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, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption =
(1988–2011) * Ayman al-Zawahiri{{Assassinated, Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri
(2011–2022) * Saif al-Adel
(''de facto''; 2022–present) , active = {{nowrap, August 11, 1988 – present , allegiance = {{flag, Taliban (1995–present) , ideology = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp , {{Plainlist, * Sunni Islamism{{refn, name=Sunni Islamism, {{cite book, editor1-last=Bokhari, editor1-first=Kamran, editor2-last=Senzai, editor2-first=Farid, year=2013, chapter=Rejector Islamists: al-Qaeda and Transnational Jihadism, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101, title=Political Islam in the Age of Democratization, location=New York, publisher=
{{cite book, last1=Geltzer, first1=Joshua A., title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View, date=2011, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-0-415-66452-3, page=83, edition=Reprint{{cite web, url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,369448,00.html, title=The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants, work=Der Spiegel, date=August 12, 2005, access-date=October 18, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307084609/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0%2C1518%2C369448%2C00.html, archive-date=March 7, 2012, url-status=dead{{cite news, url=http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/, title=Al-Qaeda seeks global dominance, location=London, work=The Daily Telegraph, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142751/http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/, archive-date=January 12, 2012
{{cite web, url=http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2005/07/27/jihadists-want-global-caliphate/, title=Jihadists Want Global Caliphate, publisher=ThePolitic.com, date=July 27, 2005, access-date=October 18, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930020925/http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2005/07/27/jihadists-want-global-caliphate/, archive-date=September 30, 2011, url-status=dead
{{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/21/alqaida.terrorism, location=London, work=The Guardian, first1=Jason, last1=Burke, title=What exactly does al-Qaeda want?, date=March 21, 2004, access-date=December 10, 2016, archive-date=June 25, 2022, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625022225/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/21/alqaida.terrorism, url-status=live *
(until 2002) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades
(until 2005) * {{flagicon image, Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg AQI
(2004–2006) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State AQY
(until 2009) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg AQBH
(until 2009) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of al-Qaeda's Kurdish Brigades.jpg AQKB
(until 2010) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)
(until 2012) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Abdullah Azzam Brigades (until 2015) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) (until 2016) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Libya) (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg Al-Nusra Front (2012–2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg Khorasan (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Ansar-al-Sharia-Aleppo.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Syria) (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Derna, Libya) (until 2018) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg AQSP (until 2018) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt) (until 2018) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Mauritania) (until 2019) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Imam Shamil Battalion
(until 2019) *{{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)
(until 2022) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State AQMA
(until 2024) *{{flagicon image, Flag of Tanzim Hurras al-Din.svg Hurras al-Din
(until 2025) , area = Worldwide
{{nowrap, Current territorial control:
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511024214/http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/648#tocto1n10 , date=May 11, 2013 Summary of * {{flag, Egypt * {{flag, France * {{flag, India * {{flagcountry, Iran * {{flag, Iraq * {{flag, Israel * {{Flag, Lebanon * {{Flag, Russia * {{Flag, Saudi Arabia * {{Flag, Somalia * {{flagicon image, Flag_of_the_Syrian_revolution.svg
In Sudan *
246
} Al-Qaeda fighters characteristically deploy tactics such as suicide attacks ( Inghimasi and Istishhadi operations) involving simultaneous bombing of several targets in battle-zones. Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, which later morphed into the Islamic State of Iraq after 2006, was responsible for numerous sectarian attacks against Shias during its Iraqi insurgency. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision the violent removal of all foreign and secularist influences in Muslim countries, which it denounces as corrupt deviations. Following the death of bin Laden in 2011, al-Qaeda vowed to avenge his killing. The group was then led by Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri until he too was killed by the United States in 2022. {{As of, 2021}, they have reportedly suffered from a deterioration of central command over its regional operations.{{cite news, last1=Zakaria, first1=Fareed, date=April 29, 2021, title=Opinion: Ten years later, Islamist terrorism isn't the threat it used to be, newspaper=The Washington Post, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/ten-years-later-islamist-terrorism-isnt-the-threat-it-used-to-be/2021/04/29/deb88256-a91c-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html, url-status=live, url-access=subscription, access-date=May 4, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116153800/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/ten-years-later-islamist-terrorism-isnt-the-threat-it-used-to-be/2021/04/29/deb88256-a91c-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html, archive-date=November 16, 2021
BBC Documentary. During the 2001 trial, the United States Department of Justice, US Department of Justice needed to show that bin Laden was the leader of a criminal organization in order to charge him trial in absentia, ''in absentia'' under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The name of the organization and details of its structure were provided in the testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, who said he was a founding member of the group and a former employee of bin Laden. Questions about the reliability of al-Fadl's testimony have been raised by a number of sources because of his history of dishonesty, and because he was delivering it as part of a plea bargain agreement after being convicted of conspiring to attack US military establishments.{{Harvnb, McGeary, 2001. Sam Schmidt, a defense attorney who defended al-Fadl, said: {{blockquote, There were selective portions of al-Fadl's testimony that I believe was false, to help support the picture that he helped the Americans join together. I think he lied in a number of specific testimony about a unified image of what this organization was. It made al-Qaeda the new Mafia or the new Communists. It made them identifiable as a group and therefore made it easier to prosecute any person associated with al-Qaeda for any acts or statements made by bin Laden.
The number of individuals in the group who have undergone proper military training, and are capable of commanding insurgent forces, is largely unknown. Documents captured in the raid on bin Laden's compound in 2011 show that the core al-Qaeda membership in 2002 was 170. In 2006, it was estimated that al-Qaeda had several thousand commanders embedded in 40 countries.{{Harvnb, Cassidy, 2006, p=9. {{as of, 2009, it was believed that no more than 200–300 members were still active commanders.
According to the 2004 BBC documentary ''The Power of Nightmares'', al-Qaeda was so weakly linked together that it was hard to say it existed apart from bin Laden and a small clique of close associates. The lack of any significant numbers of convicted al-Qaeda members, despite a large number of arrests on terrorism charges, was cited by the documentary as a reason to doubt whether a widespread entity that met the description of al-Qaeda existed. al-Qaeda's commanders, as well as its sleeping agents, are hiding in different parts of the world to this day. They are mainly hunted by the American and Israeli secret services.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729115149/https://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914whoisobl.html , date=July 29, 2017 . Retrieved May 5, 2011 Other sources of income included the heroin trade and donations from supporters in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Gulf states. A 2009 United States diplomatic cables leak, leaked diplomatic cable stated that "terrorist funding emanating from Saudi Arabia remains a serious concern." Among the first pieces of evidence regarding Saudi Arabia's support for al-Qaeda was the so-called "The Golden Chain, Golden Chain", a list of early al-Qaeda funders seized during a 2002 raid in Sarajevo by Bosnian police.{{cite web, url=http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=al-qaeda%20saudi%20arabia&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go, title=History Commons, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805191322/http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=al-qaeda%20saudi%20arabia&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go, archive-date=August 5, 2016, url-status=dead The hand-written list was validated by al-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl, and included the names of both donors and beneficiaries.United States of America v. Usama bin Laden
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710090442/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_of_America_v._Usama_bin_Laden/Day_2_6_February_2001 , date=July 10, 2015 . Wikisource. Retrieved June 10, 2016. Osama bin-Laden's name appeared seven times among the beneficiaries, while 20 Saudi and Gulf-based businessmen and politicians were listed among the donors. Notable donors included Adel Batterjee, and Wael Hamza Julaidan. Batterjee was designated as a terror financier by the US Department of the Treasury in 2004, and Julaidan is recognized as one of al-Qaeda's founders. Documents seized during the 2002 Bosnia raid showed that al-Qaeda widely exploited charities to channel financial and material support to its operatives across the globe. Notably, this activity exploited the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the Muslim World League (MWL). The IIRO had ties with al-Qaeda associates worldwide, including al-Qaeda's deputy Ayman al Zawahiri. Zawahiri's brother worked for the IIRO in Albania and had actively recruited on behalf of al-Qaeda.Emerson, Steve (2006). ''Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US''. Prometheus Books. p. 382. The MWL was openly identified by al-Qaeda's leader as one of the three charities al-Qaeda primarily relied upon for funding sources.
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publisher=University of California Press, isbn=0-520-24974-7, via=Internet Archive, date=March 11, 2005, access-date=May 8, 2011 Abdel Bari Atwan summarizes this strategy as comprising five stages to rid the Ummah from all forms of oppression: # Provoke the United States and the West into invading a Muslim country by staging a massive attack or string of attacks on US soil that results in massive civilian casualties. # Incite local resistance to occupying forces. # Expand the conflict to neighboring countries and engage the US and its allies in a long war of attrition. # Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating principles that can be loosely franchised in other countries without requiring direct command and control, and via these franchises incite attacks against the US and countries allied with the US until they withdraw from the conflict, as happened with the 2004 Madrid train bombings, but which did not have the same effect with the July 7, 2005 London bombings. # The US economy will finally collapse by 2020, under the strain of multiple engagements in numerous places. This will lead to a collapse in the worldwide economic system, and lead to global political instability. This will lead to a global jihad led by al-Qaeda, and a Wahhabi Caliphate will then be installed across the world. Atwan noted that, while the plan is unrealistic, "it is sobering to consider that this virtually describes the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, downfall of the Soviet Union." According to Fouad Hussein, a Jordanian journalist and author who has spent time in prison with Al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's strategy consists of seven phases and is similar to the plan described in al-Qaeda's Strategy to the year 2020. These phases include: # "The Awakening." This phase was supposed to last from 2001 to 2003. The goal of the phase is to provoke the United States to attack a Muslim country by executing an attack that kills many civilians on US soil. # "Opening Eyes." This phase was supposed to last from 2003 to 2006. The goal of this phase was to recruit young men to the cause and to transform the al-Qaeda group into a movement. Iraq was supposed to become the center of all operations with financial and military support for bases in other states. # "Arising and Standing up", was supposed to last from 2007 to 2010. In this phase, al-Qaeda wanted to execute additional attacks and focus their attention on Syria. Hussein believed other countries in the
The Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant movement of al-Qaeda developed amid the rise of Islamic revivalist and Jihadist movements after the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) and during the Afghan Jihad (1979–1989). The writings of Egyptian Islamist scholar and revolutionary ideologue Sayyid Qutb strongly inspired the founding leaders of al-Qaeda. In the 1950s and 1960s, Qutb preached that because of the lack of ''sharia'' law, the
i. To promote '' jihad'' awareness in the Islamic world
ii. To prepare and equip the cadres for the Islamic world through trainings and by participating in actual combat
iii. To support and sponsor the Jihadism, jihad movement as much as possible
iv. To coordinate Jihad movements around the world in an effort to create a unified international Jihad movement. General Policies
1. Complete commitment to the governing rules and controls of ''Sharia, Shari‘a'' in all the beliefs and actions and according to the book [''Qur’an''] and ''Sunnah, Sunna'' as well as per the interpretation of the nation's ulema, scholars who serve in this domain
2. Commitment to Jihad as a fight for God's cause and as an agenda of change and to prepare for it and apply it whenever we find it possible...
4. Our position with respect to the tyrants of the world, secularism, secular and nationalism, national parties and the like is not to associate with them, to discredit them and to be their constant enemy till they believe in God alone. We shall not agree with them on half-solutions and there is no way to negotiate with them or appease them
5. Our relationships with truthful Islamic jihadist movements and groups is to cooperate under the umbrella of faith and belief and we shall always attempt to at uniting and integrating with them...
6. We shall carry a relationship of love and affection with the Islamic movements who are not aligned with Jihad...
7. We shall sustain a relationship of respect and love with active scholars...
9. We shall reject the regional fanatics and will pursue Jihad in an Islamic country as needed and when possible
10. We shall care about the role of Muslims, Muslim people in the Jihad and we shall attempt to recruit them...
11. We shall maintain our economic independence and will not rely on others to secure our resources.
12. Secrecy is the main ingredient of our work except for what the need deems necessary to reveal
13. Our policy with the Afghan Jihad, Afghani Jihad is support, advise and coordination with the Islamic Establishments in Jihad arenas in a manner that conforms with our policies", title=Al-Qa`ida's Structure and Bylaws, p.2, source=
Al-Qaeda has carried out a total of six major attacks, four of them in its jihad against America. In each case the leadership planned the attack years in advance, arranging for the shipment of weapons and explosives and using its businesses to provide operatives with safehouses and false identities.
{{Main, 1998 United States embassy bombings, 2000 millennium attack plots, USS Cole bombing
In 1996, bin Laden personally engineered a plot to assassinate United States President Bill Clinton while the president was in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. However, intelligence agents intercepted a message before the motorcade was to leave, and alerted the US Secret Service. Agents later discovered a bomb planted under a bridge.
On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, bombed the US embassies in East Africa, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. In retaliation, a barrage of cruise missiles launched by the US military devastated an al-Qaeda base in Khost, Afghanistan. The network's capacity was unharmed. In late 1999 and 2000, al-Qaeda planned 2000 millennium attack plots, attacks to coincide with the millennium, masterminded by Abu Zubaydah and involving Abu Qatada al-Filistini, Abu Qatada, which would include the bombing of Christian holy sites in Jordan, the bombing of Los Angeles International Airport by Ahmed Ressam, and the bombing of the {{USS, The Sullivans, DDG-68.
On October 12, 2000, al-Qaeda militants in Yemen USS Cole bombing, bombed the Guided missile destroyer, missile destroyer ''USS Cole (DDG-67), USS Cole'' in a suicide attack, killing 17 US servicemen and damaging the vessel while it lay offshore. Inspired by the success of such a brazen attack, al-Qaeda's command core began to prepare for an attack on the US itself.
The September 11 attacks on America by al-Qaeda killed 2,996 people{{snd2,507 civilians, 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel as well as 19 hijackers who committed murder-suicide. Two commercial airliners were deliberately flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth, originally intended to target either the United States Capitol or the White House, crashed in a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers revolted. It was the deadliest foreign attack on American soil since the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and to this day remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.
The attacks were conducted by al-Qaeda, acting in accord with the Fatawā of Osama bin Laden#1998 Fatwa, 1998 ''fatwa'' issued against the US and its allies by persons under the command of bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and others. Evidence points to suicide squads led by al-Qaeda military commander Mohamed Atta as the culprits of the attacks, with bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Hambali as the key planners and part of the political and military command.
Messages issued by bin Laden after September 11, 2001, praised the attacks, and explained their motivation while denying any involvement. Bin Laden strongly supported the attacks by identifying numerous grievances of Muslims, such as the general perception that the US was actively oppressing Muslims. In his "''Letter to the American people''" published in 2002, Osama Bin Laden stated:
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016211249/http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=236626 , date=October 16, 2006 Jamestown FoundationUzbekistan: Who's Behind The Violence?
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404040430/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8147-18.cfm , date=April 4, 2004 Center for Defense Information * {{flag, Vietnam {{div col end
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US government Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, responded, and began to prepare its Military of the United States, armed forces to overthrow the Taliban, which it believed was harboring al-Qaeda. The US offered Taliban leader Mullah Omar a chance to surrender bin Laden and his top associates. The first forces to be inserted into Afghanistan were paramilitary officers from the CIA's elite Special Activities Division (SAD).
The Taliban offered to turn over bin Laden to a neutral country for trial if the US would provide evidence of bin Laden's complicity in the attacks. US President George W. Bush responded by saying: "We know he's guilty. Turn him over", and British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned the Taliban regime: "Surrender bin Laden, or surrender power."
Soon thereafter the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan, and together with the Northern Alliance, Afghan Northern Alliance removed the Taliban government as part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), war in Afghanistan. As a result of the US special forces and close air support, air support for the Northern Alliance ground forces, a number of Taliban and Derunta training camp, al-Qaeda training camps were destroyed, and much of the operating structure of al-Qaeda is believed to have been disrupted. After being driven from their key positions in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan, many al-Qaeda fighters tried to regroup in the rugged Gardez region of the nation.
By early 2002, al-Qaeda had been dealt a serious blow to its operational capacity, and the Afghan invasion appeared to be a success. Nevertheless, a significant Taliban insurgency remained in Afghanistan.
Debate continued regarding the nature of al-Qaeda's role in the 9/11 attacks. The United States State Department, US State Department released a Videos of Osama bin Laden#December 13, 2001, videotape showing bin Laden speaking with a small group of associates somewhere in Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban was removed from power. Although its authenticity has been questioned by a couple of people, the tape definitively implicates bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks. The tape was aired on many television channels, with an accompanying English translation provided by the US Defense Department.
In September 2004, the 9/11 Commission officially concluded that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives. In October 2004, bin Laden appeared to claim responsibility for the attacks in a 2004 Osama bin Laden video, videotape released through Al Jazeera, saying he was inspired by Israeli attacks on high-rises in the 1982 1982 Lebanon War, invasion of Lebanon: "As I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children."
By the end of 2004, the US government proclaimed that two-thirds of the most senior al-Qaeda figures from 2001 had been captured and interrogated by the CIA: Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002;{{Cite news, last1=Shane, first1=Scott, title=Inside the interrogation of a 9/11 mastermind, work=The New York Times, date=June 22, 2008, pages=A1, A12–A13, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html, access-date=September 5, 2009, archive-date=April 2, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402075657/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html, url-status=live Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003; and Saif al Islam el Masry in 2004.{{sfn, Gunaratna, 2002, p=147, ps=: "The Al Qaeda team included Abu Talha al-Sudani, Saif al-Islam el-Masry, Salem el-Masry, Saif al-Adel and other trainers, including Abu Jaffer el-Masry, the explosives expert who ran the Jihad Wal camp Afghanistan. In addition to developing this capability with Iranian assistance, Al Qaeda also received a large amount of explosives from Iran that were used in the bombing of the East African targets. The training team brought Hezbollah training and propaganda videos with the intention of passing on their knowledge to other Al Qaeda members and Islamist groups." Mohammed Atef and several others were killed. The West was criticized for not being able to handle al-Qaeda despite a decade of the war.
Al-Qaeda involvement in Africa has included a number of bombing attacks in North Africa, while supporting parties in civil wars in Eritrea and Somalia. From 1991 to 1996, bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were based in Sudan.
Islamist rebels in the Sahara calling themselves al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have stepped up their violence in recent years.{{Cite news, last1=Trofimov, first1=Yaroslav, author1-link=Yaroslav Trofimov, title=Islamic rebels gain strength in the Sahara, work=The Wall Street Journal, volume=254, issue=39, date=August 15, 2009, page=A9, url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125030117348933737, access-date=September 15, 2009, archive-date=May 14, 2013, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514132756/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125030117348933737.html, url-status=live French officials say the rebels have no real links to the al-Qaeda leadership, but this has been disputed. It seems likely that bin Laden approved the group's name in late 2006, and the rebels "took on the al Qaeda franchise label", almost a year before the violence began to escalate.
In Mali, the Ansar Dine faction was also reported as an ally of al-Qaeda in 2013. The Ansar al Dine faction aligned themselves with the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM.
In 2011, al-Qaeda's North African wing condemned Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and declared support for the Anti-Gaddafi forces, Anti-Gaddafi rebels.
Following the 2011 Libyan Civil War, Libyan Civil War, the removal of Gaddafi and the ensuing period of post-civil war violence in Libya, various Islamist militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda were able to expand their operations in the region. The 2012 Benghazi attack, which resulted in the death of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, is suspected of having been carried out by various Jihadist networks, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar al-Sharia and several other al-Qaeda affiliated groups. The capture of Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, a senior al-Qaeda operative wanted by the United States for his involvement in the 1998 United States embassy bombings, on October 5, 2013, by US Navy Seals, FBI and CIA agents illustrates the importance the US and other Western allies have placed on North Africa.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919055514/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/12392/21/Gulf-allies-and-%E2%80%98Army-of-Conquest%E2%80%99.aspx , date=September 19, 2015 ". ''Al-Ahram Weekly''. May 28, 2015. an umbrella rebel group fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the Syrian government that reportedly includes an al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and another Salafi jihadism, Salafi coalition known as Ahrar al-Sham.{{cite news, url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html, title=Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria, first1=Kim, last1=Sengupta, newspaper=The Independent, date=May 12, 2015, access-date=August 23, 2017, archive-date=May 13, 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513214636/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html, url-status=dead
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214103922/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/ , date=February 14, 2007 , Council on Foreign Relations, July 9, 2009 In a 'Letter to American People' (2002), bin Laden wrote that one of the reasons he was fighting America was because of its support to India on the Kashmir issue. In November 2001, Kathmandu airport went on high alert after threats that bin Laden planned to hijack a plane and crash it into a target in New Delhi. In 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on a trip to Delhi, suggested that al-Qaeda was active in Kashmir though he did not have any evidence.Rumsfeld offers US technology to guard Kashmir border
The Sydney Morning Herald, June 14, 2002 Rumsfeld proposed hi-tech ground sensors along the Line of Control to prevent militants from infiltrating into Indian-administered Kashmir. An investigation in 2002 found evidence that al-Qaeda and its affiliates were prospering in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with tacit approval of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. In 2002, a special team of Special Air Service and Delta Force was sent into Jammu and Kashmir (state), Indian-administered Kashmir to hunt for bin Laden after receiving reports that he was being sheltered by Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which had been responsible for 1995 Kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir, kidnapping western tourists in Kashmir in 1995. Britain's highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative Rangzieb Ahmed had previously fought in Kashmir with the group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and spent time in Indian prison after being captured in Kashmir. US officials believe al-Qaeda was helping organize attacks in Kashmir in order to provoke conflict between India and Pakistan. Their strategy was to force Pakistan to move its troops to the border with India, thereby relieving pressure on al-Qaeda elements hiding in northwestern Pakistan. In 2006 al-Qaeda claimed they had established a wing in Kashmir. However Indian Army General H. S. Panag argued that the army had ruled out the presence of al-Qaeda in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. Panag also said al-Qaeda had strong ties with Kashmiri militant groups
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708220351/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122834970727777709 , date=July 8, 2017 , ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 4, 2008 The FBI believes al-Qaeda and Lashkar have been 'intertwined' for a long time while the CIA has said that al-Qaeda funds Lashkar-e-Taiba. Jean-Louis Bruguière told Reuters in 2009 that "Lashkar-e-Taiba is no longer a Pakistani movement with only a Kashmir political or military agenda. Lashkar-e-Taiba is a member of al-Qaeda." In a video released in 2008, American-born senior al-Qaeda operative Adam Yahiye Gadahn said that "victory in Kashmir has been delayed for years; it is the liberation of the jihad there from this interference which, Allah willing, will be the first step towards victory over the Hindu occupiers of that Islam land." In September 2009, a US Drone attacks in Pakistan, drone strike reportedly killed Ilyas Kashmiri who was the chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, a Kashmiri militant group associated with al-Qaeda. Kashmiri was described by Bruce Riedel as a 'prominent' al-Qaeda member while others have described him as head of military operations for al-Qaeda. Kashmiri was also charged by the US in a plot against Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper which was at the center of Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. US officials also believe that Kashmiri was involved in the Camp Chapman attack against the CIA. In January 2010, Indian authorities notified Britain of an al-Qaeda plot to hijack an Indian airlines or Air India plane and crash it into a British city. This information was uncovered from interrogation of Amjad Khwaja, an operative of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, who had been arrested in India. In January 2010, US Defense secretary Robert Gates, while on a visit to Pakistan, said that al-Qaeda was seeking to destabilize the region and planning to provoke a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
Chad
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Niger
Tunisia , Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb , - ! scope="row" align=center, 2003 , align=center, 2011 ,
129–143
chapter=Strangling The Hydra: Targeting Al Qaeda's Finances, editor2-last=Rose, editor2-first=Gideon, editor-link2=Gideon Rose * {{Cite book, last1=Wfirst1=Lawrence, url=https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig, title=The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, publisher=Knopf, year=2006, isbn=0-375-41486-X, location=New York, author-link=Lawrence Wright * {{Cite magazine, last1=Wfirst1=Lawrence, date=June 2, 2008, title=The Rebellion Within, volume=84, pages=36–53, magazine=The New Yorker, issue=16, url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/02/080602fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all, access-date=September 15, 2009 {{Refend
Alt URL
* {{Cite web, title=Progress Report on the Global War on Terrorism, url=https://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/24087.htm, date=September 2003, publisher=United States Department of State, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030922090723/http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/24087.htm, archive-date=September 22, 2003, ref={{harvid, State 2003 {{Refend
Al-Qaeda in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
Al-Qaeda
Counter Extremism Project profile
17 de-classified documents captured during the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center
* {{cite web, url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501704_162-57427765/bin-laden-documents-at-a-glance/, title=Bin Laden documents at a glance, publisher=CBS News, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511070217/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501704_162-57427765/bin-laden-documents-at-a-glance, archive-date=May 11, 2012 Media * Peter Taylor (journalist), Peter Taylor. (2007).
War on the West
. ''Age of Terror'', No. 4, series 1. BBC.
Investigating Al-Qaeda
BBC News * {{Cite video, people=Adam Curtis, year=2004, title=The Power of Nightmares, publisher=BBC
"Al Qaeda's New Front"
from ''PBS Frontline'', January 2005 * {{Cite web, title=Inside al Qaeda (National Geographic), url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUUS_wRKLo, url-status=bot: unknown, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207133356/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUUS_wRKLo, archive-date=February 7, 2022, access-date=September 20, 2021, via=YouTube, date=August 20, 2007 * {{Guardian topic, 2=Al-Qaida * {{NYTtopic, organizations/a/al_qaeda, al-Qaeda {{Al-Qaeda {{Osama bin Laden {{Islamism {{US War on Terror {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Qaeda, Al- Al-Qaeda, Anti-Americanism Anti-Christian sentiment Anti-communist terrorism Anti-Hindu sentiment Anti-Israeli sentiment Antisemitism in Pakistan Antisemitism in the Middle East Anti-Shi'ism Anti-Zionist organizations Islam and antisemitism Islamic fundamentalism in the United States Islamic fundamentalism Islam-related controversies Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organisations designated as terrorist by Australia Organizations designated as terrorist by Bahrain Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada Organisations designated as terrorist by India Organizations designated as terrorist by China Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran Organizations designated as terrorist by Israel Organisations designated as terrorist by Japan Organizations designated as terrorist by Kyrgyzstan Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Organizations designated as terrorist by Malaysia Organizations designated as terrorist by Paraguay Organizations designated as terrorist by Russia Organizations designated as terrorist by Saudi Arabia Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Organizations established in 1988 Islamic organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights Pan-Islamism Rebel groups that actively control territory, Al-Qaeda Jihadist groups Sunni Jihadist organizations Sunni Islamist groups Qutbist organisations Violence against LGBTQ people in Asia Violence against Shia Muslims
Flag
A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden(1988–2011) * Ayman al-Zawahiri{{Assassinated, Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri
(2011–2022) * Saif al-Adel
(''de facto''; 2022–present) , active = {{nowrap, August 11, 1988 – present , allegiance = {{flag, Taliban (1995–present) , ideology = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp , {{Plainlist, * Sunni Islamism{{refn, name=Sunni Islamism, {{cite book, editor1-last=Bokhari, editor1-first=Kamran, editor2-last=Senzai, editor2-first=Farid, year=2013, chapter=Rejector Islamists: al-Qaeda and Transnational Jihadism, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101, title=Political Islam in the Age of Democratization, location=New York, publisher=
Palgrave Macmillan
Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...
, pages=101–118, doi=10.1057/9781137313492_6, isbn=978-1-137-31349-2{{cite book, author-last=Moussalli, author-first=Ahmad S., year=2012, chapter=Sayyid Qutb: Founder of Radical Islamic Political Ideology, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-LfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24, editor-last=Akbarzadeh, editor-first=Shahram, title=Routledge Handbook of Political Islam, location=London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and New York, publisher=Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, edition=1st, pages=24–26, isbn=978-1-138-57782-4, lccn=2011025970, access-date=October 25, 2021, archive-date=January 11, 2023, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111173503/https://books.google.com/books?id=D-LfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24, url-status=live{{cite book, last=O'Bagy, first=Elizabeth, title=Middle East Security Report: Al-Qaeda Sunni Islamist Rebels – Jihad in Syria, page=27, volume=6, url=http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Jihad-In-Syria-17SEPT.pdf, year=2012, location= Washington, D.C., access-date=September 21, 2012, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327163800/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Jihad-In-Syria-17SEPT.pdf, archive-date=March 27, 2014, url-status=dead
* Pan-Islamism{{sfn, Gunaratna, 2002, loc=''Introduction'', pp. 12, 87
* Qutbism{{refn, name=Qutbism, {{harvnb, Gallagher, Willsky-Ciollo, 2021, p=14
* Jihadism
Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...
* Muslim unity{{sfn, Gunaratna, 2002, p=87
* Sunni–Shia alliance{{Cite web, last=Nabil, first=Rahmatullah, title=Iran, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban; Close Relations between Shiite and Sunni Fundamentalists: A Strategic Move or a Matter of Expediency?, url=https://aissonline.org/en/main-features/7, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619143538/https://aissonline.org/en/main-features/7, archive-date=June 19, 2023, website=Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, quote=Ayman Al-Zawahiri became the leader of Al-Qaeda—a leader who was “in favour of” forging an alliance between the Shia and the Sunni against their common enemy—Al-Qaeda developed deeper relations with the IRGC.
* {{Cite web, last=Aly Sergie, first=Mohammed, date=April 27, 2023, title=The Sunni-Shia Divide, url=https://www.cfr.org/article/sunni-shia-divide, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610093711/https://www.cfr.org/article/sunni-shia-divide, archive-date=June 10, 2023, website=Council on Foreign Relations, quote=Sunni al-Qaeda and Shia Hezbollah, have not defined their movements in sectarian terms, and have favored using anti-imperialist, anti-Zionist, and anti-American frameworks to define their jihad, or struggle.
* {{Cite web, last=Lupsha, first=Jonny, date=December 8, 2022, title=What Is the Islamic State?, url=https://www.wondriumdaily.com/what-is-the-islamic-state/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206201200/https://www.wondriumdaily.com/what-is-the-islamic-state/, archive-date=February 6, 2023, website=Wondrium Daily, quote=Bin Laden, a Sunni Muslim, saw cooperation between Islam's two sects—Sunni and Shia—as essential to Al-Qaeda's success.{{Cite book, last=Devji, first=Faisal, title=Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity, publisher=Hurst & Co., year=2005, isbn=1-85065-775-0, location=London, pages=53, quote=Al-Qaeda leaders like Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri have never been known either to preach or practice anti-Shia politics, indeed the opposite, with Bin Laden repeatedly urging Muslims to ignore internal differences and even appearing to uphold the religious credentials of Shiite Iran by comparing the longed-for-ouster of the Saudi monarch to the expulsion of the Shah
* {{Cite news, date=September 20, 2001, title=The spider in the web, newspaper=The Economist, url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/09/20/the-spider-in-the-web, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606223655/https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/09/20/the-spider-in-the-web, archive-date=June 6, 2023, quote= in Ladenhas insisted that differences within the Islamic world should be set aside for the sake of the broader struggle against western and Jewish interests. American officials say there is clear evidence of tactical co-operation between his organisation, al-Qaeda, the government of Iran, and Iran's proxies in Lebanon, the Hizbullah group. From the early 1990s, members of his group and its Egyptian allies were being sent to Lebanon to receive training from Hizbullah: an unusual example of Sunni-Shia co-operation in the broader anti-western struggle.
* {{Cite book, last=al-Aloosy, first=Massaab, title=The changing ideology of Hezbollah, publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, year=2020, isbn=978-3-030-34846-5, page=79, quote=according to the 9/11 Commission Report, Hezbollah allowed Al-Qaeda activists to train in their camps involved in terrorist attacks against the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in September 1998... Osama Bin Laden mentioned Hezbollah in a 2003 speech—or as he called them the resistance—in a positive light as the group that compelled the US marines to withdraw from Lebanon{{sfn, Gunaratna, 2002, p=12
* Islamic fundamentalismBergen, Peter L., ''Holy war, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden'', New York: Free Press, 2001., pp. 70–71 {{ISBN?
* Anti-Americanism{{cite web, url=http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm, title=Text of Fatwah Urging Jihad Against Americans, access-date=May 15, 2006, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422210853/http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm, archive-date=April 22, 2006
* Anti-communism
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
* Anti-imperialism
* Antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
{{refn, name=Antisemitism, {{Cite web, url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826184301/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver, url-status=dead, archive-date=August 26, 2013, title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America', work=The Observer, date=August 26, 2013{{cite news, url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508145341/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html, title=frontline: the terrorist and the superpower: who is bin laden?: interview with osama bin laden (in May 1998), newspaper=Frontline, archive-date=May 8, 1999, publisher=PBS{{cite web, title=Al-Qaeda's Urges Muslims to Shun World Cup, Stops Short of Threats, url=https://www.voanews.com/a/al-qaida-urges-muslims-to-shun-world-cup-stops-short-of-threats-/6842183.html, publisher=Voice of America, date=November 19, 2022, quote=Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the militant group's Yemen-based branch, criticized Qatar for 'bringing immoral people, homosexuals, sowers of corruption and atheism into the Arabian Peninsula' and said the event served to divert attention from the 'occupation of Muslim countries and their oppression.', access-date=November 20, 2022, archive-date=November 20, 2022, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120190659/https://www.voanews.com/a/al-qaida-urges-muslims-to-shun-world-cup-stops-short-of-threats-/6842183.html, url-status=live
* Anti-Western imperialism{{cite news, url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9716545/Inside-Jabhat-al-Nusra-the-most-extreme-wing-of-Syrias-struggle.html, archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9716545/Inside-Jabhat-al-Nusra-the-most-extreme-wing-of-Syrias-struggle.html, archive-date=January 10, 2022, url-access=subscription, url-status=live, title=Inside the most extreme wing, date=December 2, 2012, access-date=December 2, 2012, work=The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
, location=London, first=Ruth, last=Sherlock{{cbignore
* Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
{{cite magazine, url=https://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html, title=Conversation with Terror, magazine=Time, date=January 1999, access-date=March 22, 2015, archive-date=February 5, 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205200538/http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html, url-status=live{{cite web, url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm, title=Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, access-date=June 16, 2010, date=February 23, 1998, archive-date=April 21, 2010, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421110549/http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm, url-status=live
Factions:, {{Plainlist,
* Ahl-i Hadith
* Deobandism{{refn, name=Deobandism,
* Deobandi jihadism
* Salafism{{refn, name=Salafism, {{cite web, title=Special Reports – The Salafist Movement: Al Qaeda's New Front, url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html, last1=Livesey, first1=Bruce, author-link=Bruce Livesey (journalist), work=PBS Frontline, publisher=WGBH, date=January 25, 2005, access-date=October 18, 2011, archive-date=June 28, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202818/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html, url-status=live{{cite book, last1=Geltzer, first1=Joshua A., title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View, date=2011, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-0-415-66452-3, page=83, edition=Reprint{{cite web, url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,369448,00.html, title=The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants, work=Der Spiegel, date=August 12, 2005, access-date=October 18, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307084609/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0%2C1518%2C369448%2C00.html, archive-date=March 7, 2012, url-status=dead{{cite news, url=http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/, title=Al-Qaeda seeks global dominance, location=London, work=The Daily Telegraph, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142751/http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/, archive-date=January 12, 2012
{{cite web, url=http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2005/07/27/jihadists-want-global-caliphate/, title=Jihadists Want Global Caliphate, publisher=ThePolitic.com, date=July 27, 2005, access-date=October 18, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930020925/http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2005/07/27/jihadists-want-global-caliphate/, archive-date=September 30, 2011, url-status=dead
{{cite news, url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/21/alqaida.terrorism, location=London, work=The Guardian, first1=Jason, last1=Burke, title=What exactly does al-Qaeda want?, date=March 21, 2004, access-date=December 10, 2016, archive-date=June 25, 2022, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625022225/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/21/alqaida.terrorism, url-status=live *
Salafi jihadism
Salafi jihadism, also known as Salafi-jihadism, jihadist Salafism and revolutionary Salafism, is a religiopolitical Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamist ideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate through armed struggle. In a narrower sense, ji ...
{{refn, name=Salafi jihadism, {{cite book, last1=Moghadam, first1=Assaf, title=The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks, year=2008, publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press, isbn=978-0-8018-9055-0, page=48
* Wahhabism{{cite book, last1=Hudson, first1=Valerie, title=The Hillary Doctrine, publisher=Columbia University, page=154, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3apBgAAQBAJ&q=wahhabi+al+nusra&pg=PA154, access-date=January 15, 2016, isbn=978-0-231-53910-4, year=2015
* Anti-Shi'ism (alleged, officially denied)
, clans = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp , {{Plainlist,
Main groups:
*{{Flagicon, Islamic State AQAP
*{{flagicon image, Flag of AQIS.svg AQIS
*{{Flagicon, Islamic State AQIM
*{{Flagicon, Islamic State JNIM
----
Linked groups:
*{{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansarul Sharia Pakistan
*{{Flagicon image, Flag of Ansaru.svg Ansaru
*{{Flagicon, Islamic State Lashkar al-Zil
*{{Flagicon image, ShabaabFlag.svg Al-Shabaab
----
Former groups:
* {{Flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg AQBH(until 2002) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades
(until 2005) * {{flagicon image, Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg AQI
(2004–2006) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State AQY
(until 2009) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg AQBH
(until 2009) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of al-Qaeda's Kurdish Brigades.jpg AQKB
(until 2010) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)
(until 2012) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Abdullah Azzam Brigades (until 2015) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) (until 2016) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Libya) (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg Al-Nusra Front (2012–2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg Khorasan (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Ansar-al-Sharia-Aleppo.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Syria) (until 2017) * {{Flagicon image, Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg Ansar al-Sharia (Derna, Libya) (until 2018) * {{Flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg AQSP (until 2018) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt) (until 2018) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Mauritania) (until 2019) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State Imam Shamil Battalion
(until 2019) *{{Flagicon, Islamic State Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)
(until 2022) * {{Flagicon, Islamic State AQMA
(until 2024) *{{flagicon image, Flag of Tanzim Hurras al-Din.svg Hurras al-Din
(until 2025) , area = Worldwide
{{nowrap, Current territorial control:
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
, Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, size = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp , {{Plainlist,
* In Afghanistan: 400 (2023)
* In the Maghreb: 1,000–5,000 (2015)
* In Yemen: 3,000 (2022){{cite web, title=UN report indicates al-Qaeda and ISIS enjoy safe haven in Turkish-controlled Idlib, url=https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/02/the-un-report-indicates-al-qaeda-and-isis-enjoys-safe-haven-in-turkish-controlled-idlib/, website=Nordic Monitor, date=February 9, 2022, access-date=February 15, 2022, last=Bozkurt, first=Abdullah, archive-date=February 15, 2022, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215095304/https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/02/the-un-report-indicates-al-qaeda-and-isis-enjoys-safe-haven-in-turkish-controlled-idlib/, url-status=live
* In Somalia: 7,000–12,000 (2023)
, predecessor = Maktab al-Khidamat
, allies = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp, State allies:
* {{Flag, Afghanistan, 2021 ( 1996–2001, 2021–present){{refn, name=Afghanistan, {{cite web, title=Fourteenth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, work=UN Security Council, date=June 1, 2023, url=https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093255/N2312536.pdf, pages=3–22, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712115015/https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093255/N2312536.pdf, archive-date=July 12, 2023, quote=The link between the Taliban and both Al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains strong and symbiotic..The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remained close and symbiotic, with Al-Qaida viewing Taliban-administered Afghanistan a safe haven. Al-Qaida still aims to strengthen its position in Afghanistan and has been interacting with the Taliban, supporting the regime and protecting senior Taliban figures. Al-Qaida maintains a low profile, focusing on using the country as an ideological and logistical hub to mobilize and recruit new fighters while covertly rebuilding its external operations capability, via=ecoi.net{{cite news, title=UN report finds 'strong and symbiotic' links between Afghan Taliban, TTP, date=June 11, 2023, work=Dawn, url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1759180, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611140432/https://www.dawn.com/news/1759180, archive-date=June 11, 2023{{cite web, last1=Mir, first1=Asfandyar, title=Afghanistan's Terrorism Challenge: The Political Trajectories of al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and the Islamic State, url=https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Afghanistan%27s%20Terrorism%20Challenge.pdf, archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/Afghanistan%27s%20Terrorism%20Challenge.pdf, archive-date=October 9, 2022, url-status=live, publisher= Middle East Institute, date=October 2020{{cite web, last=Roggio, first=Bill, date=September 2, 2021, title=National Resistance Front repels multi-day Taliban assault on Panjshir {{! FDD's Long War Journal, url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/national-resistance-front-repels-multi-day-taliban-assault-on-panjshir.php, url-status=live, access-date=September 3, 2021, website=www.longwarjournal.org, archive-date=September 3, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903010009/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/national-resistance-front-repels-multi-day-taliban-assault-on-panjshir.php
* {{flag, Iran (alleged, but denied by Iran){{refn, name=Iran, {{cite web, title=Making Sense of Iran and al-Qaeda's Relationship, date=March 21, 2021, url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/making-sense-iran-and-al-qaedas-relationship, publisher=The Lawfare Institute, access-date=May 10, 2021, archive-date=January 13, 2024, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113133918/https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/making-sense-iran-and-al-qaedas-relationship, url-status=live{{Cite web, last=Hussam Radman, first=Assim al-Sabri, date=February 28, 2023, title=Leadership from Iran: How Al-Qaeda in Yemen Fell Under the Sway of Saif al-Adel, url=https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/19623, access-date=April 4, 2023, website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies, archive-date=March 6, 2023, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306134007/https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/19623, url-status=live
* {{flag, North Korea (alleged by the US)
* {{flag, Pakistan (alleged, but denied by Pakistan)
* {{flag, Qatar (alleged, but denied by Qatar)
* {{flag, Russia (alleged, but denied by Russia){{cite web, title=Al-Qaida Zawahiri trained by Russians, url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2005/07/19/Al-Qaida-Zawahiri-trained-by-Russians/58211121786326/, work=United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
, access-date=September 11, 2024, date=July 19, 2005
* {{flag, Saudi Arabia (alleged, but denied by Saudi Arabia){{cite news, last1=Thomas, first1=Carls, title=The Saudis channel the mafia: Fears of Saudi retaliation deter truth about 9/11, url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/18/cal-thomas-fears-of-saudi-retaliation-deter-truth-/, access-date=April 28, 2016, work=The Washington Times, archive-date=April 28, 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428151621/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/18/cal-thomas-fears-of-saudi-retaliation-deter-truth-/, url-status=live
* {{Flag, Sudan (1989–1996)
* {{flagicon, Syria, 1980 Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
(until 2024; alleged by the US)
* {{flag, Zimbabwe (alleged)
----
Non-state allies:
* {{Flag, Taliban ( 2001-2021)
** {{flagicon image, Flag of the Taliban.svg Haqqani network
* {{Flagicon image, Ansarullah Flag Vector.svg Houthis (since 2023){{cite web, title=In rare admission, Yemen's Houthis confirm they released Al-Qaeda terrorists, url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2254936/middle-east, website=Arab news, date=February 20, 2023, access-date=February 20, 2023, archive-date=April 4, 2023, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404055703/https://www.arabnews.com/node/2254936/middle-east, url-status=live
* {{Flagicon image, InfoboxHez.PNG Hezbollah (sometimes)
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Ansar al-Islam.svg
Ansar al-Islam
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Ansar Al-Furqan
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (1998–2015, 2016{{cite web, date=June 14, 2016, title=Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan faction emerges after group's collapse, url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/06/islamic-movement-of-uzbekistan-faction-emerges-after-groups-collapse.php, access-date=June 15, 2016, work=Long War Journal–present)
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Tehrik-i-Taliban.svg Pakistani Taliban
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Turkistan Islamic Party.svg Turkistan Islamic Party
** {{flagicon image, Flag of the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.svg Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Lashkar-e-Taiba.svg Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
* {{flagicon image, Jaishi-e-Mohammed.svg Jaish-e-Mohammed
* {{flagicon image, Flag of the Islamic Jihad Union in Uzbekistan.svg Islamic Jihad Union
* {{flagicon image, Fatah al-Islam Flags.svg Fatah al-Islam
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.svg Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
* Egyptian Islamic Jihad (until 2001)
* Jundallah (until 2011)
* Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (until 2010s)
* Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade (until 2014)
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Boko Haram (until 2015)
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Caucasian Emirate.svg Caucasus Emirate (until 2016)
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg {{flagicon image, Flag of Islamic State of Indonesia.svg Jemaah Islamiyah (until 2024){{Cite news, title=Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah to be disbanded, say its senior leaders, url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/southeast-asian-militant-group-jemaah-islamiyah-be-disbanded-say-its-senior-2024-07-04, date=July 4, 2024, access-date=July 4, 2024, work=Reuters
, opponents = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp, State opponents:
* {{flag, Algeria
* {{Flag, China"The Chinese regime and the Uyghur dilemma"{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511024214/http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/648#tocto1n10 , date=May 11, 2013 Summary of * {{flag, Egypt * {{flag, France * {{flag, India * {{flagcountry, Iran * {{flag, Iraq * {{flag, Israel * {{Flag, Lebanon * {{Flag, Russia * {{Flag, Saudi Arabia * {{Flag, Somalia * {{flagicon image, Flag_of_the_Syrian_revolution.svg
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
* {{Flag, Turkey
* {{flag, United Arab Emirates
* {{Flag, United Kingdom
* {{Flag, United States
* {{flag, Uzbekistan
* {{flag, Yemen
----
Formerly:
* {{flagicon image, Flag of Afghanistan (1987–1992).svg {{flagicon image, Flag of Afghanistan (1992–2001).svg {{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
(1988–1992; 1996–2001; 2002–2021)
* {{flagcountry, Soviet Union (1988–1989)
----
Non-state opponents:
* {{Flag, Islamic State
* {{Flagicon image, Ansarullah Flag Vector.svg Houthis (until 2023)
* {{Flagicon image, InfoboxHez.PNG Hezbollah (sometimes)
* {{Flagicon image, Flag of Kurdistan.svg Peshmerga
* {{Flagicon image, People's Protection Units Flag.svg YPG
* {{Flagicon image, Flag of South Yemen.svg Southern Movement
** Southern Transitional Council
, battles = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp, War on TerrorIn Sudan *
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...
In Afghanistan
* Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
** Battle of Jalalabad (1989)
* Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
* War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
The war in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict lasting from 2001 to 2021. It began with United States invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion by a Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom, United States-led coalition under the name Oper ...
In Tajikistan
* Civil war in Tajikistan
In North-Caucasus
* Second Chechen War
* Insurgency in the North Caucasus
* Al-Qaeda insurgency in North Caucasus
In Yemen
* al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
* Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)
In the Maghreb
* Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
* Mali War
* Azawad conflict
In Iraq
* Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
* Iraqi insurgency
In Pakistan
* Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In Somalia
* Somalia War (2006–2009)
* Somali Civil War (2009–present)
In the Sahel
* Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
In Syria
* Syrian Civil War
* Military intervention against ISIL
* American-led intervention in Syria
In Lebanon
* Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon
In Egypt
* Sinai insurgency
* Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)
In India
* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
, status =
, designated_as_terror_group_by = See below
Al-Qaeda,{{efn, {{IPAc-en, audio=En-us-Al Qaeda pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg, æ, l, ˈ, k, aɪ, (, ə, ), d, ə; {{Langx, ar, القاعدة, translit=al-Qāʿidah, lit=the Base, {{IPA, ar, alˈqaː.ʕi.da, IPA also known as The Base, is a pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world
The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
under a supra-national Islamic caliphate
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
. Its membership is mostly composed of Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
s but also includes people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the 1998 US embassy bombings, the USS ''Cole'' bombing, and the September 11 attacks.
The organization was founded in a series of meetings held in Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
during 1988, attended by Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
, Muhammad Atef, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
.{{Cite book, last=Klausen, first=Jytte, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7Q6EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47, title=Western Jihadism: A Thirty-Year History, publisher=Oxford University Press, year=2021, isbn=978-0-19-887079-1, location=Oxford, UK, pages=47–51, chapter=2: The Founder, access-date=March 18, 2023, archive-date=April 4, 2023, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404113005/https://books.google.com/books?id=p7Q6EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47, url-status=live Building upon the networks of '' Maktab al-Khidamat'', the founding members decided to create an organization named "''Al-Qaeda''" to serve as a "vanguard" for '' jihad''. When Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
invaded and occupied Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered to support Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
by sending his '' Mujahideen'' fighters. His offer was rebuffed by the Saudi government, which instead sought the aid of the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The stationing of U.S. troops in the Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
prompted bin Laden to declare a ''jihad'' against both the rulers of Saudi Arabia – whom he denounced as '' murtadd'' (apostates) – and against the US. From 1992, al-Qaeda established its headquarters in Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
until it was expelled in 1996. It then shifted its base to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and later expanded to other parts of the world, primarily in the Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. In 1996 and 1998, bin Laden issued two ''fatāwā'' that demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia.
In 1998, al-Qaeda conducted the US embassy bombings in Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
and Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, which killed 224 people. The U.S. retaliated by launching Operation Infinite Reach, against al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. In 2001, al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths, long-term health consequences of nearby residents, damage to global economic markets, the triggering of drastic geo-political changes as well as generating profound cultural influence across the world. The U.S. launched the war on Terror in response and invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq, overthrowing the Ba'athist regime which they falsely accused of having ties with al-Qaeda. In 2004, al-Qaeda launched its Iraqi regional branch. After pursuing him for almost a decade, the U.S. military killed bin Laden in Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
in May 2011.
Al-Qaeda members believe that a Judeo-Christian
The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bibl ...
alliance (led by the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
) is waging a war against Islam and conspiring to destroy Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Al-Qaeda also opposes man-made law
Artificiality (the state of being artificial, anthropogenic, or man-made) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotati ...
s, and seek to implement '' sharīʿah'' (Islamic law) in Muslim countries.{{harvnb, W2006, 246
} Al-Qaeda fighters characteristically deploy tactics such as suicide attacks ( Inghimasi and Istishhadi operations) involving simultaneous bombing of several targets in battle-zones. Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, which later morphed into the Islamic State of Iraq after 2006, was responsible for numerous sectarian attacks against Shias during its Iraqi insurgency. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision the violent removal of all foreign and secularist influences in Muslim countries, which it denounces as corrupt deviations. Following the death of bin Laden in 2011, al-Qaeda vowed to avenge his killing. The group was then led by Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri until he too was killed by the United States in 2022. {{As of, 2021}, they have reportedly suffered from a deterioration of central command over its regional operations.{{cite news, last1=Zakaria, first1=Fareed, date=April 29, 2021, title=Opinion: Ten years later, Islamist terrorism isn't the threat it used to be, newspaper=The Washington Post, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/ten-years-later-islamist-terrorism-isnt-the-threat-it-used-to-be/2021/04/29/deb88256-a91c-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html, url-status=live, url-access=subscription, access-date=May 4, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116153800/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/ten-years-later-islamist-terrorism-isnt-the-threat-it-used-to-be/2021/04/29/deb88256-a91c-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html, archive-date=November 16, 2021
Organization
Al-Qaeda only indirectly controls its day-to-day operations. Its philosophy calls for the centralization of decision making, while allowing for the decentralization of execution. The top leaders of al-Qaeda have defined the organization's ideology and guiding strategy, and they have also articulated simple and easy-to-receive messages. At the same time, mid-level organizations were given autonomy, but they had to consult with top management before large-scale attacks and assassinations. Top management included the shura council as well as committees on military operations, finance, and information sharing. Through the information committees of al-Qaeda, Zawahiri placed special emphasis on communicating with his groups.{{Cite web, last=Glenn, first=Cameron, date=September 28, 2015, title=Al Qaeda v ISIS: Leaders & Structure, url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-leaders-structure, access-date=March 3, 2021, website=Wilson Center, archive-date=March 8, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155255/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-leaders-structure, url-status=live However, after the war on terror, al-Qaeda's leadership has become isolated. As a result, the leadership has become decentralized, and the organization has become regionalized into several al-Qaeda groups. The group was initially dominated byEgyptians
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...
and Saudis, with some participation from Yemenis and Kuwaitis. Over time, it has evolved into a more international terrorist organization. While its core group originally shared a background in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, it has since attracted fighters from other Arab groups, including Maghrebi Arabs, North Africans, Jordanians, Palestinians, and Iraqis. In the decade following the 9/11 attacks, Muslims from non-Arab backgrounds, such as Pakistanis, Afghans, Turkish people, Turks, Kurds, and Islam in Europe, European converts to Islam, have also joined the organization.
Many Western analysts do not believe that the global jihadist movement is driven at every level by al-Qaeda's leadership. However, bin Laden held considerable ideological influence over revolutionary Islamist movements across the world. Experts argue that al-Qaeda has fragmented into a number of disparate regional movements, and that these groups bear little connection with one another.{{Cite news, last1=Blitz, first1=James, date=January 19, 2010, title=A threat transformed, newspaper=Financial Times, url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af31e344-0499-11df-8603-00144feabdc0.html, url-status=, url-access=subscription, access-date=December 11, 2022, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502150747/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af31e344-0499-11df-8603-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LCxJlXGb, archive-date=May 2, 2011
This view mirrors the account given by Osama bin Laden in his October 2001 interview with Tayseer Allouni:
{{blockquote, "this matter isn't about any specific person and{{spaces... is not about the al-Qa'idah Organization. We are the children of an Islamic Nation, with Prophet Muhammad as its leader, our Lord is one{{spaces... and all the true believers [mu'mineen] are brothers. So the situation isn't like the West portrays it, that there is an 'organization' with a specific name (such as 'al-Qa'idah') and so on. That particular name is very old. It was born without any intention from us. Brother Abu Ubaida{{spaces... created a military base to train the young men to fight against the vicious, arrogant, brutal, terrorizing Soviet empire{{spaces... So this place was called 'The Base' ['Al-Qa'idah'], as in a training base, so this name grew and became. We aren't separated from this nation. We are the children of a nation, and we are an inseparable part of it, and from those public demonstrations which spread from the far east, from the Philippines to Indonesia, to Malaysia, to India, to Pakistan, reaching Mauritania{{spaces... and so we discuss the conscience of this nation."{{cite web, url=http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=977&pageID=64, title=A Discussion on the New Crusader Wars: Tayseer Allouni with Usamah bin Laden, publisher=IslamicAwakening.com, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621142756/http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=977&pageID=64, archive-date=June 21, 2013
{{as of, 2010 however, Bruce Hoffman saw al-Qaeda as a cohesive network that was strongly led from the Pakistani tribal areas.
Affiliates
Al-Qaeda has the following direct affiliates: {{Div col, colwidth=30em *Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) *Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) *Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) *Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) {{div col end The following are presently believed to be indirect affiliates of al-Qaeda: {{Div col, colwidth=30em * Al-Shabaab * Fatah al-Islam * Islamic Jihad Union * Jaish-e-Mohammed{{Cite web, url=https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/jaish-e-mohammed, title=Jaish-e-Mohammed, date=July 2018, publisher=Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University, access-date=August 11, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717001529/https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/jaish-e-mohammed, archive-date=July 17, 2019, url-status=dead *Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
{{div col end
Al-Qaeda's former affiliates include the following:
{{Div col, colwidth=30em
*Abu Sayyaf (pledged allegiance to Islamic State, ISIL in 2014)
* Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (dissolved)
* Caucasus Emirate (dissolved)
* Hurras al-Din (dissolved in 2025)
* Jemaah Islamiyah (dissolved in 2024)
* Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (dissolved)
*Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), Al-Mourabitoun (joined Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, JNIM in 2017{{cite web, url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/03/analysis-al-qaeda-groups-reorganize-in-west-africa.php, last1=Joscelyn, first1=Thomas, date=March 13, 2017, title=Analysis: Al Qaeda groups reorganize in West Africa, website=Long War Journal, access-date=August 16, 2019, archive-date=October 25, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025023808/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/03/analysis-al-qaeda-groups-reorganize-in-west-africa.php, url-status=live)
*Al-Qaeda in Iraq (became the Islamic State of Iraq, which later seceded from al-Qaeda and became Islamic State, ISIL)
*Ansaru, Al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel (inactive since 2015)
* Ansar al-Islam (majority merged with Islamic State, ISIL in 2014)
*Ansar Dine (joined Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, JNIM in 2017)
*Islamic Jihad in Yemen (became AQAP)
*Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (merged with Al-Mulathameen to form Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), Al-Mourabitoun in 2013)
*Rajah Sulaiman Movement
* Al-Nusra Front (dissolved in 2017, merged with other Islamist organizations to form Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and split ties){{div col end
Leadership
Osama bin Laden (1988 – May 2011)
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
served as the emir of al-Qaeda from the organization's founding in 1988 until his assassination by US forces on May 1, 2011. Atiyah Abd al-Rahman was alleged to be second in command prior to his death on August 22, 2011.
Bin Laden was advised by a shura, Shura Council, which consists of senior al-Qaeda members. The group was estimated to consist of 20–30 people.
After May 2011
Ayman al-Zawahiri had been al-Qaeda's deputy emir and assumed the role of emir following bin Laden's death. Al-Zawahiri replaced Saif al-Adel, who had served as interim commander. On June 5, 2012, Pakistani intelligence officials announced that al-Rahman's alleged successor as second in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi, had been killed in Pakistan. Nasir al-Wuhayshi was alleged to have become al-Qaeda's overall second in command and general manager in 2013. He was concurrently the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) until he was killed by a US airstrike in Yemen in June 2015. Abu Khayr al-Masri, Wuhayshi's alleged successor as the deputy to Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a US airstrike in Syria in February 2017. Al-Qaeda's next alleged number two leader, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, was killed by Israeli agents. His pseudonym was Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who was killed in November 2020 in Iran. He was involved in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. {{anchor, CommitteesAl-Qaeda's network was built from scratch as a conspiratorial network which drew upon the leadership of a number of regional nodes. The organization divided itself into several committees, which include: * The Military Committee, which is responsible for training operatives, acquiring weapons, and planning attacks. * The Money/Business Committee, which funds the recruitment and training of operatives through the ''hawala'' banking system. US-led efforts to eradicate the sources of "terrorist financing" were most successful in the year immediately following the September 11 attacks. Al-Qaeda continues to operate through unregulated banks, such as the 1,000 or so ''hawaladars'' in Pakistan, some of which can handle deals of up to {{US$, 10{{spacesmillion. The committee also procures false passports, pays al-Qaeda members, and oversees profit-driven businesses. In the ''9/11 Commission Report'', it was estimated that al-Qaeda required $30{{spacesmillion per year to conduct its operations. * The Law Committee reviews Sharia law, and decides upon courses of action conform to it. * The Islamic Study/''Fatwā, Fatwah'' Committee issues religious edicts, such as an edict in 1998 telling Muslims to kill Americans. * The Media Committee ran the now-defunct newspaper ''Nashrat al Akhbar'' ({{langx, en, Newscast) and handled public relations. * In 2005, al-Qaeda formed As-Sahab, a media production house, to supply its video and audio materials.After Al-Zawahiri (2022 – present)
Al-Zawahiri was killed on July 31, 2022, in a drone strike in Afghanistan. In February 2023, a report from the United Nations, based on member state intelligence, concluded that de facto leadership of al-Qaeda had passed to Saif al-Adel, who was operating out of Iran. Adel, a former Egyptian army officer, became a military instructor in al-Qaeda camps in the 1990s and was known for his involvement in the Battle of Mogadishu. The report stated that al-Adel's leadership could not officially be declared by al-Qaeda because of "political sensitivities" of Afghan Government, Afghan government in acknowledging the death of Al-Zawahiri as well as due to "theological and operational" challenges posed by the location of al-Adel in Iran.Command structure
Most of al-Qaeda's top leaders and operational directors were veterans who fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were the leaders who were considered the operational commanders of the organization. Nevertheless, al-Qaeda was not Military operation, operationally managed by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Several operational groups exist, which consult with the leadership in situations where attacks are in preparation. "...{{spacesZawahiri does not claim to have direct hierarchical control over al Qaeda's vast, networked structure. Al Qaeda's core leadership seeks to centralize the organization's messaging and strategy rather than to manage the daily operations of its franchises. But formal affiliates are required to consult with al Qaeda's core leadership before carrying out large-scale attacks." Al-Qaeda central (AQC) is a conglomerate of expert committees, each in supervision of distinct tasks and objectives. Its membership is mostly composed of Islam in Egypt#Islamic political movements, Egyptian Islamist leaders who participated in the anti-communist Afghan Jihad. Assisting them are hundreds of Islamic field operatives and commanders, based in various regions of the Muslim World. The central leadership assumes control of the doctrinal approach and overall propaganda campaign; while the regional commanders were empowered with independence in military strategy and political maneuvering. This novel hierarchy made it possible for the organisation to launch wide-range offensives. When asked in 2005 about the possibility of al-Qaeda's connection to the July 7, 2005 London bombings, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "Al-Qaeda is not an organization. Al-Qaeda is a way of working{{spaces... but this has the hallmark of that approach{{spaces... Al-Qaeda clearly has the ability to provide training{{spaces... to provide expertise{{spaces... and I think that is what has occurred here."{{Cite news, title=Cops: London Attacks Were Homicide Blasts, date=July 15, 2005, url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/cops-london-attacks-were-homicide-blasts, publisher=Fox News, access-date=June 15, 2008, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420155421/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162476,00.html, archive-date=April 20, 2008, url-status=live On August 13, 2005, ''The Independent'' newspaper, reported that the July{{spaces7 bombers had acted independently of an al-Qaeda mastermind. Nasser al-Bahri, who was Osama bin Laden's bodyguard for four years in the run-up to 9/11 wrote in his memoir a highly detailed description of how the group functioned at that time. Al-Bahri described al-Qaeda's formal administrative structure and vast arsenal. However, the author Adam Curtis argued that the idea of al-Qaeda as a formal organization is primarily an American invention. Curtis contended the name "Al-Qaeda" was first brought to the attention of the public in the 2001 trial of bin Laden and the four men accused of the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa. Curtis wrote: {{blockquote, The reality was that bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri had become the focus of a loose association of disillusioned Islamist militants who were attracted by the new strategy. But there was no organization. These were militants who mostly planned their own operations and looked to bin Laden for funding and assistance. He was not their commander. There is also no evidence that bin Laden used the term "al-Qaeda" to refer to the name of a group until after September 11 attacks, when he realized that this was the term the Americans had given it.''The Power of Nightmares''BBC Documentary. During the 2001 trial, the United States Department of Justice, US Department of Justice needed to show that bin Laden was the leader of a criminal organization in order to charge him trial in absentia, ''in absentia'' under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The name of the organization and details of its structure were provided in the testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, who said he was a founding member of the group and a former employee of bin Laden. Questions about the reliability of al-Fadl's testimony have been raised by a number of sources because of his history of dishonesty, and because he was delivering it as part of a plea bargain agreement after being convicted of conspiring to attack US military establishments.{{Harvnb, McGeary, 2001. Sam Schmidt, a defense attorney who defended al-Fadl, said: {{blockquote, There were selective portions of al-Fadl's testimony that I believe was false, to help support the picture that he helped the Americans join together. I think he lied in a number of specific testimony about a unified image of what this organization was. It made al-Qaeda the new Mafia or the new Communists. It made them identifiable as a group and therefore made it easier to prosecute any person associated with al-Qaeda for any acts or statements made by bin Laden.
Field operatives
The number of individuals in the group who have undergone proper military training, and are capable of commanding insurgent forces, is largely unknown. Documents captured in the raid on bin Laden's compound in 2011 show that the core al-Qaeda membership in 2002 was 170. In 2006, it was estimated that al-Qaeda had several thousand commanders embedded in 40 countries.{{Harvnb, Cassidy, 2006, p=9. {{as of, 2009, it was believed that no more than 200–300 members were still active commanders.
According to the 2004 BBC documentary ''The Power of Nightmares'', al-Qaeda was so weakly linked together that it was hard to say it existed apart from bin Laden and a small clique of close associates. The lack of any significant numbers of convicted al-Qaeda members, despite a large number of arrests on terrorism charges, was cited by the documentary as a reason to doubt whether a widespread entity that met the description of al-Qaeda existed. al-Qaeda's commanders, as well as its sleeping agents, are hiding in different parts of the world to this day. They are mainly hunted by the American and Israeli secret services.
Insurgent forces
According to author Robert Cassidy, al-Qaeda maintains two separate forces which are deployed alongside insurgents in Iraq and Pakistan. The first, numbering in the tens of thousands, was "organized, trained, and equipped as insurgent combat forces" in the Soviet–Afghan war. The force was composed primarily of foreign ''mujahideen'' from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Many of these fighters went on to fight in Bosnia and Somalia for global ''jihad''. Another group, which numbered 10,000 in 2006, live in the West and have received rudimentary combat training. Other analysts have described al-Qaeda's rank and file as being "predominantly Arab" in its first years of operation, but that the organization also includes "other peoples" {{as of, 2007, lc=y. It has been estimated that 62 percent of al-Qaeda members have a university education. In 2011 and the following year, the Americans successfully settled accounts with Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, the organization's chief propagandist, and Abu Yahya al-Libi's deputy commander. The optimistic voices were already saying it was over for al-Qaeda. Nevertheless, it was around this time that the Arab Spring greeted the region, the turmoil of which came great to al-Qaeda's regional forces. Seven years later, Ayman al-Zawahiri became arguably the number one leader in the organization, implementing his strategy with systematic consistency. Tens of thousands loyal to al-Qaeda and related organizations were able to challenge local and regional stability and ruthlessly attack their enemies in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and Russia alike. In fact, from Northwest Africa to South Asia, al-Qaeda had more than two dozen "franchise-based" allies. The number of al-Qaeda militants was set at 20,000 in Syria alone, and they had 4,000 members in Yemen and about 7,000 in Somalia. The war was not over.{{Cite web, title=Al-Qaeda's Resurrection, url=https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/al-qaedas-resurrection, access-date=March 3, 2021, website=Council on Foreign Relations, archive-date=August 23, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823041933/https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/al-qaedas-resurrection, url-status=live In 2001, al-Qaeda had around 20 functioning cells and 70,000 insurgents spread over sixty nations. According to latest estimates, the number of active-duty soldiers under its command and allied militias have risen to approximately 250,000 by 2018.Financing
Al-Qaeda usually does not disburse funds for attacks, and very rarely makes wire transfers. In the 1990s, financing came partly from the personal wealth of Osama bin Laden.Who is Bin Laden?{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729115149/https://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914whoisobl.html , date=July 29, 2017 . Retrieved May 5, 2011 Other sources of income included the heroin trade and donations from supporters in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Gulf states. A 2009 United States diplomatic cables leak, leaked diplomatic cable stated that "terrorist funding emanating from Saudi Arabia remains a serious concern." Among the first pieces of evidence regarding Saudi Arabia's support for al-Qaeda was the so-called "The Golden Chain, Golden Chain", a list of early al-Qaeda funders seized during a 2002 raid in Sarajevo by Bosnian police.{{cite web, url=http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=al-qaeda%20saudi%20arabia&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go, title=History Commons, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805191322/http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=al-qaeda%20saudi%20arabia&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go, archive-date=August 5, 2016, url-status=dead The hand-written list was validated by al-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl, and included the names of both donors and beneficiaries.United States of America v. Usama bin Laden
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710090442/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_of_America_v._Usama_bin_Laden/Day_2_6_February_2001 , date=July 10, 2015 . Wikisource. Retrieved June 10, 2016. Osama bin-Laden's name appeared seven times among the beneficiaries, while 20 Saudi and Gulf-based businessmen and politicians were listed among the donors. Notable donors included Adel Batterjee, and Wael Hamza Julaidan. Batterjee was designated as a terror financier by the US Department of the Treasury in 2004, and Julaidan is recognized as one of al-Qaeda's founders. Documents seized during the 2002 Bosnia raid showed that al-Qaeda widely exploited charities to channel financial and material support to its operatives across the globe. Notably, this activity exploited the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the Muslim World League (MWL). The IIRO had ties with al-Qaeda associates worldwide, including al-Qaeda's deputy Ayman al Zawahiri. Zawahiri's brother worked for the IIRO in Albania and had actively recruited on behalf of al-Qaeda.Emerson, Steve (2006). ''Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US''. Prometheus Books. p. 382. The MWL was openly identified by al-Qaeda's leader as one of the three charities al-Qaeda primarily relied upon for funding sources.
Allegations of Qatari support
{{See also, Qatar and state-sponsored terrorism, Qatar diplomatic crisis Several Qatari citizens have been accused of funding al-Qaeda. This includes Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi, a Qatari citizen and a human-rights activist who founded the Swiss-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Alkarama. On December 18, 2013, the US Treasury designated Nuaimi as a terrorist for his activities supporting al-Qaeda.{{cite web, url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2249.aspx, title=Treasury Designates Al-Qa'ida Supporters in Qatar and Yemen, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-date=May 8, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508002454/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/jl2249.aspx, url-status=live The US Treasury has said Nuaimi "has facilitated significant financial support to al-Qaeda in Iraq, and served as an interlocutor between al-Qaeda in Iraq and Qatar-based donors". Nuaimi was accused of overseeing a $2{{spacesmillion monthly transfer to al-Qaeda in Iraq as part of his role as mediation, mediator between Iraq-based al-Qaeda senior officers and Qatari citizens.{{cite web, url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/12/29/How-Qatar-Funding-al-Qaeda-and-Why-Could-Help-US, title=How Qatar Is Funding al-Qaeda – and Why That Could Help the US, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-date=January 23, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123003345/http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/12/29/How-Qatar-Funding-al-Qaeda-and-Why-Could-Help-US, url-status=live Nuaimi allegedly entertained relationships with Abu-Khalid al-Suri, al-Qaeda's top envoy in Syria, who processed a $600,000 transfer to al-Qaeda in 2013. Nuaimi is also known to be associated with Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahman al-Humayqani, aYemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
i politician and founding member of Alkarama, who was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US Treasury in 2013.{{cite web, url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/06/ban-ki-moon-shakes-hands-with-alleged-al-qaeda-emir.php, title=Ban Ki-Moon shakes hands with alleged al Qaeda emir, website=The Long War Journal, date=June 23, 2015, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-date=May 19, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519235851/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/06/ban-ki-moon-shakes-hands-with-alleged-al-qaeda-emir.php, url-status=live The US authorities claimed that Humayqani exploited his role in Alkarama to fundraise on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A prominent figure in AQAP, Nuaimi was also reported to have facilitated the flow of funding to AQAP affiliates based in Yemen. Nuaimi was also accused of investing funds in the charity directed by Humayqani to ultimately fund AQAP. About ten months after being sanctioned by the US Treasury, Nuaimi was also restrained from doing business in the UK.
Another Qatari citizen, Kalifa Mohammed Turki Subayi, was sanctioned by the US Treasury on June 5, 2008, for his activities as a "Gulf-based Al-Qaeda financier". Subayi's name was added to the UN Security Council's Sanctions List in 2008 on charges of providing financial and material support to al-Qaeda senior leadership.{{cite web, url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11790.doc.htm, title=Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Amends One Entry on Its Sanctions List – Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, access-date=June 21, 2016, archive-date=November 5, 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105193910/http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11790.doc.htm, url-status=live Subayi allegedly moved al-Qaeda recruits to South Asia-based training camps. He also financially supported Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Pakistani national and senior al-Qaeda officer who is believed to be the mastermind behind the September 11 attack according to the ''9/11 Commission Report''.{{Cite web, url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf, archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf, archive-date=October 9, 2022, url-status=live, title=The 9/11 Commission Report
Qataris provided support to al-Qaeda through the country's largest NGO, the Qatar Charity. Al-Qaeda defector al-Fadl, who was a former member of Qatar Charity, testified in court that Abdullah Mohammed Yusef, who served as Qatar Charity's director, was affiliated to al-Qaeda and simultaneously to the National Islamic Front, a political group that gave al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden harbor in Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
in the early 1990s.
It was alleged that in 1993 Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
was using Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
based Sunni charities to channel financial support to al-Qaeda operatives overseas. The same documents also report Bin Laden's complaint that the failed assassination attempt of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had compromised the ability of al-Qaeda to exploit charities to support its operatives to the extent it was capable of before 1995.
Qatar financed al-Qaeda's enterprises through al-Qaeda's former affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra. The funding was primarily channeled through kidnapping for ransom.{{cite web, url=http://stopterrorfinance.org/blog/510652383-funding-al-nusra-through-ransom-qatar-and-the-myth-of-humanitarian-principle, title=Funding Al Nusra Through Ransom: Qatar and the Myth of 'Humanitarian Principle', first1=CATF, last1=Reports, website=stopterrorfinance.org, access-date=June 6, 2017 The Consortium Against Terrorist Finance (CATF) reported that the Gulf country has funded al-Nusra since 2013. In 2017, ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' estimated that Qatar had disbursed $25{{spacesmillion in support of al-Nusra through kidnapping for ransom. In addition, Qatar has launched fundraising campaigns on behalf of al-Nusra. Al-Nusra acknowledged a Qatar-sponsored campaign "as one of the preferred conduits for donations intended for the group".
Strategy
{{Update section, date=August 2016 In the disagreement over whether al-Qaeda's objectives are religious or political, Mark Sedgwick describes al-Qaeda's strategy as political in the immediate term but with ultimate aims that are religious.{{cite journal, last1=Sedgwick , first1=Mark, title=Al-Qaeda and the Nature of Religious Terrorism, journal=Terrorism and Political Violence, date=August 10, 2010, volume=16, issue=4, pages=795–814, doi=10.1080/09546550590906098, s2cid=143323639 On March 11, 2005, ''Al-Quds Al-Arabi'' published extracts from Saif al-Adel's document "Al Qaeda's Strategy to the Year 2020".{{cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofa0000atwa, url-access=registration, first1=Abdel Bari, last1=Atwan, title=The Secret History of Al Qaeda, pag221
publisher=University of California Press, isbn=0-520-24974-7, via=Internet Archive, date=March 11, 2005, access-date=May 8, 2011 Abdel Bari Atwan summarizes this strategy as comprising five stages to rid the Ummah from all forms of oppression: # Provoke the United States and the West into invading a Muslim country by staging a massive attack or string of attacks on US soil that results in massive civilian casualties. # Incite local resistance to occupying forces. # Expand the conflict to neighboring countries and engage the US and its allies in a long war of attrition. # Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating principles that can be loosely franchised in other countries without requiring direct command and control, and via these franchises incite attacks against the US and countries allied with the US until they withdraw from the conflict, as happened with the 2004 Madrid train bombings, but which did not have the same effect with the July 7, 2005 London bombings. # The US economy will finally collapse by 2020, under the strain of multiple engagements in numerous places. This will lead to a collapse in the worldwide economic system, and lead to global political instability. This will lead to a global jihad led by al-Qaeda, and a Wahhabi Caliphate will then be installed across the world. Atwan noted that, while the plan is unrealistic, "it is sobering to consider that this virtually describes the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, downfall of the Soviet Union." According to Fouad Hussein, a Jordanian journalist and author who has spent time in prison with Al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's strategy consists of seven phases and is similar to the plan described in al-Qaeda's Strategy to the year 2020. These phases include: # "The Awakening." This phase was supposed to last from 2001 to 2003. The goal of the phase is to provoke the United States to attack a Muslim country by executing an attack that kills many civilians on US soil. # "Opening Eyes." This phase was supposed to last from 2003 to 2006. The goal of this phase was to recruit young men to the cause and to transform the al-Qaeda group into a movement. Iraq was supposed to become the center of all operations with financial and military support for bases in other states. # "Arising and Standing up", was supposed to last from 2007 to 2010. In this phase, al-Qaeda wanted to execute additional attacks and focus their attention on Syria. Hussein believed other countries in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
were also in danger.
# Al-Qaeda expected a steady growth among their ranks and territories due to the declining power of the regimes in the Arabian Peninsula. The main focus of attack in this phase was supposed to be on oil suppliers and cyberterrorism, targeting the US economy and military infrastructure.
# The declaration of an Islamic Caliphate, which was projected between 2013 and 2016. In this phase, al-Qaeda expected the resistance from Israel to be heavily reduced.
# The declaration of an "Islamic Army" and a "fight between believers and non-believers", also called "total confrontation".
# "Definitive Victory", projected to be completed by 2020.
According to the seven-phase strategy, the war is projected to last less than two years.
According to Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute and Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute, the new model of al-Qaeda is to "socialize communities" and build a broad territorial base of operations with the support of local communities, also gaining income independent of the funding of sheiks.
Name
The English name of the organization is a simplified Romanization of Arabic, transliteration of the Arabic noun ''{{transliteration, ar, DIN, al-qāʿidah'' ({{wikt-lang, ar, القاعدة), which means "the foundation" or "the base". The initial ''al-'' is the Arabic definite article "the", hence "the base". In Arabic, ''al-Qaeda'' has four syllables ({{IPA, /alˈqaː.ʕi.da/). However, since two of the Arabic consonants in the name are not phone (phonetics), phones found in the English language, the common naturalized English phonology, English pronunciations include {{IPAc-en, æ, l, ˈ, k, aɪ, d, ə, {{IPAc-en, æ, l, ˈ, k, eɪ, d, ə and {{IPAc-en, ˌ, æ, l, k, ɑː, ˈ, iː, d, ə. Al-Qaeda's name can also be transliteration, transliterated as ''al-Qaida'', ''al-Qa'ida'', or ''el-Qaida''. The doctrinal concept of "''al-Qaeda''" was first coined by the Palestinians, Palestinian Islamism, Islamist scholar and Jihadism, Jihadist leader Abdullah Azzam in an April 1988 issue of ''Al-Jihad'' magazine to describe a religiously committed vanguard of Muslims who wage armed ''Jihad'' globally to liberate oppressed Muslims from foreign invaders, establish ''sharia'' (Islamic law) across the Muslim world, Islamic World by overthrowing the ruling Secular state, secular governments; and thus restore the past Islamic prowess. This was to be implemented by establishing an Islamic state that would nurture generations of Muslim soldiers that would perpetually attack United States and its allied governments in the Muslim World. Numerous historical models were cited by Azzam as successful examples of his call; starting from the early Muslim conquests of the 7th century to the recent Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet Mujahideen, Afghan Jihad of the 1980s.{{Cite web, last=Paz, first=Reuven, year=2001, title=The Brotherhood of Global Jihad, url=https://old.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/books/global/paz.htm, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804141316/https://old.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/books/global/paz.htm#4, archive-date=August 4, 2022, website=SATP, access-date=August 4, 2022, url-status=bot: unknown According to Azzam's world-view:It is about time to think about a state that would be a solid base for the distribution of the (Islamic) creed, and a fortress to host the preachers from the hell of the ''Jahiliyyah'' [the pre-Islamic period].Bin Laden explained the origin of the term in a videotaped interview with Al Jazeera Media Network, Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Alouni in October 2001: {{blockquote, The name 'al-Qaeda' was established a long time ago by mere chance. The late Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri, Abu Ebeida El-Banashiri established the training camps for our ''mujahedeen'' against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda. The name stayed. It has been argued that two documents seized from the Sarajevo office of the Benevolence International Foundation prove the name was not simply adopted by the ''mujahideen'' movement and that a group called al-Qaeda was established in August 1988. Both of these documents contain minutes of meetings held to establish a new military group, and contain the term "al-Qaeda". Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote that the word al-Qaeda should be translated as "the database", because it originally referred to the computer file of the thousands of ''mujahideen'' militants who were recruited and trained with CIA help to defeat the Russians. In April 2002, the group assumed the name ''Qa'idat al-Jihad'' ({{lang, ar, قاعدة الجهاد ''{{transliteration, ar, DIN, qāʿidat al-jihād''), which means "the base of Jihad". According to Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Diaa Rashwan, this was "apparently as a result of the merger of the overseas branch of Egypt's Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Jihad, which was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, with the groups Bin Laden brought under his control after his return to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s."
Ideology
{{Main, Jihadism {{Further, Qutbism, Islamic extremism in the 20th-century Egypt, label2=Egyptian Islamism{{Islamism sidebar
The Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant movement of al-Qaeda developed amid the rise of Islamic revivalist and Jihadist movements after the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) and during the Afghan Jihad (1979–1989). The writings of Egyptian Islamist scholar and revolutionary ideologue Sayyid Qutb strongly inspired the founding leaders of al-Qaeda. In the 1950s and 1960s, Qutb preached that because of the lack of ''sharia'' law, the Muslim world
The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
was no longer Muslim, and had reverted to the pre-Islamic ignorance known as ''jahiliyyah''. To restore Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, Qutb argued that a vanguard of righteous Muslims was needed in order to establish "true Islamic state (government), Islamic states", implement ''sharia'', and rid the Muslim world of any non-Muslim influences. In Qutb's view, the enemies of Islam included "Jews, world Jewry", which "plotted List of conspiracy theories#Antisemitism, conspiracies" and opposed Islam. Qutb envisioned this vanguard to march forward to wage armed ''Jihad'' against tyrannical regimes after purifying from the wider ''Jahili'' societies and organising themselves under a righteous Islamic leadership; which he viewed as the model of early Muslims in the Islamic State of Medina under the leadership of the Muhammad, Islamic prophet Muhammad. This idea would directly influence many Islamist figures such as Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
; and became the core rationale for the formulation of "al-Qaeda" concept in the near future.{{Cite book, last=R. Halverson , Goodall, Jr., R. Corman, first=Jeffry, H. L., and Steven, title=Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism, publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, year=2011, isbn=978-0-230-10896-7, location=New York, chapter=3:The Jahiliyya, pages=45–46 Outlining his strategy to topple the existing secular orders, Qutb argued in ''Milestones (book), Milestones'': [It is necessary that] a Muslim community to come into existence which believes that ‘''there is no deity except God'',’ which commits itself to obey none but God, denying all other authority, and which challenges the legality of any law which is not based on this belief.. . It should come into the battlefield with the determination that its strategy, its social organization, and the relationship between its individuals should be firmer and more powerful than the existing ''jahili'' system.In the words of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, a close college friend of bin Laden: {{blockquote, Islam is different from any other religion; it's a way of life. We [Khalifa and bin Laden] were trying to understand what Islam has to say about how we eat, who we marry, how we talk. We read Sayyid Qutb. He was the one who most affected our generation. Qutb also influenced Ayman al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri's uncle and maternal family patriarch, Mafouz Azzam, was Qutb's student, protégé, personal lawyer, and an executor of his estate. Azzam was one of the last people to see Qutb alive before his execution. Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work ''Knights under the Prophet's Banner''. Qutb argued that many Muslims were not true Muslims. Some Muslims, Qutb argued, were Apostasy in Islam, apostates. These alleged apostates included leaders of Muslim countries, since they failed to enforce ''sharia'' law. He also alleged that the Western world, West approaches the Muslim World with a "crusading spirit"; in spite of the decline of religious values in the 20th century Europe. According to Qutb; the hostile and imperialist attitudes exhibited by Europeans and Americans towards Muslim countries, their support for Zionism, etc. reflected hatred amplified over a millennia of wars such as the Crusades and was born out of Roman Empire, Roman Materialism, materialist and Utilitarianism, utilitarian outlooks that viewed the world in monetary terms.
Formation
{{See also, Afghan Jihad The Afghan Arabs, Afghan jihad against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, pro-Soviet government further developed the Salafi jihadism, Salafist Jihadist movement which inspired al-Qaeda. During this period, al-Qaeda embraced the ideals of the Indian Muslim militant revivalist Syed Ahmad Barelvi (d. 1831) who led a Ahl-i Hadith#Indian Jihad Movement, Jihad movement against Company rule in India, British India from the frontiers of Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa in the early 19th century. Al-Qaeda readily adopted Sayyid Ahmad's doctrines such as returning to the purity of early generations (''Salaf, Salaf as-Salih''), antipathy towards Western culture, Western influences and restoration of Islamic political power.{{Cite journal, last=Haqqani, first=Hussain, year=2005, title=The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups, url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1437302091, journal=Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, volume=1, pages=13, id={{ProQuest, 1437302091, via=ProQuest, access-date=March 16, 2022, archive-date=February 28, 2023, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228163319/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1437302091, url-status=live{{Cite book, last=Marquardt, Heffelfinger, first=Erich, Christopher, title=Terrorism & Political Islam: Origins, Ideologies, and Methods; a Counter Terrorism Textbook; 2nd Edition, publisher=Combating Terrorism Center, Department of Social Sciences, year=2008, pages=37–38, 42, 150–151, 153, asin=B004LJQ8O8 According to Pakistanis, Pakistani journalist Husain Haqqani, Hussain Haqqani, {{blockquote, Sayyid Ahmed's revival of the ideology of jihad became the prototype for subsequent Islamic militant movements in South and Central Asia and is also the main influence over the jihad network of Al Qaeda and its associated groups in the region.Objectives
The long-term objective of al-Qaeda is to unite the Muslim World under a supra-national Islamic state known as the ''Caliphate, Khilafah'' (Caliphate), headed by an elected Caliphate, Caliph descended from the ''Ahl al-Bayt'' (Muhammad's family). The immediate objectives include the expulsion of American troops from the Arabian Peninsula, waging armed Jihad to topple US-allied governments in the region, etc.{{Cite book, last=Klausen, first=Jytte, title=Western Jihadism: A Thirty-Year History, publisher=Oxford University Press, year=2021, isbn=978-0-19-887079-1, location=Oxford, UK, pages=53–54, chapter=2: The Founder The following are the goals and some of the general policies outlined in al-Qaeda's Founding Charter "''Al-Qaeda's Structure and Bylaws''" issued in the meetings inPeshawar
Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
in 1988:{{Cite web, title=Al-Qa'ida's Structure and Bylaws, url=https://ctc.westpoint.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Al-Qa%E2%80%99ida%E2%80%99s-Structure-and-Bylaws-Translation1.pdf, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013055746/https://ctc.westpoint.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Al-Qa%E2%80%99ida%E2%80%99s-Structure-and-Bylaws-Translation1.pdf, archive-date=October 13, 2022, website=CTC
{{Blockquote, text=
General Goalsi. To promote '' jihad'' awareness in the Islamic world
ii. To prepare and equip the cadres for the Islamic world through trainings and by participating in actual combat
iii. To support and sponsor the Jihadism, jihad movement as much as possible
iv. To coordinate Jihad movements around the world in an effort to create a unified international Jihad movement. General Policies
1. Complete commitment to the governing rules and controls of ''Sharia, Shari‘a'' in all the beliefs and actions and according to the book [''Qur’an''] and ''Sunnah, Sunna'' as well as per the interpretation of the nation's ulema, scholars who serve in this domain
2. Commitment to Jihad as a fight for God's cause and as an agenda of change and to prepare for it and apply it whenever we find it possible...
4. Our position with respect to the tyrants of the world, secularism, secular and nationalism, national parties and the like is not to associate with them, to discredit them and to be their constant enemy till they believe in God alone. We shall not agree with them on half-solutions and there is no way to negotiate with them or appease them
5. Our relationships with truthful Islamic jihadist movements and groups is to cooperate under the umbrella of faith and belief and we shall always attempt to at uniting and integrating with them...
6. We shall carry a relationship of love and affection with the Islamic movements who are not aligned with Jihad...
7. We shall sustain a relationship of respect and love with active scholars...
9. We shall reject the regional fanatics and will pursue Jihad in an Islamic country as needed and when possible
10. We shall care about the role of Muslims, Muslim people in the Jihad and we shall attempt to recruit them...
11. We shall maintain our economic independence and will not rely on others to secure our resources.
12. Secrecy is the main ingredient of our work except for what the need deems necessary to reveal
13. Our policy with the Afghan Jihad, Afghani Jihad is support, advise and coordination with the Islamic Establishments in Jihad arenas in a manner that conforms with our policies", title=Al-Qa`ida's Structure and Bylaws, p.2, source=
Theory of Islamic State
{{See also, Islamic state, label1=Islamic State Theory Al-Qaeda aims to establish an Islamic state in the Arab World, modelled after the Rashidun Caliphate, by initiating a global Jihad against the "International Jewish-Crusader Alliance" led by the United States, which it sees as the "external enemy" and against the secular governments in Muslim countries, that are described as "the apostate domestic enemy".{{Cite journal, last=McCants, first=William, date=September 2011, title=Al Qaeda's Challenge: The Jihadists' War With Islamist Democrats, url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23041773, journal=Foreign Affairs, volume=90, issue=5, pages=20–32, jstor=23041773, quote=Two months before 9/11, Zawahiri, who had become al Qaeda's second-in-command, published Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet, which offers insight into why al Qacda decided to attack the United States within its borders. In it, he stated that al Qaeda aimed to establish an Islamic state in the Arab world: Just as victory is not achieved for an army unless its foot soldiers occupy land, the mujahid Islamic movement will not achieve victory against the global infdel alliance unless it possesses a base in the heart of the Islamic world. Every plan and method we consider to rally and mobilize the ummab will be hanging in the air with no concrete result or tangible return unless it leads to the establishment of the caliphal state in the heart of the Islamic world. Achieving this goal, Zawahiri explained elsewhere in the book, would require a global jihad: It is not possible to incite a conflict for the establishment of a Muslim state if it is a regional conflict.... The international Jewish-Crusader alliance, led by America, will not allow any Muslim force to obtain power in any of the Muslim lands. ... It will impose sanctions on whoever helps it, even if it does not declare war against them altogether. Therefore, to adjust to this new reality, we must prepare ourselves for a battle that is not confined to a single region but rather includes the apostate domestic enemy and the Jewish-Crusader external enemy. To confront this insidious alliance, Zawahiri argued, al Qaeda had to first root out U.S. influence in the region..., access-date=November 13, 2021, archive-date=November 13, 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113164716/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23041773, url-status=live Once foreign influences and the secular ruling authorities are removed from Muslim countries through Jihad; al-Qaeda supports elections to choose the rulers of its proposed Islamic states. This is to be done through representatives of leadership councils (''Shura'') that would ensure the implementation of ''Sharia, Shari'a'' (Islamic law). However, it opposes elections that institute parliaments which empower Muslim and non-Muslim legislators to collaborate in making laws of their own choosing. In the second edition of his book ''Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet'', Ayman Al Zawahiri writes: {{blockquote, We demand... the government of the rightly guiding caliphate, which is established on the basis of the sovereignty of ''sharia'' and not on the whims of the majority. Its ''ummah'' chooses its rulers....If they deviate, the ''ummah'' brings them to account and removes them. The ''ummah'' participates in producing that government's decisions and determining its direction. ... [The caliphal state] commands the right and forbids the wrong and engages in jihad to liberate Muslim lands and to free all humanity from all oppression and ignorance.Grievances
A recurring theme in al-Qaeda's ideology is the perpetual grievance over the violent subjugation of Islamic dissidents by the authoritarian, secularist regimes allied to the West. Al-Qaeda denounces these Postcolonialism, post-colonial governments as a system led by Westernised elites designed to advance Neocolonialism, neo-colonialism and maintain Western imperialism, Western hegemony over the Muslim World. The most prominent topic of grievance is over the United States foreign policy in the Middle East, American foreign policy in the Arab World; especially over its strong economic and military support to Israel. Other concerns of resentment include presence of NATO troops to support allied regimes; injustices committed against Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya, Xinjiang,Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, Afghanistan, Iraq etc.
Religious compatibility
Abdel Bari Atwan wrote that: {{blockquote, While the leadership's own theological platform is essentially Salafi, the organization's umbrella is sufficiently wide to encompass various schools of thought and political leanings. Al-Qaeda counts among its members and supporters people associated with Wahhabism, Shafi'ism, Malikism, and Hanafism. There are even some Al-Qaeda members whose beliefs and practices are directly at odds with Salafism, such as Mohammad Yunus Khalis, Yunis Khalis, one of the leaders of the Afghan mujahedin. He was a mystic who visited the tombs of saints and sought their blessings{{sndpractices inimical to bin Laden's Wahhabi-Salafi school of thought. The only exception to this pan-Islamic policy is Shia Islam, Shi'ism. Al-Qaeda seems implacably opposed to it, as it holds Shi'ism to be heresy. In Iraq it has openly declared war on the Badr Brigades, who have fully cooperated with the US, and now considers even Shi'i civilians to be legitimate targets for acts of violence.Abdel Bari Atwan. ''The Secret History of Al Qaeda'', p. 233. University of California Press, 2006. {{ISBN, 0-520-24974-7On the other hand, Professor Peter Mandaville states that Al-Qaeda follows a pragmatic policy in forming its local affiliates, with various cells being sub-contracted to Shi’ite, Shia Muslim and non-Muslim members. The top-down chain of command means that each unit is answerable directly to central leadership, while they remain ignorant of their counterparts' presence or activities. These transnational networks of autonomous supply chains, financiers, underground militias and political supporters were set up during the 1990s, when Bin Laden's immediate aim was the expulsion of American troops from theArabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
.
Attacks on civilians
Under the leadership ofOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda organization adopted the strategy of targeting non-combatant civilians of enemy states that indiscriminately attacked Muslims. Following the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda provided a justification for the killing of non-combatants/civilians, entitled, "A Statement from Qaidat al-Jihad Regarding the Mandates of the Heroes and the Legality of the Operations in New York and Washington". According to a couple of critics, Quintan Wiktorowicz and John Kaltner, it provides "ample theological justification for killing civilians in almost any imaginable situation."{{cite journal, last1=Wiktorowicz, first1=Quintan, last2=Kaltner, first2=John, title=Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11, journal=Middle East Policy, date=Summer 2003, volume=X, issue=2, page=86, url=https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf, archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf, archive-date=October 9, 2022, url-status=live, access-date=August 12, 2019
Among these justifications are that America is leading the west in waging a War against Islam conspiracy theory, War on Islam so that attacks on America are a defense of Islam and any treaties and agreements between Muslim majority states and Western countries that would be violated by attacks are null and void. According to the tract, several conditions allow for the killing of civilians including:
* retaliation for the American war on Islam which al-Qaeda alleges has targeted "Muslim women, children and elderly";
* when it is too difficult to distinguish between non-combatants and combatants when attacking an enemy "stronghold" (''hist'') or non-combatants remain in enemy territory, killing them is allowed;
* those who assist the enemy "in deed, word, mind" are eligible for killing, and this includes the general population in democratic countries because civilians can vote in elections that bring enemies of Islam to power;
* the necessity of killing in the war to protect Islam and Muslims;
* Muhammad, when asked whether the Muslim fighters could use the catapult against the village of Ta'if#7th century: Era of Muhammad, Taif, replied affirmatively, even though the enemy fighters were mixed with a civilian population;
* if the women, children and other protected groups serve as human shields for the enemy;
* if the enemy has broken a treaty, killing of civilians is permitted.
Under the leadership of Saif al-Adel, Sayf al-Adel, al-Qaeda's strategy has undergone transformation and the organization has officially renounced the tactic of attacking civilian targets of enemies. In his book ''Free Reading of 33 Strategies of War'' published in 2023, Sayf al-Adel counselled Islamism, Islamist fighters to prioritize attacking the police forces, military soldiers, state assets of enemy governments, etc. which he described as acceptable targets in military operations. Asserting that attacking women and children of enemies are contrary to Islamic values, Sayf al-Adel asked: "If we target the general public, how can we expect their people to accept our call to Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
?"
History
{{main, History of al-QaedaAttacks
{{For timeline, Timeline of al-Qaeda attacks
Al-Qaeda has carried out a total of six major attacks, four of them in its jihad against America. In each case the leadership planned the attack years in advance, arranging for the shipment of weapons and explosives and using its businesses to provide operatives with safehouses and false identities.
1991
To prevent the former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah from coming back from exile and possibly becoming head of a new government, bin Laden instructed a Portuguese convert toIslam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, Paulo Jose de Almeida Santos, to assassinate Zahir Shah. On November 4, 1991, Santos entered the king's villa in Rome posing as a journalist and tried to stab him with a dagger. A tin of cigarillos in the king's breast pocket deflected the blade and saved Zahir Shah's life, although the king was also stabbed several times in the neck and was taken to hospital, later recovering from the attack. Santos was apprehended by General Abdul Wali, a former commander of the Royal Afghan Army, and jailed for 10 years in Italy.
1992
On December 29, 1992, al-Qaeda launched the 1992 Yemen hotel bombings. Two bombs were detonated in Aden, Yemen. The first target was the Movenpick Hotel and the second was the parking lot of the Goldmohur Hotel.{{Harvnb, W2006, p=174. The bombings were an attempt to eliminate American soldiers on their way to Somalia to take part in the international famine relief effort, Operation Restore Hope. Internally, al-Qaeda considered the bombing a victory that frightened the Americans away, but in the US, the attack was barely noticed. No American soldiers were killed because no soldiers were staying in the hotel at the time it was bombed, however, an Australian tourist and a Yemeni hotel worker were killed in the bombing. Seven others, who were mostly Yemeni, were severely injured. Two fatwas are said to have been appointed by al-Qaeda's members, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, to justify the killings according to Islamic law. Salim referred to a famous fatwa appointed by Ibn Taymiyyah, a 13th-century scholar admired by Wahhabis, which sanctioned resistance by any means during the Mongol invasions.{{Unreliable source?, date=September 2009Late 1990s
{{Main, 1998 United States embassy bombings, 2000 millennium attack plots, USS Cole bombing
In 1996, bin Laden personally engineered a plot to assassinate United States President Bill Clinton while the president was in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. However, intelligence agents intercepted a message before the motorcade was to leave, and alerted the US Secret Service. Agents later discovered a bomb planted under a bridge.
On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, bombed the US embassies in East Africa, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. In retaliation, a barrage of cruise missiles launched by the US military devastated an al-Qaeda base in Khost, Afghanistan. The network's capacity was unharmed. In late 1999 and 2000, al-Qaeda planned 2000 millennium attack plots, attacks to coincide with the millennium, masterminded by Abu Zubaydah and involving Abu Qatada al-Filistini, Abu Qatada, which would include the bombing of Christian holy sites in Jordan, the bombing of Los Angeles International Airport by Ahmed Ressam, and the bombing of the {{USS, The Sullivans, DDG-68.
On October 12, 2000, al-Qaeda militants in Yemen USS Cole bombing, bombed the Guided missile destroyer, missile destroyer ''USS Cole (DDG-67), USS Cole'' in a suicide attack, killing 17 US servicemen and damaging the vessel while it lay offshore. Inspired by the success of such a brazen attack, al-Qaeda's command core began to prepare for an attack on the US itself.
September 11 attacks
{{Main, September 11 attacks {{Further, Motives for the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks on America by al-Qaeda killed 2,996 people{{snd2,507 civilians, 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel as well as 19 hijackers who committed murder-suicide. Two commercial airliners were deliberately flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth, originally intended to target either the United States Capitol or the White House, crashed in a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers revolted. It was the deadliest foreign attack on American soil since the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and to this day remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.
The attacks were conducted by al-Qaeda, acting in accord with the Fatawā of Osama bin Laden#1998 Fatwa, 1998 ''fatwa'' issued against the US and its allies by persons under the command of bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and others. Evidence points to suicide squads led by al-Qaeda military commander Mohamed Atta as the culprits of the attacks, with bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Hambali as the key planners and part of the political and military command.
Messages issued by bin Laden after September 11, 2001, praised the attacks, and explained their motivation while denying any involvement. Bin Laden strongly supported the attacks by identifying numerous grievances of Muslims, such as the general perception that the US was actively oppressing Muslims. In his "''Letter to the American people''" published in 2002, Osama Bin Laden stated: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: (1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us. .... The American government and press still refuses to answer the question: Why did they attack us in New York and Washington? If Ariel Sharon, Sharon is a man of peace in the eyes of George W. Bush, Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.Bin Laden asserted that America was massacring Muslims in "Palestinian National Authority, Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq" and Muslims should retain the "right to attack in reprisal". He also claimed the 9/11 attacks were not targeted at people, but "America's icons of military and economic power", despite the fact he planned to attack in the morning when most of the people in the intended targets were present and thus generating the maximum number of human casualties. Evidence later came to light that the original targets for the attack may have been nuclear power stations on the US East Coast. The targets were later altered by al-Qaeda, as it was feared that such an attack "might get out of hand".{{Cite news, title=Al-Qaida leaders say nuclear power stations were original targets, url=https://www.theguardian.com/afghanistan/story/0,1284,788431,00.html, work=The Guardian, location=UK, date=September 9, 2002, access-date=January 11, 2007, first1=Giles, last1=Tremlett, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122160702/http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0%2C1284%2C788431%2C00.html, archive-date=January 22, 2007, url-status=live{{Cite news, title=Al Qaeda Scaled Back 10-Plane Plot, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45853-2004Jun16_2.html, newspaper=The Washington Post, date=June 17, 2004, access-date=January 11, 2007, archive-date=October 10, 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010144832/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45853-2004Jun16_2.html, url-status=live
Designation as a terrorist group
Al-Qaeda is deemed a List of designated terrorist groups, designated terrorist group by the following countries and international organizations: {{Div col, colwidth=15em * {{flag, Australia{{cite web, url=http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument, title=Listing of Terrorist Organisations, access-date=July 3, 2006, publisher=Australian Government, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204040731/http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument, archive-date=February 4, 2014 * {{flag, Azerbaijan{{cite web, title=Armed group neutralized in Azerbaijan linked to Al-Qaeda, url=http://en.trend.az/news/politics/2016022.html, website=en.trend.az, access-date=June 21, 2014, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201073423/http://en.trend.az/news/politics/2016022.html, archive-date=December 1, 2012, url-status=dead * {{BHR * {{flag, Belarus * {{flag, Brazil{{cite web, url=http://congressoemfoco.uol.com.br/opiniao/colunistas/o-brasil-e-o-terrorismo-internacional/, title=O Brasil e o terrorismo internacional, access-date=February 22, 2014, first1=Alfredo, last1=Sirkis, date=June 2011, archive-date=August 11, 2014, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811105544/http://congressoemfoco.uol.com.br/opiniao/colunistas/o-brasil-e-o-terrorismo-internacional/, url-status=live * {{flag, Canada{{cite web, url=http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp, title=Entities list, access-date=July 3, 2006, website=Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119150657/http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp, archive-date=November 19, 2006 * {{flag, China * {{flag, European Union{{cite web, url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2004/com2004_0700en01.doc, archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070614032134/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2004/com2004_0700en01.doc, url-status=dead, archive-date=June 14, 2007, title=Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, author=Commission of the European Communities, date=October 20, 2004, access-date=June 11, 2007, format=DOC, author-link=Commission of the European Communities * {{flag, France{{cite web, url=http://lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/cgi-bin/brp/telestats.cgi?brp_ref=064000275&brp_file=0000.pdf, title=La France face au terrorisme, publisher=Secrétariat général de la défense nationale (France), language=fr, access-date=August 6, 2009, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807105500/http://lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/BRP/064000275/0000.pdf, archive-date=August 7, 2011 * {{flag, India{{cite web, url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/09/stories/2002040903651100.htm, title=The Hindu : Centre bans Al-Qaeda, publisher=Hinduonnet.com, date=April 9, 2002, access-date=March 22, 2010, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427232058/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/09/stories/2002040903651100.htm, archive-date=April 27, 2009, url-status=dead * {{flag, Indonesia * {{flag, Iran * {{flag, Ireland{{cite web, title=Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/act/pub/0002/, work=2005, publisher=Department of Justice Ireland, access-date=May 26, 2014, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215313/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/act/pub/0002/, archive-date=May 27, 2014 * {{flag, Israel{{cite web, url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/Summary+of+indictments+against+Al-Qaeda+terrorists+in+Samaria+21-Mar-2006.htm, title=Summary of indictments against Al-Qaeda terrorists in Samaria, date=March 21, 2006, access-date=May 4, 2011, publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, archive-date=June 21, 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621152347/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/Summary+of+indictments+against+Al-Qaeda+terrorists+in+Samaria+21-Mar-2006.htm, url-status=live{{cite web, url=http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/9C960928-70AB-428A-BCCC-2E6091F2BDE3/40880/impa_terror_eng_17012013.doc, title=List of Declaration and Orders – Unofficial Translation, access-date=August 9, 2014, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810135338/http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/9C960928-70AB-428A-BCCC-2E6091F2BDE3/40880/impa_terror_eng_17012013.doc, archive-date=August 10, 2014 * {{flag, Japan{{cite web, url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2002/chap1-b.pdf, title=B. Terrorist Attacks in the United States and the Fight Against Terrorism, author=Diplomatic Bluebook, year=2002, access-date=June 11, 2007, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614032134/http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2002/chap1-b.pdf, archive-date=June 14, 2007, url-status=live * {{flag, Kazakhstan{{cite web, url=http://mfa.gov.kz/index.php/en/foreign-policy/current-issues-of-kazakhstan-s-foreign-policy/counteraction-to-new-challenges/fight-against-terrorism-and-extremism-in-kazakhstan, title=Fight against terrorism and extremism in Kazakhstan, publisher=Mfa.gov.kz, access-date=November 23, 2015, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114002653/http://mfa.gov.kz/index.php/en/foreign-policy/current-issues-of-kazakhstan-s-foreign-policy/counteraction-to-new-challenges/fight-against-terrorism-and-extremism-in-kazakhstan, archive-date=November 14, 2015 * {{flag, Kyrgyzstan * {{flag, NATO{{cite web, url=http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2001/s011122b.htm, title=Press Conference with NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, access-date=October 23, 2006, author=NATO, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026040125/http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2001/s011122b.htm, archive-date=October 26, 2006, url-status=live * {{MYS * {{flag, Netherlands{{cite web, url=http://ftp.fas.org/irp/world/netherlands/aivd2004-eng.pdf, title=Annual Report 2004, access-date=June 11, 2007, author=General Intelligence and Security Service, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614032136/http://ftp.fas.org/irp/world/netherlands/aivd2004-eng.pdf, archive-date=June 14, 2007, url-status=dead, author-link=General Intelligence and Security Service * {{flag, New Zealand{{cite web, url=http://www.police.govt.nz/service/counterterrorism/designated-terrorists.html, title=New Zealand's designated terrorist individuals and organisations, access-date=October 7, 2008, author=New Zealand Government, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007014045/http://www.police.govt.nz/service/counterterrorism/designated-terrorists.html, archive-date=October 7, 2008 * {{flag, Pakistan * {{flag, Philippines{{cite news, title=Abus, al-Qaeda Tagged in Wednesday Night Zamboanga Bombing , url=http://www.newsflash.org/2002/09/hl/hl016645.htm, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021113152915/http://www.newsflash.org/2002/09/hl/hl016645.htm, url-status=dead, archive-date=November 13, 2002, work=newsflash, date=October 4, 2002, access-date=March 22, 2010 * {{flag, Russia{{Cite news, url=http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/28/russiaterrorlist.shtml, archive-url=https://archive.today/20061114154904/http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/28/russiaterrorlist.shtml, url-status=usurped, archive-date=November 14, 2006, title=Russia Outlaws 17 Terror Groups; Hamas, Hezbollah Not Included * {{KSA * {{flag, South Korea{{Cite news, url=http://www.korea.net/news/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20070813015&part=102, title=Seoul confirms release of two Korean hostages in Afghanistan, date=August 14, 2007, access-date=September 16, 2007, author=Korean Foreign Ministry, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215153000/http://www.korea.net/news/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20070813015&part=102, archive-date=December 15, 2007 * {{flag, Sweden{{cite web, url=http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/06/12/67/01b99143.pdf, title=Radical Islamist Movements in the Middle East, author=Ministry for Foreign Affairs Sweden, date=March–June 2006, access-date=June 11, 2007, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614032136/http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/06/12/67/01b99143.pdf, archive-date=June 14, 2007, url-status=dead * {{flag, Switzerland * {{flag, Tajikistan * {{flag, Turkey designated Al-Qaeda's Turkish branch * {{flag, United Arab Emirates * {{flag, United Kingdom * {{flagdeco, United Nations United Nations Security Council{{cite web, title=Security Council Resolutions Related to the Work of the Committee Established Pursuant to Resolution 1267 (1999) Concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban and Associated Individuals and Entities, publisher=United Nations Security Council, url=https://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1267/1267ResEng.htm, access-date=January 9, 2007, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070112115326/http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1267/1267ResEng.htm, archive-date=January 12, 2007, url-status=dead * {{flag, United States{{cite web, url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm, title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), access-date=July 3, 2006, author=United States Department of State, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117015042/https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm, archive-date=November 17, 2017, url-status=dead * {{flag, UzbekistanTerrorism in Uzbekistan: A self-made crisis{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016211249/http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=236626 , date=October 16, 2006 Jamestown FoundationUzbekistan: Who's Behind The Violence?
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404040430/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8147-18.cfm , date=April 4, 2004 Center for Defense Information * {{flag, Vietnam {{div col end
War on terror
{{Main, War on terror, List of wars and battles involving al-Qaeda
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US government Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, responded, and began to prepare its Military of the United States, armed forces to overthrow the Taliban, which it believed was harboring al-Qaeda. The US offered Taliban leader Mullah Omar a chance to surrender bin Laden and his top associates. The first forces to be inserted into Afghanistan were paramilitary officers from the CIA's elite Special Activities Division (SAD).
The Taliban offered to turn over bin Laden to a neutral country for trial if the US would provide evidence of bin Laden's complicity in the attacks. US President George W. Bush responded by saying: "We know he's guilty. Turn him over", and British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned the Taliban regime: "Surrender bin Laden, or surrender power."
Soon thereafter the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan, and together with the Northern Alliance, Afghan Northern Alliance removed the Taliban government as part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), war in Afghanistan. As a result of the US special forces and close air support, air support for the Northern Alliance ground forces, a number of Taliban and Derunta training camp, al-Qaeda training camps were destroyed, and much of the operating structure of al-Qaeda is believed to have been disrupted. After being driven from their key positions in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan, many al-Qaeda fighters tried to regroup in the rugged Gardez region of the nation.
By early 2002, al-Qaeda had been dealt a serious blow to its operational capacity, and the Afghan invasion appeared to be a success. Nevertheless, a significant Taliban insurgency remained in Afghanistan.
Debate continued regarding the nature of al-Qaeda's role in the 9/11 attacks. The United States State Department, US State Department released a Videos of Osama bin Laden#December 13, 2001, videotape showing bin Laden speaking with a small group of associates somewhere in Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban was removed from power. Although its authenticity has been questioned by a couple of people, the tape definitively implicates bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks. The tape was aired on many television channels, with an accompanying English translation provided by the US Defense Department.
In September 2004, the 9/11 Commission officially concluded that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives. In October 2004, bin Laden appeared to claim responsibility for the attacks in a 2004 Osama bin Laden video, videotape released through Al Jazeera, saying he was inspired by Israeli attacks on high-rises in the 1982 1982 Lebanon War, invasion of Lebanon: "As I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children."
By the end of 2004, the US government proclaimed that two-thirds of the most senior al-Qaeda figures from 2001 had been captured and interrogated by the CIA: Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002;{{Cite news, last1=Shane, first1=Scott, title=Inside the interrogation of a 9/11 mastermind, work=The New York Times, date=June 22, 2008, pages=A1, A12–A13, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html, access-date=September 5, 2009, archive-date=April 2, 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402075657/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html, url-status=live Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003; and Saif al Islam el Masry in 2004.{{sfn, Gunaratna, 2002, p=147, ps=: "The Al Qaeda team included Abu Talha al-Sudani, Saif al-Islam el-Masry, Salem el-Masry, Saif al-Adel and other trainers, including Abu Jaffer el-Masry, the explosives expert who ran the Jihad Wal camp Afghanistan. In addition to developing this capability with Iranian assistance, Al Qaeda also received a large amount of explosives from Iran that were used in the bombing of the East African targets. The training team brought Hezbollah training and propaganda videos with the intention of passing on their knowledge to other Al Qaeda members and Islamist groups." Mohammed Atef and several others were killed. The West was criticized for not being able to handle al-Qaeda despite a decade of the war.
Activities
{{wide image, Main countries of activity of Al-Qaeda.png, 400px, Main countries of activity of al-QaedaAfrica
{{Main, Al-Qaeda involvement in Africa
Al-Qaeda involvement in Africa has included a number of bombing attacks in North Africa, while supporting parties in civil wars in Eritrea and Somalia. From 1991 to 1996, bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were based in Sudan.
Islamist rebels in the Sahara calling themselves al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have stepped up their violence in recent years.{{Cite news, last1=Trofimov, first1=Yaroslav, author1-link=Yaroslav Trofimov, title=Islamic rebels gain strength in the Sahara, work=The Wall Street Journal, volume=254, issue=39, date=August 15, 2009, page=A9, url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125030117348933737, access-date=September 15, 2009, archive-date=May 14, 2013, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514132756/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125030117348933737.html, url-status=live French officials say the rebels have no real links to the al-Qaeda leadership, but this has been disputed. It seems likely that bin Laden approved the group's name in late 2006, and the rebels "took on the al Qaeda franchise label", almost a year before the violence began to escalate.
In Mali, the Ansar Dine faction was also reported as an ally of al-Qaeda in 2013. The Ansar al Dine faction aligned themselves with the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM.
In 2011, al-Qaeda's North African wing condemned Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and declared support for the Anti-Gaddafi forces, Anti-Gaddafi rebels.
Following the 2011 Libyan Civil War, Libyan Civil War, the removal of Gaddafi and the ensuing period of post-civil war violence in Libya, various Islamist militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda were able to expand their operations in the region. The 2012 Benghazi attack, which resulted in the death of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, is suspected of having been carried out by various Jihadist networks, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar al-Sharia and several other al-Qaeda affiliated groups. The capture of Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, a senior al-Qaeda operative wanted by the United States for his involvement in the 1998 United States embassy bombings, on October 5, 2013, by US Navy Seals, FBI and CIA agents illustrates the importance the US and other Western allies have placed on North Africa.
Europe
{{Main, Al-Qaeda activities in Europe Before the 9/11 attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan, westerners who had been recruits at al-Qaeda training camps were sought after by al-Qaeda's military wing. Language skills and knowledge of Western culture were generally found among recruits from Europe, such was the case with Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian national studying in Germany at the time of his training, and other members of the Hamburg Cell.Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and Mohammed Atef would later designate Atta as the ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers. Following the attacks, Western intelligence agencies determined that al-Qaeda cells operating in Europe had aided the hijackers with financing and communications with the central leadership based in Afghanistan.
In 2003, Islamists carried out a series of bombings in Istanbul killing fifty-seven people and injuring seven hundred. Seventy-four people were charged by the Turkish authorities. Some had previously met bin Laden, and though they specifically declined to pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda they asked for its blessing and help.
In 2009, three Londoners, Tanvir Hussain, Assad Sarwar and Ahmed Abdullah Ali, were convicted of 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, conspiring to detonate bombs disguised as soft drinks on seven airplanes bound for Canada and the US. The MI5 investigation regarding the plot involved more than a year of surveillance work conducted by over two hundred officers. British and US officials said the plot{{sndunlike many similar homegrown European Islamic militant plots{{sndwas directly linked to al-Qaeda and guided by senior al-Qaeda members in Pakistan.
In 2012, Russian Intelligence indicated that al-Qaeda had given a call for "forest jihad" and has been starting massive forest fires as part of a strategy of "thousand cuts".
Arab world
{{Main, Al-Qaeda involvement in Asia, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, USS Cole bombing Following Yemeni unification in 1990, Wahhabi networks began moving missionaries into the country. Although it is unlikely bin Laden or Saudi al-Qaeda were directly involved, the personal connections they made would be established over the next decade and used in the USS ''Cole'' bombing. Concerns grew over al-Qaeda's group in Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown, Yemen. In Iraq, al-Qaeda forces loosely associated with the leadership were embedded in the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group commanded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Specializing in suicide operations, they have been a "key driver" of the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), Sunni insurgency. Although they played a small part in the overall insurgency, between 30% and 42% of all suicide bombings which took place in the early years were claimed by Zarqawi's group. Reports have indicated that oversights such as the failure to control access to the Qa'qaa munitions factory in Yusufiyah have allowed large quantities of munitions to fall into the hands of al-Qaida. In November 2010, the militant group Islamic State of Iraq, which is linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, threatened to "exterminate all Iraqi Christians". Al-Qaeda did not begin training Palestinians until the late 1990s.{{Harvnb, Gunaratna, 2002, p=150. Large groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have rejected an alliance with al-Qaeda, fearing that al-Qaeda will co-opt their cells. This may have changed recently. The Israeli security and intelligence services believe al-Qaeda has managed to infiltrate operatives from the Occupied Territories into Israel, and is waiting for an opportunity to attack. {{as of, 2015, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are openly supporting the Army of Conquest,Gulf allies and 'Army of Conquest'{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919055514/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/12392/21/Gulf-allies-and-%E2%80%98Army-of-Conquest%E2%80%99.aspx , date=September 19, 2015 ". ''Al-Ahram Weekly''. May 28, 2015. an umbrella rebel group fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the Syrian government that reportedly includes an al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and another Salafi jihadism, Salafi coalition known as Ahrar al-Sham.{{cite news, url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html, title=Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria, first1=Kim, last1=Sengupta, newspaper=The Independent, date=May 12, 2015, access-date=August 23, 2017, archive-date=May 13, 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513214636/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html, url-status=dead
Kashmir
{{Main, Kashmir conflict Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri consider India to be a part of an alleged Crusader-Zionist-Hindu conspiracy against the Islamic world. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, bin Laden was involved in training militants for Jihad in Kashmir while living in Sudan in the early 1990s. By 2001, Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had become a part of the al-Qaeda coalition. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), al-Qaeda was thought to have established bases in Pakistan administered Kashmir (in Azad Kashmir, and to some extent in Gilgit–Baltistan) during the 1999 Kargil War and continued to operate there with tacit approval of Pakistan's Intelligence services. Many of the militants active in Kashmir were trained in the same madrasahs as Taliban and al-Qaeda. Fazlur Rehman Khalil of Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was a signatory of al-Qaeda's 1998 declaration of Jihad against America and its allies.Kashmir Militant Extremists{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214103922/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/ , date=February 14, 2007 , Council on Foreign Relations, July 9, 2009 In a 'Letter to American People' (2002), bin Laden wrote that one of the reasons he was fighting America was because of its support to India on the Kashmir issue. In November 2001, Kathmandu airport went on high alert after threats that bin Laden planned to hijack a plane and crash it into a target in New Delhi. In 2002, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on a trip to Delhi, suggested that al-Qaeda was active in Kashmir though he did not have any evidence.Rumsfeld offers US technology to guard Kashmir border
The Sydney Morning Herald, June 14, 2002 Rumsfeld proposed hi-tech ground sensors along the Line of Control to prevent militants from infiltrating into Indian-administered Kashmir. An investigation in 2002 found evidence that al-Qaeda and its affiliates were prospering in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with tacit approval of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. In 2002, a special team of Special Air Service and Delta Force was sent into Jammu and Kashmir (state), Indian-administered Kashmir to hunt for bin Laden after receiving reports that he was being sheltered by Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which had been responsible for 1995 Kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir, kidnapping western tourists in Kashmir in 1995. Britain's highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative Rangzieb Ahmed had previously fought in Kashmir with the group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and spent time in Indian prison after being captured in Kashmir. US officials believe al-Qaeda was helping organize attacks in Kashmir in order to provoke conflict between India and Pakistan. Their strategy was to force Pakistan to move its troops to the border with India, thereby relieving pressure on al-Qaeda elements hiding in northwestern Pakistan. In 2006 al-Qaeda claimed they had established a wing in Kashmir. However Indian Army General H. S. Panag argued that the army had ruled out the presence of al-Qaeda in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. Panag also said al-Qaeda had strong ties with Kashmiri militant groups
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
and Jaish-e-Mohammed based in Pakistan. It has been noted that Waziristan has become a battlefield for Kashmiri militants fighting NATO in support of al-Qaeda and Taliban. Dhiren Barot, who wrote the ''Army of Madinah in Kashmir'' and was an al-Qaeda operative convicted for involvement in the 2004 financial buildings plot, had received training in weapons and explosives at a militant training camp in Kashmir.
Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Kashmiri group Jaish-e-Mohammed, is believed to have met bin Laden several times and received funding from him. In 2002, Jaish-e-Mohammed organized the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in an operation run in conjunction with al-Qaeda and funded by bin Laden. According to American counter-terrorism expert Bruce Riedel, al-Qaeda and Taliban were closely involved in the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 to Kandahar which led to the release of Maulana Masood Azhar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from an Indian prison. This hijacking, Riedel said, was rightly described by then Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh as a 'dress rehearsal' for September 11 attacks. Bin Laden personally welcomed Azhar and threw a lavish party in his honor after his release. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been in prison for his role in the 1994 kidnappings of Western tourists in India, went on to murder Daniel Pearl and was sentenced to death in Pakistan. Al-Qaeda operative Rashid Rauf, who was one of the accused in 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, was related to Maulana Masood Azhar by marriage.
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
, a Kashmiri militant group which is thought to be behind 2008 Mumbai attacks, is also known to have strong ties to senior al-Qaeda leaders living in Pakistan. In late 2002, top al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was arrested while being sheltered by Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...
in a safe house in Faisalabad.Lashkar-e-Taiba Served as Gateway for Western Converts Turning to Jihad{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708220351/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122834970727777709 , date=July 8, 2017 , ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 4, 2008 The FBI believes al-Qaeda and Lashkar have been 'intertwined' for a long time while the CIA has said that al-Qaeda funds Lashkar-e-Taiba. Jean-Louis Bruguière told Reuters in 2009 that "Lashkar-e-Taiba is no longer a Pakistani movement with only a Kashmir political or military agenda. Lashkar-e-Taiba is a member of al-Qaeda." In a video released in 2008, American-born senior al-Qaeda operative Adam Yahiye Gadahn said that "victory in Kashmir has been delayed for years; it is the liberation of the jihad there from this interference which, Allah willing, will be the first step towards victory over the Hindu occupiers of that Islam land." In September 2009, a US Drone attacks in Pakistan, drone strike reportedly killed Ilyas Kashmiri who was the chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, a Kashmiri militant group associated with al-Qaeda. Kashmiri was described by Bruce Riedel as a 'prominent' al-Qaeda member while others have described him as head of military operations for al-Qaeda. Kashmiri was also charged by the US in a plot against Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper which was at the center of Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. US officials also believe that Kashmiri was involved in the Camp Chapman attack against the CIA. In January 2010, Indian authorities notified Britain of an al-Qaeda plot to hijack an Indian airlines or Air India plane and crash it into a British city. This information was uncovered from interrogation of Amjad Khwaja, an operative of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, who had been arrested in India. In January 2010, US Defense secretary Robert Gates, while on a visit to Pakistan, said that al-Qaeda was seeking to destabilize the region and planning to provoke a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
Internet
Al-Qaeda and its successors have migrated online to escape detection in an atmosphere of increased international vigilance. The group's use of the Internet has grown more sophisticated, with online activities that include financing, recruitment, networking, mobilization, publicity, and information dissemination, gathering and sharing. Abu Ayyub al-Masri's al-Qaeda movement in Iraq regularly releases short videos glorifying the activity of jihadist suicide bombers. In addition, both before and after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq), the umbrella organization to which al-Qaeda in Iraq belongs, the Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq), Mujahideen Shura Council, has a regular web presence, presence on the Web. The range of multimedia content includes guerrilla training clips, stills of victims about to be murdered, testimonials of suicide bombers, and videos that show participation in jihad through stylized portraits of mosques and musical scores. A website associated with al-Qaeda posted a video of captured American entrepreneur Nick Berg being decapitated in Iraq. Other decapitation videos and pictures, including those of Paul Johnson (hostage), Paul Johnson, Kim Sun-il (posted on websites), and Daniel Pearl obtained by investigators, have taken place. In December 2004 an audio message claiming to be from bin Laden was posted directly to a website, rather than sending a copy to Al Jazeera Media Network, al Jazeera as he had done in the past. Al-Qaeda turned to the Internet for release of its videos in order to be certain they would be available unedited, rather than risk the possibility of al Jazeera editing out anything critical of the Saudi royal family. The US government charged a British information technology specialist, Babar Ahmad, with terrorist offences related to his operating a network of English-language al-Qaeda websites, such as Azzam.com. He was convicted and sentenced to {{frac, 12, 1, 2 years in prison.Online communications
In 2007, al-Qaeda released ''Mujahedeen Secrets'', encryption software used for online and cellular communications. A later version, ''Mujahideen Secrets 2'', was released in 2008.Aviation network
Al-Qaeda is believed to be operating a clandestine aviation network including "several Boeing 727 aircraft", turboprops and executive jets, according to a 2010 Reuters story. Based on a US Department of Homeland Security report, the story said al-Qaeda is possibly using aircraft to transport drugs and weapons from South America to various unstable countries in West Africa. A Boeing 727 can carry up to ten tons of cargo. The drugs eventually are smuggled to Europe for distribution and sale, and the weapons are used in conflicts in Africa and possibly elsewhere. Gunmen with links to al-Qaeda have been increasingly kidnapping Europeans for ransom. The profits from the drug and weapon sales, and kidnappings can, in turn, fund more militant activities.Involvement in military conflicts
{{Multiple issues, section=yes, {{Original research section, date=August 2013 {{More citations needed section, date=April 2021 The following is a list of military conflicts in which al-Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken part militarily. {, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! scope="col" , Start of conflict ! scope="col" , End of conflict ! scope="col" , Conflict ! scope="col" , Continent ! scope="col" , Location ! scope="col" , Branches involved , - ! scope="row" align=center, 1991 , align=center, ongoing , Somali Civil War , Africa , Somalia , Al-Qaeda Central , - ! scope="row" align=center, 1992 , align=center, 1996 , Civil war in Afghanistan (1992–96), Civil war in Afghanistan (1992–1996) , Asia , Islamic State of Afghanistan , Al-Qaeda Central , - ! scope="row" align=center, 1992 , align=center, ongoing , Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen , Asia , Yemen , Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , - ! scope="row" align=center, 1996 , align=center, 2001 , Civil war in Afghanistan (1996–2001) , Asia , Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , Al-Qaeda Central , - ! scope="row" align=center, 2001 , align=center, 2021 ,War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
The war in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict lasting from 2001 to 2021. It began with United States invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion by a Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom, United States-led coalition under the name Oper ...
, Asia
, Afghanistan
, Al-Qaeda Central
, -
! scope="row" align=center, 2002
, align=center, ongoing
, Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
, Africa
, AlgeriaChad
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Niger
Tunisia , Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb , - ! scope="row" align=center, 2003 , align=center, 2011 ,
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
, Asia
, Iraq
, Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Islamic State of Iraq
, -
! scope="row" align=center, 2004
, align=center, ongoing
, War in North-West Pakistan
, Asia
, Pakistan
, Al-Qaeda Central
, -
! scope="row" align=center, 2009
, align=center, 2017
, Insurgency in the North Caucasus
, Asia
, Russia
, Caucasus Emirate
, -
! scope="row" align=center, 2011
, align=center, ongoing
, Syrian Civil War
, Asia
, Syria
, al-Nusra Front
, -
! scope="row" align=center, 2015
, align=center, ongoing
, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
, Asia
, Yemen
, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula{{cite news, title=Report: Saudi-UAE coalition 'cut deals' with al-Qaeda in Yemen, url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/report-saudi-uae-coalition-cut-deals-al-qaeda-yemen-180806074659521.html, publisher=Al Jazeera, date=August 6, 2018
Broader influence
Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, was inspired by al-Qaeda, calling it "the most successful revolutionary movement in the world." While admitting different aims, he sought to "create a European version of Al-Qaida." The appropriate response to offshoots is a subject of debate. A journalist reported in 2012 that a senior US military planner had asked: "Should we resort to drones and Special Operations raids every time some group raises the black banner of al Qaeda? How long can we continue to chase offshoots of offshoots around the world?"Criticism
According to CNN journalists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, a number of "religious scholars, former fighters and militants" who previously supported Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) had turned against the al-Qaeda-supported Iraqi insurgency in 2008; due to ISI's indiscriminate attacks against civilians while targeting Multi-National Force – Iraq, US-led coalition forces. American military analyst Bruce Riedel wrote in 2008 that "a wave of revulsion" arose against ISI, which enabled US-allied Sons of Iraq faction to turn various tribal leaders in the Anbar region against the Iraqi insurgency. In response, Bin Laden and Zawahiri issued public statements urging Muslims to rally behind ISI leadership and support the armed struggle against American forces. In November 2007, former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) member Noman Benotman responded with a public, open letter of criticism to Ayman al-Zawahiri, after persuading the imprisoned senior leaders of his former group to enter into peace negotiations with the Libyan regime. While Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the affiliation of the group with al-Qaeda in November 2007, the Libyan government released 90 members of the group from prison several months after "they were said to have renounced violence." In 2007, on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks,{{sfn, W2008 the Saudi sheikh Salman al-Ouda delivered a personal rebuke to bin Laden. Al-Ouda addressed al-Qaeda's leader on television asking him: {{blockquote, My brother Osama, how much blood has been spilt? How many innocent people, children, elderly, and women have been killed{{spaces... in the name of al-Qaeda? Will you be happy to meet God Almighty carrying the burden of these hundreds of thousands or millions [of victims] on your back?{{Harvnb, Bergen, Cruickshank, 2008. According to Pew polls, support for al-Qaeda had dropped in the Muslim world in the years before 2008. In Saudi Arabia, only ten percent had a favorable view of al-Qaeda, according to a December 2007 poll by Terror Free Tomorrow, a Washington-based think tank. In 2007, the imprisoned Dr Fadl, Dr. Fadl, who was an influential Afghan Arabs, Afghan Arab and former associate of Ayman al-Zawahiri, withdrew his support from al-Qaeda and criticized the organization in his book ''Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif#Rationalizing Jihad in Egypt and the World, Wathiqat Tarshid Al-'Aml Al-Jihadi fi Misr w'Al-'Alam'' ({{langx, en, Rationalizing Jihad in Egypt and the World). In response, Al-Zawahiri accused Dr. Fadl of promoting "an Islam without jihad" that aligns with Western interests and wrote a nearly two hundred pages long treatise, titled "''The Exoneration''" which appeared on the Internet in March 2008. In his treatise, Zawahiri justified military strikes against US targets as retaliatory attacks to defend Muslim community against American aggression.{{sfn, W2008 In an online town hall forum conducted in December 2007, Zawahiri denied that al-Qaeda deliberately targeted innocents and accused the American coalition of killing innocent people. Although once associated with al-Qaeda, in September 2009 Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, LIFG completed a new "code" for jihad, a 417-page religious document entitled "Corrective Studies". Given its credibility and the fact that several other prominent Jihadists in the Middle East have turned against al-Qaeda, the LIFG's reversal may be an important step toward staunching al-Qaeda's recruitment.Other criticisms
Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American journalist based in Syria created a documentary about Al-Shabaab (militant group), al-Shabab, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia. The documentary included interviews with former members of the group who stated their reasons for leaving al-Shabab. The members made accusations of segregation, lack of religious awareness and internal corruption and favoritism. In response to Kareem, the Global Islamic Media Front condemned Kareem, called him a liar, and denied the accusations from the former fighters. In mid-2014 after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared that they had restored the Caliphate, an audio statement was released by the then-spokesman of the group Abu Muhammad al-Adnani claiming that "the legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the Caliphate's authority." The speech included a religious refutation of al-Qaeda for being too lenient regarding Shiites and their refusal to recognize the authority Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, al-Adnani specifically noting: "It is not suitable for a state to give allegiance to an organization." He also recalled a past instance in whichOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
called on al-Qaeda members and supporters to give allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi when the group was still solely operating in Iraq, as the Islamic State of Iraq, and condemned Ayman al-Zawahiri for not making this same claim for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Zawahiri was encouraging factionalism and division between former allies of ISIL such as the al-Nusra Front.{{cite web, url=http://jihadology.net/2014/06/29/al-furqan-media-presents-a-new-audio-message-from-the-islamic-states-shaykh-abu-mu%E1%B8%A5ammad-al-adnani-al-shami-this-is-the-promise-of-god/, title=al-Furqān Media presents a new audio message from the Islamic State's Shaykh Abū Muḥammad al 'Adnānī al-Shāmī: 'This Is the Promise of God', date=June 29, 2014
See also
{{div col, colwidth=22em * Al-Qaeda involvement in Asia * Al Qaeda Network Exord * Allegations of support system in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden * Belligerents in the Syrian civil war * Bin Laden Issue Station (former CIA unit for tracking bin Laden) * Steven Emerson * Fatawā of Osama bin Laden * International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism (International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism by region, by region) * Iran and state-sponsored terrorism#Alleged al-Qaeda ties, Iran – Alleged Al-Qaeda ties * Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition * Operation Cannonball * Psychological warfare * Religious terrorism * Takfir wal-Hijra * Videos and audio recordings of Osama bin Laden * Violent extremism {{div col endPublications
* ''Al Qaeda Handbook'' * ''Management of Savagery''Notes
{{notelistReferences
{{ReflistSources
{{Main, List of books about al-QaedaBibliography
{{Refbegin, colwidth=20em * {{Cite book, last1=Mura, first1=Andrea, url=https://www.routledge.com/products/9781472443892, title=The Symbolic Scenarios of Islamism: A Study in Islamic Political Thought, publisher=Routledge, year=2015, location=London * {{Cite book, last1=Al-Bahri, first1=Nasser, title=Guarding bin Laden: My Life in Al-Qaeda, publisher=Thin Man Press, year=2013, isbn=978-0-9562473-6-0, location=London, author-link=Nasser al-Bahri * {{Cite book, last1=Atran, first1=Scott, title=Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (un)making of Terrorists, publisher=Ecco Press, year=2010, isbn=978-0-06-134490-9, location=New York, author-link=Scott Atran * {{Cite book, last1=Atwan, first1=Abdel Bari, url=https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofa0000atwa, title=The Secret History of al Qaeda, publisher=University of California Press, year=2006, isbn=978-0-520-24974-5, location=Berkeley, CA, author-link=Abdel Bari Atwan, url-access=registration * {{Cite book, last1=Atwan, first1=Abdel Bari, url=https://archive.org/details/afterbinladenalq0000atwa, title=After Bin Laden: Al-Qaeda, The Next Generation, publisher=Saqi Books (London)/ New Press (New York), year=2012, isbn=978-0-86356-419-2, location=London/New York, author-link=Abdel Bari Atwan, url-access=registration * {{Cite journal, last1=Basile, first1=Mark, date=May 2004, title=Going to the Source: Why Al Qaeda's Financial Network Is Likely to Withstand the Current War on Terrorist Financing, journal=Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, volume=27, issue=3, pages=169–185, doi=10.1080/10576100490438237, s2cid=109768129 * {{Cite book, last1=Benjamin, first1=Daniel, url=https://archive.org/details/ageofsacredterro00benj, title=The Age of Sacred Terror, last2=Simon, first2=Steven, publisher=Random House, year=2002, isbn=0-375-50859-7, edition=1st, location=New York, author-link=Daniel Benjamin * {{Cite book, last1=Bergen, first1=Peter, url=https://archive.org/details/holywarincinside00berg_0, title=Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden, publisher=Free Press, year=2001, isbn=0-7432-3495-2, edition=1st, location=New York, author-link=Peter Bergen * {{Cite book, last1=Bergen, first1=Peter, title=The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader, publisher=Free Press, year=2006, isbn=0-7432-7892-5, edition=2nd, location=New York * {{Cite magazine, last1=Bergen, first1=Peter, last2=Cruickshank, first2=Paul, date=June 11, 2008, title=The Unraveling: The jihadist revolt against bin Laden, volume=238, pages=16–21, magazine=The New Republic, issue=10, url=http://www.tnr.com/article/the-unraveling, access-date=May 4, 2011 * {{Cite book, last1=Bergen, first1=Peter, title=The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and al-Qaeda, publisher=Free Press, year=2011, isbn=978-0-7432-7893-5, location=New York * {{Cite book, last1=Bin Laden, first1=Osama, url=https://archive.org/details/messagestoworlds00binl, title=Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, publisher=Verso, year=2005, isbn=1-84467-045-7, editor-last=Lawrence, editor-first=Bruce, editor-link=Bruce Lawrence, location=London, author-link=Osama bin Laden * {{Cite book, last1=Cassidy, first1=Robert M., title=Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terror: Military Culture and Irregular War, publisher=Praeger Security International, year=2006, isbn=0-275-98990-9, location=Westport, CT * {{Cite book, last1=Coll, first1=Steve, url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780141020808, title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, publisher=Penguin Books, year=2005, isbn=0-14-303466-9, edition=2nd, location=New York, author-link=Steve Coll * {{Cite book, author-last=Dalacoura, author-first=Katerina, year=2012, chapter=Transnational Islamist Terrorism: Al Qaeda, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PlTKrMFyawoC&pg=PA40, title=Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East, location=Cambridge, publisher=Cambridge University Press, pages=40–65, doi=10.1017/CBO9780511977367.003, isbn=978-0-511-97736-7, lccn=2010047275, s2cid=128049972 * {{Cite book, last1=Esposito, first1=John L., title=Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, publisher=Oxford University Press, year=2002, isbn=0-19-515435-5, location=New York, author-link=John L. Esposito * {{Cite book, editor1-last=Gallagher, editor1-first=Eugene V., editor2-last=Willsky-Ciollo, editor2-first=Lydia, editor1-link=Eugene V. Gallagher, year=2021, chapter=Al-Qaeda, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Id4aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13, title=New Religions: Emerging Faiths and Religious Cultures in the Modern World, location=Santa Barbara, California, publisher=ABC-CLIO, volume=1, pages=13–15, isbn=978-1-4408-6235-9 * {{Cite book, last1=Gunaratna, first1=Rohan, title=Inside Al Qaeda, publisher=C. Hurst & Co., year=2002, isbn=1-85065-671-1, edition=1st, location=London, author-link=Rohan Gunaratna * {{Cite journal, last1=Hafez, first1=Mohammed M., author-link=Mohammed Hafez (academic), date=March 2007, title=Martyrdom Mythology in Iraq: How Jihadists Frame Suicide Terrorism in Videos and Biographies, journal=Terrorism and Political Violence, volume=19, issue=1, pages=95–115, doi=10.1080/09546550601054873, s2cid=145808052 * {{Cite book, last1=Hoffman, first1=Bruce, title=The New Terrorism: Anatomy, Trends, and Counter-Strategies, publisher=Eastern Universities Press, year=2002, isbn=981-210-210-8, editor-last=Tan, editor-first=Andrew, location=Singapore, pages=30–49, chapter=The Emergence of the New Terrorism, author-link=Bruce Hoffman, editor2-last=Ramakrishna, editor2-first=Kumar * {{Cite book, last1=Jansen, first1=Johannes J.G., url=https://archive.org/details/dualnatureofisla00jans, title=The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism, publisher=Cornell University Press, year=1997, isbn=0-8014-3338-X, location=Ithaca, NY, author-link=Johannes J.G. Jansen * {{Cite magazine, last1=McGeary, first1=Johanna, date=February 19, 2001, title=A Traitor's Tale, volume=157, pages=36–37, magazine=Time, issue=7, url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999237,00.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121221657/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999237,00.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=November 21, 2007, access-date=September 15, 2009 * {{Cite book, last1=Napoleoni, first1=Loretta, url=https://archive.org/details/modernjihadtraci0000napo, title=Modern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, publisher=Pluto Press, year=2003, isbn=0-7453-2117-8, location=London, author-link=Loretta Napoleoni, url-access=registration * {{Cite book, last1=Qutb, first1=Sayyid, title=Milestones, title-link=Ma'alim fi al-Tariq, publisher=Kazi Publications, year=2003, isbn=0-911119-42-6, location=Chicago, author-link=Sayyid Qutb * {{Cite book, last1=Rashid, first1=Ahmed, title=Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, publisher=Yale University Press, year=2002, isbn=1-86064-830-4, location=New Haven, author-link=Ahmed Rashid, orig-year=2000 * {{Cite book, last1=Reeve, first1=Simon, url=https://archive.org/details/newjackalsramziy00reev, title=The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama Bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism, publisher=Northeastern University Press, year=1999, isbn=1-55553-407-4, location=Boston, author-link=Simon Reeve (UK television presenter) * {{Cite book, last1=Riedel, first1=Bruce, url=https://archive.org/details/searchforalqaeda00ried, title=The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future, publisher=Brookings Institution Press, year=2008, isbn=978-0-8157-7414-3, location=Washington, D.C., author-link=Bruce Riedel * {{Cite book, last1=Sageman, first1=Marc, url=https://archive.org/details/understandingter00sage, title=Understanding Terror Networks, publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press, year=2004, isbn=0-8122-3808-7, location=Philadelphia, author-link=Marc Sageman * {{Cite journal, last1=Schmid, first1=Alex, year=2014, title=Al Qaeda's "Single Narrative" and Attempts to Develop Counter-Narratives, journal=Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies, doi=10.19165/2014.1.01, doi-broken-date=December 9, 2024 , issn=2468-0664, doi-access=free * {{Cite book, last1=Trofimov, first1=Yaroslav, url=https://archive.org/details/faithatwarjourne00trof, title=Faith at War: A Journey On the Frontlines of Islam, From Baghdad to Timbuktu, publisher=Picador, year=2006, isbn=978-0-8050-7754-4, location=New York, author-link=Yaroslav Trofimov * {{Cite book, last1=Wechsler, first1=William F., chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/howdidthishappen00hoge/page/129, title=How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War, publisher=PublicAffairs, year=2001, isbn=1-58648-130-4, editor-last=Hoge, editor-first=James, editor-link=James F. Hoge, Jr., location=New York, page129–143
chapter=Strangling The Hydra: Targeting Al Qaeda's Finances, editor2-last=Rose, editor2-first=Gideon, editor-link2=Gideon Rose * {{Cite book, last1=Wfirst1=Lawrence, url=https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig, title=The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, publisher=Knopf, year=2006, isbn=0-375-41486-X, location=New York, author-link=Lawrence Wright * {{Cite magazine, last1=Wfirst1=Lawrence, date=June 2, 2008, title=The Rebellion Within, volume=84, pages=36–53, magazine=The New Yorker, issue=16, url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/02/080602fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all, access-date=September 15, 2009 {{Refend
Reviews
{{Refbegin * {{Cite journal, last1=Akacem, first1=Mohammed, date=August 2005, title=Review: Modern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars behind the Terror Networks, journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies, volume=37, issue=3, pages=444–445, doi=10.1017/S0020743805362143, s2cid=162390565 * {{Cite journal, last1=Bale, first1=Jeffrey M., date=October 2006, title=Deciphering Islamism and Terrorism, journal=Middle East Journal, volume=60, issue=4, pages=777–788 * {{Cite journal, last1=Shaffer, first1=R, year=2015, title=The Terrorism, Ideology, and Transformations of Al-Qaeda, journal=Terrorism and Political Violence, volume=27, issue=3, pages=581–590, doi=10.1080/09546553.2015.1055968, s2cid=147008765 {{RefendGovernment reports
{{Refbegin * {{Cite web, title=Islamist Militancy in the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Region and U.S. Policy, url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113202.pdf, archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113202.pdf, archive-date=October 9, 2022, url-status=live, last1=Kronstadt, first1=K. Allen, last2=Katzman, first2=Kenneth, date=November 2008, publisher=US Congressional Research Service * {{Cite web, title=Global Al-Qaeda: Affiliates, Objectives, and Future Challenges, url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo41268, date=July 18, 2013, publisher=Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233951/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg81977/pdf/CHRG-113hhrg81977.pdf, archive-date=December 2, 2013}Alt URL
* {{Cite web, title=Progress Report on the Global War on Terrorism, url=https://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/24087.htm, date=September 2003, publisher=United States Department of State, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030922090723/http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/24087.htm, archive-date=September 22, 2003, ref={{harvid, State 2003 {{Refend
External links
{{Sister project links, auto=1 * {{cite web, publisher=US Department of Justice, url=http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm, title=Al Qaeda Training Manual, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050331091340/http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm, archive-date=March 31, 2005Al-Qaeda in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
Al-Qaeda
Counter Extremism Project profile
17 de-classified documents captured during the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center
* {{cite web, url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501704_162-57427765/bin-laden-documents-at-a-glance/, title=Bin Laden documents at a glance, publisher=CBS News, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511070217/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501704_162-57427765/bin-laden-documents-at-a-glance, archive-date=May 11, 2012 Media * Peter Taylor (journalist), Peter Taylor. (2007).
War on the West
. ''Age of Terror'', No. 4, series 1. BBC.
Investigating Al-Qaeda
BBC News * {{Cite video, people=Adam Curtis, year=2004, title=The Power of Nightmares, publisher=BBC
"Al Qaeda's New Front"
from ''PBS Frontline'', January 2005 * {{Cite web, title=Inside al Qaeda (National Geographic), url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUUS_wRKLo, url-status=bot: unknown, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207133356/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUUS_wRKLo, archive-date=February 7, 2022, access-date=September 20, 2021, via=YouTube, date=August 20, 2007 * {{Guardian topic, 2=Al-Qaida * {{NYTtopic, organizations/a/al_qaeda, al-Qaeda {{Al-Qaeda {{Osama bin Laden {{Islamism {{US War on Terror {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Qaeda, Al- Al-Qaeda, Anti-Americanism Anti-Christian sentiment Anti-communist terrorism Anti-Hindu sentiment Anti-Israeli sentiment Antisemitism in Pakistan Antisemitism in the Middle East Anti-Shi'ism Anti-Zionist organizations Islam and antisemitism Islamic fundamentalism in the United States Islamic fundamentalism Islam-related controversies Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organisations designated as terrorist by Australia Organizations designated as terrorist by Bahrain Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada Organisations designated as terrorist by India Organizations designated as terrorist by China Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran Organizations designated as terrorist by Israel Organisations designated as terrorist by Japan Organizations designated as terrorist by Kyrgyzstan Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Organizations designated as terrorist by Malaysia Organizations designated as terrorist by Paraguay Organizations designated as terrorist by Russia Organizations designated as terrorist by Saudi Arabia Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Organizations established in 1988 Islamic organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights Pan-Islamism Rebel groups that actively control territory, Al-Qaeda Jihadist groups Sunni Jihadist organizations Sunni Islamist groups Qutbist organisations Violence against LGBTQ people in Asia Violence against Shia Muslims