible for planning, funding, and executing terrorist activities.
The Foundation plays a role in the fight against terror through cohesive and comprehensive efforts to research, analyze, and disseminate information pertaining to past and current terrorist activities. The Foundation shares its findings with law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community where appropriate, and works with other research organizations to educate the public on the threat of terrorism. NEFA, by funding extensive field research, is able to obtain original documents as well as develop an on-the-ground understanding of events.
