Organization
Al-Qaeda only indirectly controls its day-to-day operations. Its philosophy calls for theAffiliates
Al-Qaeda has the following direct affiliates: {{Div col, colwidth=30em *Leadership
Osama bin Laden (1988 – May 2011)
After May 2011
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 toCommand 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''Field operatives
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?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, aStrategy
{{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 fromName
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 leaderIt 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
Ideology
{{Main, Jihadism {{Further, Qutbism, Islamic extremism in the 20th-century Egypt, label2=Egyptian Islamism{{Islamism sidebar[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
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 inTheory 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 inGrievances
A recurring theme in al-Qaeda's ideology is the perpetual grievance over the violent subjugation of Islamic dissidents by the authoritarian,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 withAttacks on civilians
Under the leadership ofHistory
{{main, History of al-QaedaAttacks
{{For timeline, Timeline of al-Qaeda attacks1991
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 to1992
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
September 11 attacks
{{Main, September 11 attacks {{Further, Motives for the September 11 attacksWhy 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 crisisWar on terror
{{Main, War on terror, List of wars and battles involving al-QaedaActivities
{{wide image, Main countries of activity of Al-Qaeda.png, 400px, Main countries of activity of al-QaedaAfrica
{{Main, Al-Qaeda involvement in AfricaEurope
{{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.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 groupKashmir
{{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 groupInternet
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 ,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 supportedOther 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 whichSee 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, pageReviews
{{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}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, 2005