View source for Al-Qaeda

{{Short description|Pan-Islamic Sunni Jihadist organization}}
{{other uses}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name             = Al-Qaeda
| native_name      = {{Script|Arabic|القاعدة}}
| native_name_lang = ar
| war              = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} |{{Plainlist|
* [[War on terror]]
* [[Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|Afghanistan conflict]]
* [[War in North-West Pakistan]]
* [[Somali Civil War]]
* [[Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)|Insurgency in the Maghreb]]
* [[Iraq War]]
* [[Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)|Iraqi insurgency]]
* [[Yemeni Civil War]]
* [[Syrian Civil War]]
* [[List of wars and battles involving al-Qaeda|other conflicts]]
}}
}}
| image            = Flag of Jihad.svg
| caption          = [[Jihadist flag|Flag]] used by various al-Qaeda factions
| founder          = [[Osama bin Laden]]{{Assassinated|Killing of Osama bin Laden}}
| leaders          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Osama bin Laden]]{{Assassinated|Killing of Osama bin Laden}}<br />(1988–2011)
* [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]]{{Assassinated|Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri}}<br />(2011–2022)
* [[Saif al-Adel]]<br />(''de facto''; 2022–present)
}}
| active           = {{nowrap|August 11, 1988 – present}}
| allegiance       = {{flagicon|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|}} [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58473574|title=
Afghanistan: The pledge binding al-Qaeda to the Taliban|author=Driss El-Bay|website=[[BBC]]|date=21 September 2021|access-date=21 September 2021|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205102205/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58473574|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = Al-Qaida in Afghanistan | first= Anne | last = Stenersen | isbn= 978-1-107-07513-9 | year = 2017 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = 93–95}}</ref>
| ideology         = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} | {{Plainlist|
* [[Sunni Islam]]ism{{refn|name=Sunni Islamism|<ref name=gallagher14 /><ref name="Bokhari-Senzai 2013">{{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]]|pages=101–118|doi=10.1057/9781137313492_6|isbn=978-1-137-31349-2}}</ref><ref name="Moussalli 2012">{{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]] and New York|publisher=[[Routledge]]|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}}</ref><ref name=MESR>{{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}}</ref>}}
* [[Pan-Islamism]]<ref>{{cite book|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Al-Qaeda|first1=Joshua|last1=A. Geltzer|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-87023-5|chapter=4: The al-Qaeda world-view|pages=83, 84}}</ref><ref name=Atwan />{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|loc=''Introduction'', pp. 12, 87}}
* [[Qutbism]]{{refn|name=Qutbism|<ref name="Moussalli 2012" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Aydınlı|first=Ersel|year=2018|title=Violent Non-State Actors: From Anarchists to Jihadists|chapter=The Jihadists pre-9/11|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hq1TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|location=[[London]] and New York|publisher=[[Routledge]]|edition=1st|series=Routledge Studies on Challenges, Crises, and Dissent in World Politics|page=66|isbn=978-1-315-56139-4|lccn=2015050373}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Wright|2006|p=79}}</ref><ref name=gallagher14>{{harvnb|Gallagher|Willsky-Ciollo|2021|p=14}}</ref>}}
* [[Jihadism]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Jihadism in Pakistan|publisher=I.B. Tauris|first1=Antonio|last1=Giustozzi|isbn=978-0-7556-4735-4|location=New York|chapter=2: The strategies of global jihadists in Pakistan after 2001|pages=27–52|year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Al-Qaeda's Post-9/11 Devolution|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|first1=Anthony|last1=Celso|isbn=978-1-4411-5589-4|location=New York|chapter=1: Al-Qaeda's Jihadist Worldview|pages=15–29|year=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Al-Qaeda 2.0|publisher=Oxford University Press|first1=Donald|last1=Holbrook|isbn=9780190856441|location=New York|pages=viii, 2, 3|year=2017}}</ref>
* Muslim unity<ref>{{cite book|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Al-Qaeda|first1=Joshua|last1=A. Geltzer|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-87023-5|quote=Al-Qaeda's 'pan-Islamic ideology' seeks to unify the umma not only by emphasising Islam over nationalism but also by specifically calling for unity among all Muslims, including the often hostile Sunnis and Shiites...  'For an organization led by a Sunni fundamentalist' to 'make common cause with Shiite terrorists', and then with potential Shiite supporters more broadly, was considered 'extraordinary'—yet doing so was central to al-Qaeda's vision of Islamic unity against America.|chapter=4: The al-Qaeda world view|pages=83, 84}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement|first1=Daniel|last1=Byman|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-021725-9|page=53|chapter=3: Strategy and Tactics}}</ref>{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|p=87}}
* [[Shia–Sunni relations|Sunni–Shia alliance]]<ref name="Nabil">{{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.}}</ref><ref name="Devji 2005 53">{{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=[Bin Laden] has 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}}</ref>{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|p=12}}
* [[Islamic fundamentalism]]<ref name="auto1">Bergen, Peter L., ''Holy war, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden'', New York: Free Press, 2001., pp. 70–71 {{ISBN?}}</ref>
* [[Anti-Americanism]]<ref name="ict.org.il">{{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}}</ref>
* [[Anti-communism]]<ref>{{cite court|litigants=United States v. Usama bin Laden et al.|court=[[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|SDNY]]|reporter=Cr.|vol=S (7) 98|opinion=1023|pinpoint=Testimony of Jamal Ahmed Mohamed al-Fadl|date=February 6, 2001|url=http://cryptome.org/usa-v-ubl-02.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164934/http://cryptome.org/usa-v-ubl-02.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Anti-imperialism]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lawrence|first=Bruce|date=2005|title=Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden|url=https://www.versobooks.com/books/32-messages-to-the-world|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408194547/https://www.versobooks.com/books/32-messages-to-the-world|archive-date=April 8, 2022|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844670451}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Borowski|first=Audrey|year=2015|title=Al Qaeda and ISIS: From Revolution to Apocalypse|url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/111/Al_Qaeda_and_ISIS_From_Revolution_to_Apocalypse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526012524/https://philosophynow.org/issues/111/Al_Qaeda_and_ISIS_From_Revolution_to_Apocalypse|archive-date=May 26, 2022|website=Philosophy Now}}</ref>
* [[Antisemitism]]{{refn|name=Antisemitism|<ref name="Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders" /><ref name=Time1999 /><ref name=Letter2002>{{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}}</ref><ref name=May1998>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/blog/new-isis-and-al-qaeda-propaganda-prioritize-the-us-and-jews-as-targets|title=New ISIS and Al-Qaeda propaganda prioritize the US and Jews as targets|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=August 28, 2017|archive-date=August 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823160548/https://www.adl.org/blog/new-isis-and-al-qaeda-propaganda-prioritize-the-us-and-jews-as-targets|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Voice of America">{{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}}</ref>}}
* [[Anti-Western sentiment|Anti-Western imperialism]]<ref name="Inside Jabhat al Nusra">{{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]]|location=London|first=Ruth|last=Sherlock}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Anti-Zionism]]<ref name=Time1999>{{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}}</ref><ref name=Letter2002/><ref name="Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders">{{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}}</ref>
}}
'''Factions:'''| {{Plainlist|
* [[Ahl-i Hadith]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiyici|first1=Hakan|title= Al-Qaedaism in the Context of Civil War|isbn=978-1-66692-402-2|year=2024|publisher=Lexington Books|location=London |pages=147}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Abou Zahab|first=Mariam|title=Pakistan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780197534595|location=New York|pages=113|chapter=6: Salafism in Pakistan: The Ahl-e Hadith Movement}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bennett|first=Clinton|title=Muslims and Modernity|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2005|isbn=0-8264-5482-8|location=New York|pages=181, 182}}</ref>
* [[Deobandism]]{{refn|name=Deobandism|<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiyici|first1=Hakan|title= Al-Qaedaism in the Context of Civil War|isbn=978-1-66692-402-2|year=2024|publisher=Lexington Books|location=London |pages=146, 147|quote=The idea of Deobandism is the third doctrinal school for al-Qaedaism. It became popular within northern India in response to reactions against British colonial and imperial power in the nineteenth century.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban|first1=Syed Saleem|last1=Shahzad|year=2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|pages=202–205|chapter=8: The Theater of War}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Columbus|first1=Frank|title=Asian Economic and Political Issues Volume 10|isbn=1-59454-089-6|year=2004|publisher=Nova Science Publishers|location=|pages=159, 160|chapter=9: Kashmiri Seperatists|first2=Kaia|last2=Leather}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Michael M. J.|title=Iran|isbn=0-299-18474-9|year=2003|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=London |page=xxii}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Haqqani|first=Hussain|year=2005|title=The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups|url=https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/Ideologies.pdf|journal=Current Trends in Islamist Ideology|volume=1|pages=13, 22|publisher=Hudson Institute|archive-date=July 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703124805/https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/Ideologies.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
* [[Deobandi jihadism]]<ref>Sources:
* {{Cite book|last=Fair|first=C. Christine|title=Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-989270-9|location=New York|pages=249, 250}}
* {{Cite book|last=Al Qurtuby|first=Sumanto|title=Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia|publisher=Springer Nature Singapore|year=2022|isbn=978-981-19-1336-5|location=Singapore |pages=217, 218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Pakistan's Enduring Challenges|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-8122-4690-2|editor-last=Fair, J. Watson|editor-first=C. Christine, Sarah|location=Philadelphia|pages=4, 30, 33}}</ref><ref>Sources:
* {{Cite book|last=Brown, Rassler|first=Vahid, Don|title=Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973–2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-199-32798-0|location=New York|pages=3–14, 30, 37–39, 59–82|chapter=2: Birth of the Nexus: The Haqqani network, foreign Fighters and the origins of al-Qa'ida}}
* {{Cite book|last=Moj|first=Muhammad|title=The Deoband Madrassah Movement|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-78308-388-6|location=New York|pages=198, 199}}
* {{Cite web|last=Jamal|first=Arif|date=January 14, 2010|title=The Growth of the Deobandi Jihad in Afghanistan|url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-growth-of-the-deobandi-jihad-in-afghanistan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425023726/https://jamestown.org/program/the-growth-of-the-deobandi-jihad-in-afghanistan/|archive-date=April 25, 2024|website=The Jamestown Foundation|access-date=September 6, 2024|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>
* [[Salafi movement|Salafism]]{{refn|name=Salafism|<ref name="Bokhari-Senzai 2013" /><ref name="Moussalli 2012" /><ref name="SalafistJidadism">{{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}}<br />{{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}}</ref><ref name="spiegel1">{{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}}</ref><ref name="PanIslamism">{{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}}<br />{{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}}<br />{{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}}</ref>}}
* [[Salafi jihadism]]{{refn|name=Salafi jihadism|<ref name="Bokhari-Senzai 2013" /><ref name="Moussalli 2012" /><ref name="Moghadam">{{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}}</ref><ref name="SalafistJidadism" />}}
* [[Wahhabism]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ghanmi|first1=Elyès|last2=Punzet|first2=Agnieszka|date=June 11, 2013|title=The involvement of Salafism/Wahhabism in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/457137/EXPO-AFET_ET(2013)457137_EN.pdf|journal=[[European Parliament]]|access-date=October 8, 2021|archive-date=June 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624184433/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/457137/EXPO-AFET_ET(2013)457137_EN.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Hillary Doctrine">{{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}}</ref>
* [[Anti-Shi'ism]] (alleged,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-ideology-strategy|title=Al Qaeda v ISIS: Ideology & Strategy|first=Cameron|last=Glenn|date=September 28, 2015|website=[[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]]|access-date=September 19, 2020|archive-date=July 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716095127/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-ideology-strategy|url-status=live}}</ref> officially denied)<ref name="Shia Iran"/><ref name="Nabil"/><ref name="Devji 2005 53"/>
}}
}}
| clans            = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} | {{Plainlist|
'''Groups:'''
* {{Flagicon image|ShabaabFlag.svg}} [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]]
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin|JNIM]]
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula|AQAP]]
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb|AQIM]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Ansaru.svg}} [[Ansaru]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of AQIS.svg}} [[Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent|AQIS]]
----
'''Former groups:'''
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} [[Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina|AQBH]]<br>(until 2002)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} [[Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades]]<br>(until 2005)
* {{flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg}} [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq|AQI]]<br>(2004–2006)
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Al-Qaeda in Yemen|AQY]]<br>(until 2009)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} [[Al-Qaeda of Saudi Arabia|AQBH]]<br>(until 2009)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda's Kurdish Brigades.jpg}} [[Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions|AQKB]]<br>(until 2010)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} [[Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)]]<br>(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 group|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}} [[Al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula|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]]<br>(until 2019)
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)]]<br>(until 2022)
* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} [[Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad|AQMA]] <br>(until 2024)
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Tanzim Hurras al-Din.svg}} [[Hurras al-Din]]<br>(until 2025)
}}
| area             = Worldwide<br />{{nowrap|'''[[List of rebel groups that control territory|Current territorial control]]:'''}}<br />[[Mali]], [[Somalia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/05/somalia-war-map-al-shabaab-2013.html|title=War in Somalia: Map of Al Shabaab Control (June 2013)|date=May 31, 2013|access-date=August 18, 2014|publisher=Political Geography Now|first1=Evan|last1=Centanni|archive-date=August 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090518/http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/05/somalia-war-map-al-shabaab-2013.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Yemen]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/aden-intellgence-service-building-targeted-1.1570990|title=Aden intelligence service building targeted|date=August 22, 2015|access-date=August 22, 2015|agency=Agence France-Presse|work=Gulf News|archive-date=August 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822162635/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/aden-intellgence-service-building-targeted-1.1570990|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
| size             = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} |{{Plainlist|
* In Afghanistan:<!--<100 (2011),<ref>{{cite web|first1=Bill|last1=Roggio|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2011/04/how_many_al_qaeda_operatives_a.php|title=How many al Qaeda operatives are now left in Afghanistan?|publisher=Longwarjournal.org|date=April 26, 2011|access-date=April 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706151045/http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2011/04/how_many_al_qaeda_operatives_a.php|archive-date=July 6, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> 300–3,000 (2012–2014),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/al-qaeda-afghanistan-comeback_n_1997994.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023084738/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/al-qaeda-afghanistan-comeback_n_1997994.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 23, 2012|title=Al Qaeda in Afghanistan Is Attempting A Comeback|work=HuffPost|date=October 21, 2012|access-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10893889/Al-Qaeda-map-Isis-Boko-Haram-and-other-affiliates-strongholds-across-Africa-and-Asia.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10893889/Al-Qaeda-map-Isis-Boko-Haram-and-other-affiliates-strongholds-across-Africa-and-Asia.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Al-Qaeda map: Isis, Boko Haram and other affiliates' strongholds across Africa and Asia|date=June 12, 2014|access-date=August 29, 2014|last1=Freeman|first1=Colin}}{{cbignore}}</ref>--> 400 (2023)<ref name=CFR2021/><ref>{{cite web|title=Terrorist Organizations|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/references/terrorist-organizations/|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=March 29, 2024|archive-date=January 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127103841/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/references/terrorist-organizations/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb|In the Maghreb]]: 1,000–5,000 (2015)<ref>{{cite web|title=Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)|url=http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim/p12717|website=Council on Foreign Relations|date=March 27, 2015|access-date=July 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511122144/http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim/p12717|archive-date=May 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Profile: Al-Qaeda in North Africa|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17308138|publisher=BBC|date=January 17, 2013|access-date=July 2, 2015|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606034058/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17308138|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula|In Yemen]]: 3,000 (2022)<ref name=Nordic2022>{{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}}</ref>
* [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|In Somalia]]: 7,000–12,000 (2023)<ref>{{cite web|title=S/2023/95|url=https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S%2F2023%2F95&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False|website=United Nations Security Council|access-date=February 15, 2023|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225222740/https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S%2F2023%2F95&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689|title=Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?|publisher=BBC News|date=December 22, 2017|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=April 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403052911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
}}
| predecessor      = [[Maktab al-Khidamat]]<br>[[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]]
| allies           = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}}| '''State allies:'''
* {{Flag|Afghanistan|2021}} ([[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|1996–2001]], 2021–present){{refn|name=Afghanistan|<ref name="UN SC 2023">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Dawn">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Taliban relationship">{{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}}</ref><ref name="lwj02092021">{{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}}</ref>}}
* {{flag|Iran}} (alleged, but denied by Iran){{refn|name=Iran|<ref name="Shia 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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Growing Relationship between Iran and al-Shabab Movement in Somalia: Motives and Potential Consequences|url=https://epc.ae/en/details/featured/the-growing-relationship-between-iran-and-al-shabab-movement-in-somalia-motives-and-potential-consequences|publisher=Emirates Policy Center|access-date=July 27, 2020|archive-date=December 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208153222/https://epc.ae/en/details/featured/the-growing-relationship-between-iran-and-al-shabab-movement-in-somalia-motives-and-potential-conseuences|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Saif">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-alqaeda-idUSKCN1LN2LE|title=Study questions Iran-al Qaeda ties, despite U.S. allegations|work=Reuters|date=September 7, 2018|access-date=November 12, 2019|archive-date=August 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815073228/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-alqaeda-idUSKCN1LN2LE|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/hp1360.aspx|title=Treasury Targets Al Qaida Operatives in Iran|website=treasury.gov|access-date=March 8, 2019|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429092946/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp1360.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
* {{flag|North Korea}} (alleged by the US)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/26/afghanistan-war-logs-osama-bin-laden?intcmp=239|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Simon|last=Tisdall|title=Afghanistan war logs reveal hand of Osama bin Laden|date=July 26, 2010|access-date=June 21, 2023|archive-date=August 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824060622/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/26/afghanistan-war-logs-osama-bin-laden?intcmp=239|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Pakistan}} (alleged, but denied by Pakistan)<ref>{{cite news|title=The 'airlift of evil'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3340165|date=December 11, 2003|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=April 14, 2022|archive-date=April 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414221607/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3340165|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/2011/10/27/pakistan-military-denies-bbc-report-on-taliban-links/|title=Pakistan military denies BBC report on Taliban links|date=October 27, 2011|access-date=June 1, 2022|archive-date=June 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625235558/http://dawn.com/2011/10/27/pakistan-military-denies-bbc-report-on-taliban-links/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html|title=What Pakistan Knew About Bin Laden|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 19, 2014|last1=Gall|first1=Carlotta|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813143216/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Qatar}} (alleged, but denied by Qatar)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.795628|title=Fact Check: Is Qatar Supporting Terrorism? A Look at Its Ties to Iran, ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood|last1=Haaretz|first2=The Associated|last2=Press|date=July 11, 2017|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=November 4, 2017|archive-date=January 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114135452/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.795628|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Russia}} (alleged, but denied by Russia)<ref name="UPI: 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]]|access-date=September 11, 2024|date=July 19, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Konstantin|last1=Preobrazhensky|author-link=Konstantin Preobrazhensky|title=Russia and Islam are not Separate: Why Russia backs Al-Qaeda|url=http://cicentre.com/Documents/russia_islam_not_separate.html|publisher=The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies|access-date=September 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219040336/http://cicentre.com/Documents/russia_islam_not_separate.html|archive-date=December 19, 2007|date=August 31, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Stroilov|first1=Pavel|title=Moscow's jihadi|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/moscow-s-jihadi/|website=[[The Spectator]]|access-date=September 11, 2024|date=June 25, 2011}}</ref>
* {{flag|Saudi Arabia}} (alleged, but denied by Saudi Arabia)<ref name="WT">{{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}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Sudan}} (1989–1996)<ref name="auto" />
* {{flagicon|Syria|1980}} [[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]] (until 2024; alleged by the US)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akkad |first=Dania |date=September 19, 2017 |title=Syrian state helped al-Qaeda bomb Jordan hotels, US court finds |work=[[Middle East Eye]] |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-state-helped-al-qaeda-bomb-jordan-hotels-us-court-finds |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706041730/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-state-helped-al-qaeda-bomb-jordan-hotels-us-court-finds |archive-date=July 6, 2019 |access-date=January 2, 2025}}</ref>
* {{flag|Zimbabwe}} (alleged)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hsf.org.za/publications/focus/issue-34-second-quarter-2004/al-qaeda-and-the-zimbabwe-connection|title=al-Qaeda and the Zimbabwe connection|website=Helen Suzman Foundation}}</ref>
----
'''Non-state allies:'''
* {{Flag|Taliban}} ([[Taliban insurgency|2001–2021]])<ref name="UN SC 2023"/><ref name="Dawn"/>
** {{flagicon image|Flag of the Taliban.svg}} [[Haqqani network]]
* {{Flagicon image|Ansarullah Flag Vector.svg}} [[Houthis]] (since 2023)<ref name="auto3">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Houthis team up with feared Al-Qaeda branch in new threat to Yemen|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/04/houthis-team-up-feared-al-qaeda-branch-new-threat-yemen/|website=The Telegraph|date=May 4, 2024|last1=Mohammed|first1=Ali|last2=Yan|first2=Sophia}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon image|InfoboxHez.PNG}} [[Hezbollah]] (sometimes)<ref>{{harvnb|Gunaratna|2002|pp=12, 86}}: "By forging a tactical relationship with Hezbollah, Al Qaeda mastered the art of bombing buildings."</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Ansar al-Islam.svg
}} [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} [[Ansar Al-Furqan]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan]] (1998–2015,<ref name="cisac"/> 2016<ref name="imusplinter">{{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}}</ref>–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]]
* {{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 (Iran)|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)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-s-ji-terror-group-declares-dissolution-but-security-threat-remains-say-analysts|title=Indonesia's JI terror group declares dissolution, but security threat remains, say analysts|work=The Straits Times|date=July 3, 2024|access-date=July 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="dissolution disband">{{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}}</ref>
}}
| opponents        = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}}| '''State opponents:'''
* {{flag|Algeria}}
* {{Flag|China}}<ref name="uyg1">[http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/648#tocto1n10 "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</ref>
* {{flag|Egypt}}
* {{flag|France}}
* {{flag|India}}
* {{flagcountry|Iran}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Andrew|first1=Jeong|title=Militant in Iran identified as al-Qaeda's probable new chief in U.N. report|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/15/al-qaeda-leader-saif-al-adel/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=February 15, 2023|archive-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215142558/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/15/al-qaeda-leader-saif-al-adel/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Iran denies U.S. claims linking Tehran to Al Qaeda's leader - foreign minister|date=February 16, 2023|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-denies-us-claims-linking-tehran-al-qaedas-leader-foreign-minister-2023-02-16/|work=Reuters|access-date=February 16, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312064322/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-denies-us-claims-linking-tehran-al-qaedas-leader-foreign-minister-2023-02-16/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Shia Iran"/>
* {{flag|Iraq}}
* {{flag|Israel}}
* {{Flag|Lebanon}}
* {{Flag|Russia}}
* {{Flag|Saudi Arabia}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Byman|first1=Daniel L.|title=The U.S.-Saudi Arabia counterterrorism relationship|url=https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/the-u-s-saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-relationship/|website=Brookings|date=November 30, 2001|access-date=June 8, 2021|quote=Saudi Arabia considers Al Qaeda to be a mortal enemy|archive-date=April 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423023408/https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/the-u-s-saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-relationship/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Somalia}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Syrian_revolution.svg}} [[Syria]]
* {{Flag|Turkey}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/why-is-al-qaeda-attacking-turkish-forces-46837|title=Why is Al Qaeda attacking Turkish forces?|website=Why is Al Qaeda attacking Turkish forces?|access-date=October 3, 2021|archive-date=October 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003130940/https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/why-is-al-qaeda-attacking-turkish-forces-46837|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-11/three-uae-troops-killed-in-somalia-attack-by-al-qaeda-affiliate|title=Four UAE Troops Dead in Somalia Attack by Al-Qaeda Affiliate|website=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=February 11, 2024|first1=Omar|last1=Tamo|first2=Mohamed|last2=Sheikh Nor}}</ref>
* {{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}} [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] (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)<ref name="Saif"/><ref name="auto3"/>
* {{Flagicon image|InfoboxHez.PNG}} [[Hezbollah]] (sometimes)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Kurdistan.svg}} [[Peshmerga]]
* {{Flagicon image|People's Protection Units Flag.svg}} [[People's Defense Units|YPG]]
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of South Yemen.svg}} [[Southern Movement]]
** [[Southern Transitional Council]]
}}
| battles          = {{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}}| [[War on terror]]<br />
In Sudan
* [[Second Sudanese Civil War]]
In Afghanistan
* [[Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)]]
** [[Battle of Jalalabad (1989)]]
* [[Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)]]
* [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]
In Tajikistan
* [[Civil war in Tajikistan]]
In North-Caucasus
* [[Second Chechen War]]
* [[Insurgency in the North Caucasus]]
* [[Islamic State 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]]
* [[Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)|Iraqi insurgency]]
In Pakistan
* [[Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
* [[Insurgency in Balochistan]]
In Somalia
* [[Somalia War (2006–2009)]]
* [[Somali Civil War (2009–present)]]
In the Sahel
* [[War 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 (2011–14)|Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)]]
In India
* [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Al-Qaeda calls for liberation of Kashmir|date=September 2021|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skKkj2eEv0|access-date=September 30, 2021|archive-date=October 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008051735/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skKkj2eEv0&ab_channel=WION|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
| status           = 
| designated_as_terror_group_by = [[#Designation as a terrorist group|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 Foundation}}, {{IPA|ar|alˈqaː.ʕi.da|IPA}}}} is a [[pan-Islamist]] militant organization led by [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[jihadists]] who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global [[Revolutionary Islamism|Islamist revolution]] to unite the [[Muslim world]] under a supra-national Islamic [[caliphate]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Klausen|first=Jytte|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7Q6EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|title=Western Jihadism: A Thirty-Year History|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2021|isbn=978-0-19-887079-1|location=Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp, United Kingdom|pages=53–54|chapter=2: The Founder|access-date=March 18, 2023|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404113004/https://books.google.com/books?id=p7Q6EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=J. Tompkins, Crossett|first1=Paul, Chuck|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC&pg=PA533|title=Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare Volume II: 1962–2009|last2=Spitaletta, Marshal|first2=Jason, Shana|publisher=United States Army Special Operations Command|year=2012|location=Fort Bragg, North Carolina|pages=533, 544|chapter=19 – Al-Qaeda: 1988-2001|access-date=March 18, 2023|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404113005/https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC&pg=PA533|url-status=live}}</ref> Its membership is mostly composed of [[Arab]]s but also includes people from other ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Immenkamp|first1=Beatrix|last2=Latici|first2=Tania|date=October 2021|title=Security situation in Afghanistan|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/698771/EPRS_BRI(2021)698771_EN.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409111042/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/698771/EPRS_BRI(2021)698771_EN.pdf|archive-date=April 9, 2022|website=European Parliament}}</ref> Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 US embassy bombings]], the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]], and the [[September 11 attacks]]. It has been [[List of designated terrorist groups|designated a terrorist organization]] by the [[United Nations]] and over two dozen countries around the world.

The organization was founded in a series of meetings held in [[Peshawar]] during 1988, attended by [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam|Abdullah Azzam]], [[Osama bin Laden]], [[Mohammed Atef|Muhammad Atef]], [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] and other veterans of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]].<ref name="Klausen 2021 47–51">{{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}}</ref> 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]]''.<ref name="Klausen 2021 47–51"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mcgregor|first1=Andrew|year=2003|title="Jihad and the Rifle Alone": 'Abdullah 'Azzam and the Islamist Revolution|url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2003-v23-n2-jcs23_2/jcs23_2art06/|journal=Journal of Conflict Studies|volume=23|issue=2|pages=92–113|access-date=December 12, 2022|archive-date=December 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212183453/https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2003-v23-n2-jcs23_2/jcs23_2art06/|url-status=live}}</ref> When [[Saddam Hussein]] [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded and occupied Kuwait]] in 1990, bin Laden offered to support [[Saudi Arabia]] by sending his ''[[Mujahideen]]'' fighters. His offer was rebuffed by the Saudi government, which instead sought the aid of the [[United States]]. The stationing of U.S. troops in the [[Arabian Peninsula]] 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]] until it was expelled in 1996. It then shifted its base to the [[Taliban]]-ruled [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Afghanistan]] and later expanded to other parts of the world, primarily in the [[Middle East]] and [[South Asia]]. In 1996 and 1998, bin Laden issued two [[Fatawā of Osama bin Laden|''fatāwā'']] that demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia.

In 1998, al-Qaeda conducted the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|US embassy bombings]] in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]], 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 [[Casualties of the September 11 attacks|3,000 deaths]], [[Health effects arising from the September 11 attacks|long-term health consequences of nearby residents]], [[Economic effects of the September 11 attacks|damage to global economic markets]], the triggering of [[Aftermath of the September 11 attacks|drastic geo-political changes]] as well as generating profound [[Cultural influence of the September 11 attacks|cultural influence across the world]]. The U.S. launched the [[war on terror]] in response and [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|invaded Afghanistan]] to depose the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invaded Iraq]], overthrowing the [[Ba'athist Iraq|Ba'athist regime]] which they [[Rationale for the Iraq War|falsely accused]] of having ties with al-Qaeda. In 2004, al-Qaeda launched its [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq|Iraqi regional branch]]. After [[Manhunt for Osama bin Laden|pursuing him for almost a decade]], the U.S. military [[Killing of Osama bin Laden|killed bin Laden]] in [[Pakistan]] in May 2011.

Al-Qaeda members believe that a [[Judeo-Christian]] alliance (led by the [[United States]]) is waging a [[War on Islam controversy|war against Islam]] and conspiring to destroy [[Islam]].<ref>Fu'ad Husayn 'Al-Zarqawi, "The Second Generation of al-Qa'ida, Part Fourteen," ''Al-Quds al-Arabi'', July 13, 2005</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Wiktorowicz|first1=Quintan|last2=Kaltner|first2=John|year=2003|title=Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11|url=https://www.mafhoum.com/press5/147S29.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910185227/https://www.mafhoum.com/press5/147S29.htm|archive-date=September 10, 2021|access-date=September 10, 2021|website=mafhoum.com|publisher=Middle East Policy Council}}</ref> Al-Qaeda also opposes [[man-made law]]s, and seek to implement ''[[Sharia|sharīʿah]]'' (Islamic law) in Muslim countries.<ref name="LT246">{{harvnb|Wright|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig/page/246 246]}}</ref> Al-Qaeda fighters characteristically deploy tactics such as [[suicide attack]]s ([[Inghimasi]] and [[Istishhad]]i operations) involving simultaneous bombing of several [[Target of opportunity|targets]] in battle-zones.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|pp=107–108, 185, 270–271}}</ref> [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq|Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch]], which later morphed into the [[Islamic State of Iraq]] after 2006, was responsible for numerous [[sectarian violence among Muslims|sectarian]] attacks against [[Shia Islam|Shias]] during its [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)|Iraqi insurgency]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brahimi|first=Alia|url=https://archive.org/details/jihadjustwarinwa0000brah|title=Jihad and Just War in the War on Terror|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-956296-1|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=March 20, 2006|title=Al Qaeda's hand in tipping Iraq toward civil war|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0320/p09s01-coop.html|website=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|first=Abdel Bari|last=Atwan|author-link=Abdel Bari Atwan|access-date=May 7, 2011|archive-date=May 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516010954/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0320/p09s01-coop.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Al-Qaeda ideologues envision the violent removal of all foreign and [[Secularism|secularist]] influences in [[Muslim world|Muslim countries]], which it denounces as corrupt deviations.<ref name="spiegel1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/al-qaidas-ideology.html|title=al Qaida's Ideology|publisher=MI5|access-date=May 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228214557/http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/al-qaidas-ideology.html|archive-date=February 28, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=August 6, 2011|title=Dreaming of a caliphate|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/briefing/2011/08/06/dreaming-of-a-caliphate|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=May 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821062637/https://www.economist.com/briefing/2011/08/06/dreaming-of-a-caliphate|archive-date=August 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=February 4, 2005|title=Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology|url=https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32759.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910185227/https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32759.html|archive-date=September 10, 2021|access-date=September 10, 2021|website=CRS Report}}</ref> 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 [[Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri|killed by the United States]] in 2022. {{As of|2021|}}, they have reportedly suffered from a deterioration of central command over its regional operations.<ref name="Zakaria-10-years-29-4-21">{{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}}</ref>

== Organization ==
[[File:Al-Qaida_au_Maghreb_Islamique_combattants_(4x3).png|thumb|Al-Qaeda members pose with grenades and rifles, 2010]]
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.<ref>al-Hammadi, Khalid, "The Inside Story of al-Qa'ida", part 4, ''Al-Quds al-Arabi'', March 22, 2005</ref> 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.<ref name=WilsonLeaders2015>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>J. Feiser – {{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FH13Ak05.html|title=Evolution of the al-Qaeda brand name|work=Asia Times|date=August 13, 2004|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050423141837/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FH13Ak05.html|archive-date=April 23, 2005|url-status=unfit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Atran|first=Scott|date=Spring 2006|title=The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism|url=http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623022648/http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf|archive-date=June 23, 2015|access-date=March 22, 2010}}</ref>

The group was initially dominated by [[Egyptians]] 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=Guido|title=German Jihad: On the Internationalization of Islamist Terrorism|date=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50053-1|series=Columbia studies in terrorism and irregular warfare|location=New York|pages=15, 17|chapter=Unlikely Internationalists: Putting German Jihadism into Perspective}}</ref>

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.<ref name="FT Threat">{{Cite news|last1=Blitz|first1=James|date=January 19, 2010|title=A threat transformed|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|url=https://www.ft.com/content/af31e344-0499-11df-8603-00144feabdc0|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}}</ref>

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."<ref name=islamicawakening>{{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}}</ref>}}

{{as of|2010}} however, [[Bruce Hoffman]] saw al-Qaeda as a cohesive network that was strongly led from the Pakistani tribal areas.<ref name="FT Threat" />

[[File:Al-Qaida crée une brigade dirigée par des Touaregs (8246938011).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Al-Qaeda militant in [[Sahel]] armed with a [[Type 56 assault rifle]], 2012]]

===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)
* [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]] or [[Islamic Emirate of Somalia]] (IES)<ref name="AlQaeda">{{cite news |date=February 9, 2012 |title=Al-Shabaab joining al Qaeda, monitor group says |work=CNN |publisher= |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/world/africa/somalia-shabaab-qaeda/index.html |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123103009/https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/world/africa/somalia-shabaab-qaeda/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Thomas|2013}}{{Sfn|Lahoud|2012}}<ref>{{cite web|last=McConnell|first=Tristan|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa/al-shabaab-and-al-qaeda-post-joint-video|title=Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda co-produce video|date=February 10, 2012|work=[[Global Post]]|access-date=February 10, 2012|archive-date=February 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210204428/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa/al-shabaab-and-al-qaeda-post-joint-video|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan]] (IMU){{efn|pro Al-Qaeda factions}}<ref name="imusplinter">{{cite web|date=2016-06-14|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=2016-06-15|work=Long War Journal}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

The following are presently believed to be indirect affiliates of al-Qaeda:

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Fatah al-Islam]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lebanon/u-s-designates-fatah-al-islam-terrorist-group-idUSN1334969020070813|date=August 13, 2007|title=U.S. designates Fatah al-Islam 'terrorist' group|work=Reuters|access-date=August 11, 2019|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216225141/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lebanon/u-s-designates-fatah-al-islam-terrorist-group-idUSN1334969020070813|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Islamic Jihad Union]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/04/islamic-jihad-union-conducts-joint-raid-with-the-taliban.php|last1=Roggio|first1=Bill|last2=Weiss|first2=Caleb|date=April 10, 2018|title=Islamic Jihad Union conducts joint raid with the Taliban|website=Long War Journal|access-date=August 11, 2019|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216225214/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/04/islamic-jihad-union-conducts-joint-raid-with-the-taliban.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]]<ref name="cisac">{{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}}</ref>
* [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/07/pakistan-charges-13-lashkar-e-taiba-leaders-under-anti-terrorism-act.php|last1=Roggio|first1=Bill|date=July 12, 2019|title=Pakistan charges 13 Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders under Anti-Terrorism Act|website=Long War Journal|access-date=August 12, 2019|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216225208/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/07/pakistan-charges-13-lashkar-e-taiba-leaders-under-anti-terrorism-act.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/375074/news/nation/biff-abu-sayyaf-pledge-allegiance-t-islamic-state-jihadists|title=BIFF, Abu Sayyaf pledge allegiance to Islamic State jihadists|work=GMA News Online|date=August 16, 2014|access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>)
* [[Caucasus Emirate]] (inactive by 2015)
* [[Hurras al-Din]] (merged into the [[Syrian Armed Forces]] in 2025)
* [[Jemaah Islamiyah]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=David|year=2011|title=Jemaah Islamiyah|url=http://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/111101_Gordon_JemaahIslamiyah_WEB.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/111101_Gordon_JemaahIslamiyah_WEB.pdf|archive-date=October 9, 2022|url-status=live|journal=Homeland Security & Counterterrorism Program Transnational Threats Project|via=Center for Strategic & International Studies}}</ref> (dissolved in 2024)
* [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan]] (main faction joined [[ISIL]])<ref name="imusplinter">{{cite web|date=2016-06-14|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=2016-06-15|work=Long War Journal}}</ref>
* [[Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jesus|first1=Carlos Echeverria|date=March 2009|title=The Current State of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/the-current-state-of-the-moroccan-islamic-combatant-group/|journal=CTC Sentinel|volume=2|issue=3|access-date=August 12, 2019|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216225208/https://ctc.usma.edu/the-current-state-of-the-moroccan-islamic-combatant-group/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (dissolved)
* [[Al-Mourabitoun (militant group)|Al-Mourabitoun]] (joined [[Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin|JNIM]] in 2017<ref name="JNIM">{{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}}</ref>)
* [[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<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/electronic-jihad-nigeria-boko-haram-using-social-media/|title=Electronic Jihad in Nigeria: How Boko Haram Is Using Social Media|first1=Jacob|last1=Zenn|work=[[Jamestown Foundation]]|date=December 9, 2017|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-date=July 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716225757/https://jamestown.org/program/electronic-jihad-nigeria-boko-haram-using-social-media/|url-status=live}}</ref>)
* [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]] (majority merged with [[Islamic State|ISIL]] in 2014)
* [[Ansar Dine]] (joined [[Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin|JNIM]] in 2017)<ref name="JNIM"/>
* [[Islamic Jihad in Yemen]] (became [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula|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]] (leader arrested in 2024)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Banlaoi|first1=Rommel C.|title=Media and Terrorism in the Philippines: The Rajah Solaiman Islamic Movement|journal=Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism|date=April 1, 2009|volume=4|issue=1|pages=64–75|doi=10.1080/18335300.2009.9686924|s2cid=144035702}}</ref>
* [[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) ====
[[File:Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri 2001.jpg|thumb|Osama bin Laden (left) and Ayman al-Zawahiri (right) photographed in 2001|alt=Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri photographed in 2001]]

[[Osama bin Laden]] served as the emir of al-Qaeda from the organization's founding in 1988 until his assassination by US forces on May 1, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/al_qaeda_emir_osama.php|last1=Ardolino|first1=Bill|last2=Roggio|first2=Bill|date=May 1, 2011|title=Al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden confirmed killed by US forces in Pakistan|website=Long War Journal|access-date=August 5, 2019|archive-date=August 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805214544/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/al_qaeda_emir_osama.php|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Atiyah Abd al-Rahman]] was alleged to be second in command prior to his death on August 22, 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=Harriet |date=2011-08-27 |title=Al-Qaeda's second-in-command killed in Pakistan |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8727307/Al-Qaedas-second-in-command-killed-in-Pakistan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204205535/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8727307/Al-Qaedas-second-in-command-killed-in-Pakistan.html |archive-date=2023-02-04 |access-date=2025-11-04 |website=The Telegraph |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Bin Laden was advised by a [[shura|Shura Council]], which consists of senior al-Qaeda members.<ref name=WilsonLeaders2015/> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/06/16/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Al-Qaida-Zawahri.html|title=Al-Qaida Says Al-Zawahri Has Succeeded Bin Laden|agency=Associated Press|work=The New York Times|date=June 16, 2011|access-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/world/asia/qaeda-deputy-killed-in-drone-strike-in-pakistan.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/world/asia/qaeda-deputy-killed-in-drone-strike-in-pakistan.html|archive-date=January 1, 2022|url-access=limited|title=Drone Strike Killed No. 2 in Al Qaeda, U.S. Officials Say|date=June 5, 2012|work=The New York Times|first1=Declan|last1=Walsh|first2=Eric|last2=Schmitt}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[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.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/middleeast/al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-yemen-nasser-al-wuhayshi-killed.html Al-Qaeda Confirms U.S. Strike Killed Nasser al-Wuhayshi, Its Leader in Yemen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225141425/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/middleeast/al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-yemen-nasser-al-wuhayshi-killed.html |date=February 25, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', Kareem Fahim, June 16, 2015</ref> [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/03/zawahiris-deputy-sought-to-unify-syrian-rebels.php|last1=Joscelyn|first1=Thomas|date=March 3, 2017|title=Zawahiri's deputy sought to 'unify' Syrian rebels|website=Long War Journal|access-date=August 5, 2019|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913114337/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/03/zawahiris-deputy-sought-to-unify-syrian-rebels.php|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 15, 2020|title=Report: Israeli agents assassinated Al-Qaeda's No. 2 in Iran|url=https://www.jns.org/report-israeli-agents-assassinated-al-qaedas-no-2-in-iran/|access-date=March 3, 2021|website=[[JNS.org]]|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305155904/https://www.jns.org/report-israeli-agents-assassinated-al-qaedas-no-2-in-iran/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{anchor|Committees}}<!--linked from Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti-->Al-Qaeda's network was built from scratch as a conspiratorial network which drew upon the leadership of a number of regional nodes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunaratna|2002|p=54}}.</ref> 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]]"<ref>{{Harvnb|State 2003}}.</ref> were most successful in the year immediately following the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{Harvnb|Basile|2004|p=177}}.</ref> 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}}{{spaces}}million.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wechsler|2001|p=135}}; cited in {{Harvnb|Gunaratna|2002|p=63}}.</ref> The committee also procures false passports, pays al-Qaeda members, and oversees profit-driven businesses.<ref>Businesses are run from below, with the council only being consulted on new proposals and collecting funds.<br />See:
* {{Harvnb|Hoffman|2002}}.</ref> In the ''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'', it was estimated that al-Qaeda required $30{{spaces}}million 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.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Engelbrecht|first1=Cora|last2=Ward|first2=Euan|date=August 2, 2022|title=The Killing of Ayman al-Zawahri: What We Know|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/world/asia/al-qaeda-al-zawahri-killing.html|access-date=August 2, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802205000/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/world/asia/al-qaeda-al-zawahri-killing.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jeong|first=Andrew|title=Militant in Iran identified as al-Qaeda's probable new chief in U.N. report|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/15/al-qaeda-leader-saif-al-adel/|access-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215142558/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/15/al-qaeda-leader-saif-al-adel/|archive-date=February 15, 2023|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=February 15, 2023|title=United Nations report identifies new al Qaeda leader with $10 million bounty|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/3859954-united-nations-report-identifies-new-al-qaida-leader-with-10-million-bounty/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215224549/https://thehill.com/policy/international/3859954-united-nations-report-identifies-new-al-qaida-leader-with-10-million-bounty/|archive-date=February 15, 2023}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Al Qaeda|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/al-qaeda|access-date=March 3, 2021|website=Anti-Defamation League|archive-date=April 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403025553/https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/al-qaeda|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=WilsonLeaders2015/> "...{{spaces}}Zawahiri 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=J. Tompkins, Crossett|first1=Paul, Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC|title=Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare Volume II: 1962–2009|last2=Spitaletta, Marshal|first2=Jason, Shana|publisher=United States Army Special Operations Command|year=2012|location=Fort Bragg, North Carolina|pages=544, 545|chapter=19- Al-Qaeda: 1988–2001}}</ref>

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."<ref name="foxnewsblair">{{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}}</ref> On August 13, 2005, ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper, reported that the July{{spaces}}7 bombers had acted independently of an al-Qaeda mastermind.<ref>{{Cite news|title=London bombings: the truth emerges|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article305547.ece|first1=Jason|last1=Bennetto|first2=Ian|last2=Herbert|work=The Independent|location=UK|date=August 13, 2005|access-date=December 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026100045/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article305547.ece|archive-date=October 26, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>Al-Bahri, Nasser, ''Guarding bin Laden: My Life in al-Qaeda''. p. 185. Thin Man Press. London. {{ISBN|9780956247360}}</ref> 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.<ref name="The Power of Nightmares">[https://archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares ''The Power of Nightmares''], BBC Documentary.</ref>}}

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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McCloud|first1=Kimberly|title=WMD Terrorism and Usama bin Laden|url=http://cns.miis.edu/reports/binladen.htm|work=CNS Reports|publisher=James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies|access-date=May 4, 2011|author2=Osborne, Matthew|date=March 7, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506145417/http://cns.miis.edu/reports/binladen.htm|archive-date=May 6, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="first informant">{{Harvnb|McGeary|2001}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/LAW/02/13/Embassy.bombings.trial/|title=Witness: Bin Laden planned attack on U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia|publisher=CNN|date=February 13, 2001|access-date=June 12, 2007|archive-date=January 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104203956/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/LAW/02/13/Embassy.bombings.trial/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="The Power of Nightmares" />}}

=== Field operatives ===
[[File:Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Pakistani journalist [[Hamid Mir]] interviewing [[Osama bin Laden]] in Afghanistan, 1997]]

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.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9243503/Secret-Osama-bin-Laden-files-reveal-al-Qaeda-membership.html Secret Osama bin Laden files reveal al Qaeda membership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627064136/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9243503/Secret-Osama-bin-Laden-files-reveal-al-Qaeda-membership.html |date=June 27, 2018 }}, ''The Telegraph'' accessed July 26, 2013</ref> In 2006, it was estimated that al-Qaeda had several thousand commanders embedded in 40 countries.<ref name="Cassidy">{{Harvnb|Cassidy|2006|p=9}}.</ref> {{as of|2009}}, it was believed that no more than 200–300 members were still active commanders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2211994/|title=The Terrorists-Are-Dumb Theory: Don't mistake these guys for criminal masterminds|first1=Timothy|last1=Noah|author-link=Timothy Noah|work=Slate|date=February 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227091408/http://www.slate.com/id/2211994/|archive-date=February 27, 2009}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gerges|first1=Fawaz A|title=The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2005|isbn=0-521-79140-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/farenemywhyjihad0000gerg}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Cassidy" /> 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.<ref name="Cassidy" />

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}}.<ref>[http://www.meforum.org/article/1710 Jihad's New Leaders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704191032/http://www.meforum.org/article/1710 |date=July 4, 2007 }} by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Kyle Dabruzzi, ''Middle East Quarterly'', Summer 2007</ref> It has been estimated that 62 percent of al-Qaeda members have a university education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=c841b52c-b2e7-4e41-b27e-33d10245b935&k=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120758/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=c841b52c-b2e7-4e41-b27e-33d10245b935&k=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2007|title=Today's jihadists: educated, wealthy and bent on killing?|publisher=Canada.com|date=July 3, 2007|access-date=March 22, 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref name=CFR2021>{{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}}</ref>

In 2001, al-Qaeda had around 20 functioning cells and 70,000 insurgents spread over sixty nations.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=J. Tompkins, Crossett|first1=Paul, Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC|title=Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare Volume II: 1962-2009|last2=Spitaletta, Marshal|first2=Jason, Shana|publisher=United States Army Special Operations Command|year=2012|location=Fort Bragg, North Carolina|pages=544|chapter=19- Al-Qaeda: 1988–2001}}</ref> According to latest estimates, the number of active-duty soldiers under its command and allied militias have risen to approximately 250,000 by 2018.<ref>{{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=United Kingdom|pages=1|chapter=1: Introduction}}</ref>

=== Financing ===

Al-Qaeda usually does not disburse funds for attacks, and very rarely makes wire transfers.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Eichenwald|first1=Kurt|author-link=Kurt Eichenwald|title=A Nation Challenged: The Money; Terror Money Hard to Block, Officials Find|work=The New York Times|date=December 10, 2001|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/10/world/a-nation-challenged-the-money-terror-money-hard-to-block-officials-find.html|access-date=May 4, 2011|archive-date=February 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219091943/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/10/world/a-nation-challenged-the-money-terror-money-hard-to-block-officials-find.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1990s, financing came partly from the personal wealth of Osama bin Laden.<ref name="Forbes_May_5_2011">[https://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914whoisobl.html 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</ref> 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]].<ref name="Forbes_May_5_2011" /> A 2009 [[United States diplomatic cables leak|leaked diplomatic cable]] stated that "terrorist funding emanating from Saudi Arabia remains a serious concern."<ref>Eric Lichtbau and Eric Schmitt [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/world/middleeast/06wikileaks-financing.html Cash Flow to Terrorists Evades U.S. Efforts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307185846/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/world/middleeast/06wikileaks-financing.html|date=March 7, 2017 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 5, 2010</ref>

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.<ref name="history commons">{{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}}</ref> The hand-written list was validated by al-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl, and included the names of both donors and beneficiaries.<ref name="history commons" /><ref name="auto">[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_of_America_v._Usama_bin_Laden/Day_2_6_February_2001 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.</ref> 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.<ref name="history commons" /> 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.<ref name="history commons" />

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB104794563734573400|title=List of Early al Qaeda Donors Points to Saudi Elite, Charities|first1=Glenn R.|last1=Simpson|date=March 19, 2003|access-date=June 21, 2016|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|archive-date=August 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822011925/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB104794563734573400|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="steve emerson">Emerson, Steve (2006). ''Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US''. Prometheus Books. p. 382.</ref> The MWL was openly identified by al-Qaeda's leader as one of the three charities al-Qaeda primarily relied upon for funding sources.<ref name="steve emerson" />

==== 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.<ref name="treasury press">{{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}}</ref> 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".<ref name="treasury press" />

Nuaimi was accused of overseeing a $2{{spaces}}million 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.<ref name="treasury press" /><ref name="fiscal times qatar">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="treasury press" /><ref name="fiscal times qatar" /> Nuaimi is also known to be associated with Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahman al-Humayqani, a [[Yemen]]i politician and founding member of [[Alkarama]], who was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US Treasury in 2013.<ref name="bin ki moon">{{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}}</ref> The US authorities claimed that Humayqani exploited his role in Alkarama to fundraise on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).<ref name="treasury press" /><ref name="bin ki moon" /> 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.<ref name="treasury press" /> About ten months after being sanctioned by the US Treasury, Nuaimi was also restrained from doing business in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11172244/Terrorist-paymaster-targeted-by-Britain.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11172244/Terrorist-paymaster-targeted-by-Britain.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Terrorist paymaster targeted by Britain|date=October 18, 2014|access-date=June 21, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

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.<ref name="fiscal times qatar" /><ref name="un press">{{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}}</ref> Subayi allegedly moved al-Qaeda recruits to South Asia-based training camps.<ref name="fiscal times qatar" /><ref name="un press" /> 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]]''.<ref name="9-11commission.gov">{{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<!--bot generated title-->}}</ref>

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]] in the early 1990s.<ref name="auto" />

It was alleged that in 1993 [[Osama bin Laden]] was using [[Middle East]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 1, 2024|title=Osama bin Laden {{!}} Biography, al-Qaeda, Terrorist Attacks, Death, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Osama-bin-Laden|access-date=January 28, 2024|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|archive-date=June 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616235439/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Osama-bin-Laden|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref name="funding al nusra">{{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}}</ref> The Consortium Against Terrorist Finance (CATF) reported that the Gulf country has funded al-Nusra since 2013.<ref name="funding al nusra" /> In 2017, ''[[Asharq Al-Awsat]]'' estimated that Qatar had disbursed $25{{spaces}}million in support of al-Nusra through kidnapping for ransom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aawsat.com/home/article/510121/%D8%B5%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-25-%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%80%C2%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A9%C2%BB-%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B4-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84|title=صفقة العسكريين: 25 مليون دولار لـ"النصرة"... وهامش تحرك في عرسال|website=الشرق الأوسط|access-date=November 12, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112020038/https://aawsat.com/home/article/510121/%25D8%25B5%25D9%2581%25D9%2582%25D8%25A9-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B3%25D9%2583%25D8%25B1%25D9%258A%25D9%258A%25D9%2586-25-%25D9%2585%25D9%2584%25D9%258A%25D9%2588%25D9%2586-%25D8%25AF%25D9%2588%25D9%2584%25D8%25A7%25D8%25B1-%25D9%2584%25D9%2580%25C2%25AB%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2586%25D8%25B5%25D8%25B1%25D8%25A9%25C2%25BB-%25D9%2588%25D9%2587%25D8%25A7%25D9%2585%25D8%25B4-%25D8%25AA%25D8%25AD%25D8%25B1%25D9%2583-%25D9%2581%25D9%258A-%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B1%25D8%25B3%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584|url-status=live}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syrian-conflict-said-to-fuel-sectarian-tensions-in-persian-gulf/2013/12/18/e160ad82-6831-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html|title=Syrian conflict said to fuel sectarian tensions in Persian Gulf|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 21, 2016|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126131441/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syrian-conflict-said-to-fuel-sectarian-tensions-in-persian-gulf/2013/12/18/e160ad82-6831-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/08/analysis-qatar-still-negligent-on-terror-finance.php|title=Analysis: Qatar still negligent on terror finance – The Long War Journal|date=August 19, 2015|access-date=June 21, 2016|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417142200/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/08/analysis-qatar-still-negligent-on-terror-finance.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== The Golden Chain ====
{{about||the tree|Laburnum|the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas|List of works by Thomas Aquinas#Exegetical, homiletical, and liturgical writings}}
The '''"Golden Chain"''' is a list of sponsors of Al-Qaeda seized in March 2002 in a raid by Bosnian police of the premises of the [[Benevolence International Foundation]] in [[Sarajevo]].

The list included twenty-five names, twenty of them very wealthy Saudis and Gulf States financial sponsors including bankers, businessmen, and former ministers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Charitable Organizations and Terrorist Financing: A War on Terror Status-Check|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/charitable-organizations-and-terrorist-financing-war-terror-status-check|access-date=2021-09-17|website=The Washington Institute|language=en}}</ref> Part of the list includes a computer file titled "Tarekh Osama" or "Osama History", but the appellation "Golden Chain" itself is due to al Qaeda defector [[Jamal al-Fadl]], who vouched for its authenticity. The computer file contained photographs of the birth and early days of al-Qaeda as well as letters and documents, some in bin Laden's handwriting. In the seized material, records were found of both the plans for al-Qaeda's activities and its organizational structure and operational foundations. These are believed to have been prepared by bin Laden and his mentor Sheikh Abdallah Azzam.

They also found a list of 20 Arab plutocrats, the "Golden Chain", who were suspected of financing international terrorism, including al-Qaeda. The custody of the secret and confidential material was entrusted to bin Laden's confidant [[Enaam Arnaout]], who was convinced that the documents were in the safest and most secure place in the Sarajevo office of the Benevolence International Foundation. During a search of the Benevolence International Foundation's offices in Sarajevo, the relevant law enforcement agencies found clear evidence of a connection between the head of the office, Enaam Arnaout, and [[Osama bin Laden]], and of "militant" subordination between the two, and charges were brought against Arnaout.<ref>''See United States of America v. Enaam M. Arnaout, a/k/a "Abu Mahmoud", a/k/a "Abu Mahmoud al Suri", a/k/a "Abu Mahmoud al Hamawi", a/k/a "Abdel Samia", U.S. v. Arnaout, No. 02 CR 892, 231 F.Supp.2 d 797 (2002), U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division. November 22, 2002, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, et.al., United States Attorneys.''</ref>

Most accounts are vague on what year the Golden Chain document was written; some say 1988<ref>Wall Street Journal, 3/18/2003</ref> but U.S. [[counter-terrorism]] advisor [[Richard A. Clarke]] says it dates from 1989. The "Golden Chain" was presented by the U.S. government in the criminal case ''[[Enaam Arnaout|United States v. Arnaout]]'' filed on January 29, 2003, and in other legal filings.

The American government has never publicly released the full document, and so the full list of names is a matter of conjecture and speculation. In 2003, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that it included "billionaire bankers [[Saleh Kamel]] and [[Khalid bin Mahfouz]], as well as the [[Al-Rajhi Bank|Al-Rajhi]] family, another banking family, and Mr. bin Laden's brothers."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB104794563734573400| title = List of Early al Qaeda Donors Points to Saudi Elite, Charities - WSJ| work = Wall Street Journal| date = 19 March 2003}} </ref> Minutes of the Sarajevo meeting on 11 August 1988 confirmed that bin Laden had begun his jihadist movement at that time. Bin Laden decided to recruit members and raise funds from [[Saudi Arabia]]. To carry out his jihadist war, he had to enlist the wealthy plutocrats of the Gulf, the "Golden Chain", to fund al-Qaeda. The "Golden Chain" was a copy of a handwritten 1988 draft listing the wealthy financiers of the mujahedin's operations in Afghanistan, known within al-Qaeda as the "Golden Chain". At the top of the document, translated from Arabic by the US Department of Justice, was a quote from the Quran: 'And spend in the cause of God'.<ref>''"Government's Evidentiary Proffer Supporting the Admissibility of Coconspirator Statements" in the case of USA v. Arnaout, USDC, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division) filed on January 29, 2003."''</ref>

== 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.<ref name="SEDGWICK">{{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}}</ref> On March 11, 2005, ''[[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]]'' published extracts from [[Saif al-Adel]]'s document "Al Qaeda's Strategy to the Year 2020".<ref name=Atwan>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofa0000atwa|url-access=registration|first1=Abdel Bari|last1=Atwan|title=The Secret History of Al Qaeda|page=[https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofa0000atwa/page/221 221]|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-24974-7|via=Internet Archive|date=March 11, 2005|access-date=May 8, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnewstt_news&#93;=181&tx_ttnewsbackPid&#93;=238&no_cache=1|title=single – The Jamestown Foundation|access-date=April 12, 2016}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[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]]."<ref name=Atwan />

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:<ref>{{cite news|last1=Musharbash|first1=Yassir|title=The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-future-of-terrorism-what-al-qaida-really-wants-a-369448.html|access-date=January 15, 2015|work=Der Spiegel|date=August 12, 2005|archive-date=January 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120022303/http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-future-of-terrorism-what-al-qaida-really-wants-a-369448.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
# "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]] 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.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 5, 2016|title=What has happened to al-Qaeda?|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35967409|access-date=August 29, 2022|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829074753/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35967409|url-status=live}}</ref>

== 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".<ref>Arabic Computer Dictionary: English-Arabic, Arabic-English By Ernest Kay, Multi-lingual International Publishers, 1986.</ref> In Arabic, ''al-Qaeda'' has four syllables ({{IPA|/alˈqaː.ʕi.da/}}).<!--This is a phonemic transcription that differs somewhat from the transcription system described at [[Help:IPA for Arabic]].--> 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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/sounds/2930.ra|title=Listen to the U.S. pronunciation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211020849/http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/sounds/2930.ra|archive-date=December 11, 2005|format=[[RealPlayer]]}}</ref>

The doctrinal concept of "''al-Qaeda''" was first coined by the [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] [[Islamism|Islamist]] scholar and [[Jihadism|Jihadist]] leader [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam|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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Haniff Hassan|first=Muhammad|title=The Father of Jihad: 'Abd Allah 'Azzam's Jihad Ideas and Implications to National Security|publisher=Imperial College Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-78326-287-8|location=London|pages=133–134}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Aboul–Enein|first=Youssef|date=January 1, 2008|title=The Late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam's Books: Part III: Radical Theories on Defending Muslim Land through Jihad|chapter=Part III: Radical Theories on Defending Muslim Land through Jihad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep05601|publisher=Combating Terrorism Center|access-date=August 4, 2022|archive-date=August 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831200647/https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep05601|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Paz 2001">{{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}}</ref> According to Azzam's world-view: <blockquote>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].<ref name="Paz 2001"/></blockquote>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/index.html|title=Transcript of Bin Laden's October interview|publisher=CNN|date=February 5, 2002|access-date=October 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206081331/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/index.html|archive-date=December 6, 2006|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

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".<ref>{{Harvnb|Bergen|2006|p=75}}. Wright indirectly quotes one of the documents, based on an exhibit from the "Tareek Osama" document presented in <span class="plainlinks">[http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/bif/usarnaout10603prof.pdf ''United States v. Enaam M. Arnaout''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203110416/http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/bif/usarnaout10603prof.pdf |date=February 3, 2016 }}</span>.</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Robin|last1=Cook|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/08/july7.development|title=Robin Cook: The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means|work=The Guardian|location=UK|date=July 8, 2005|access-date=May 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514051125/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jul/08/july7.development|archive-date=May 14, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref>"[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/619/op13.htm After Mombasa] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514233523/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/619/op13.htm |date=May 14, 2013 }}", ''[[Al-Ahram Weekly|Al-Ahram Weekly Online]]'', January 2–8, 2003 (Issue No. 619). Retrieved September 3, 2006.</ref>

== Ideology ==
{{Main|Jihadism}}

{{Further|Qutbism|Islamic extremism in the 20th-century Egypt|label2=Egyptian Islamism}}{{Islamism sidebar}}
[[File:Sayyid Qutb.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Sayyid Qutb]], the Egyptian Islamic scholar and Jihadist theorist who inspired al-Qaeda]]

The [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamist]] militant movement of al-Qaeda developed amid the rise of [[Islamic revival]]ist and [[Jihadist movement]]s 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=332}}.</ref> In the 1950s and 1960s, Qutb preached that because of the lack of ''[[sharia]]'' law, the [[Muslim world]] was no longer [[Muslim]], and had reverted to the pre-Islamic ignorance known as ''[[jahiliyyah]]''. To restore [[Islam]], 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Qutb|2003|pp=63, 69}}.</ref> 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 Yusuf Azzam|Abdullah Azzam]] and [[Osama bin Laden]]; and became the core rationale for the formulation of "al-Qaeda" concept in the near future.<ref name="auto2">{{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}}</ref> Outlining his strategy to topple the existing secular orders, Qutb argued in ''[[Milestones (book)|Milestones]]'': <blockquote>[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.<ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Qutb|first1=Sayyid|last2=Al-Mehri|first2=A.B|title=Milestones (Ma'alim fi'l-tareeq)|publisher=Maktabah Book Sellers and Publishers|year=2006|isbn=0-9548665-1-7|location=England|pages=46, 57}}</ref></blockquote>
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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=79}}.</ref>}}

Qutb also influenced [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/qutb_milest_influence_obl.html|title=How Did Sayyid Qutb Influence Osama bin Laden?|publisher=Gemsofislamism.tripod.com|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017060150/http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/qutb_milest_influence_obl.html|archive-date=October 17, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>Mafouz Azzam; cited in {{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=36}}.</ref> Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work ''Knights under the Prophet's Banner''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/milestones_qutb.html#footnote_24|title=Sayyid Qutb's Milestones (footnote 24)|publisher=Gemsofislamism.tripod.com|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=October 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004095024/http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/milestones_qutb.html#footnote_24|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm|title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism|first1=Dale C.|last1=Eilmeier |work=Parameters|date=Spring 2007|pages=85–98|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm|archive-date=June 9, 2007}}</ref> 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 millennium 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.<ref>{{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|pages=114–122|chapter=9: The Infidel Invaders}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kepel|first1=Gilles|title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/jihad00gill_0|url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=Harvard University Press|ref=GKJTPI2002|isbn=978-0-674-01090-1}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Haqqani 2005 13">{{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}}|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}}</ref><ref name="Marquardt, Heffelfinger 2008 37–38, 42, 150–151, 153">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Haqqani 2005 13"/><ref name="Marquardt, Heffelfinger 2008 37–38, 42, 150–151, 153"/>}}

=== 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.<ref name="Klausen 2021 53–54">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=J. Tompkins, Crossett|first1=Paul, Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC|title=Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare Volume II: 1962–2009|last2=Spitaletta, Marshal|first2=Jason, Shana|publisher=United States Army Special Operations Command|year=2012|location=Fort Bragg, North Carolina|pages=543–544|chapter=19 – Al-Qaeda: 1988–2001}}</ref>

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 in [[Peshawar]] in 1988:<ref name="ctc">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Klausen 2021 53–54"/>

{{Blockquote|text=
'''General Goals'''<br />
i. To promote ''[[jihad]]'' awareness in the [[Islamic world]]<br />
ii. To prepare and equip the cadres for the Islamic world through trainings and by participating in actual combat<br />
iii. To support and sponsor the [[Jihadism|jihad movement]] as much as possible<br />
iv. To coordinate Jihad movements around the world in an effort to create a unified international Jihad movement.

'''General Policies'''<br />
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<br />
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...<br />
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<br />
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...<br />
6. We shall carry a relationship of love and affection with the Islamic movements who are not aligned with Jihad...<br />
7. We shall sustain a relationship of respect and love with active scholars...<br />
9. We shall reject the regional fanatics and will pursue Jihad in an Islamic country as needed and when possible<br />
10. We shall care about the role of [[Muslims|Muslim people]] in the Jihad and we shall attempt to recruit them...<br />
11. We shall maintain our economic independence and will not rely on others to secure our resources.<br />
12. Secrecy is the main ingredient of our work except for what the need deems necessary to reveal<br />
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=<ref name="ctc" /><ref name="Klausen 2021 53–54"/>}}

=== 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".<ref name="McCants 2011">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="McCants 2011"/> 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.<ref name="McCants 2011"/>}}

=== Grievances ===
A recurring theme in al-Qaeda's ideology is the perpetual grievance over the violent subjugation of Islamic dissidents by the authoritarian, [[Secularism|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]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Iraq]] etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=J. Tompkins, Crossett|first1=Paul, Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPZdWxjMd6cC|title=Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare Volume II: 1962–2009|last2=Spitaletta, Marshal|first2=Jason, Shana|publisher=United States Army Special Operations Command|year=2012|location=Fort Bragg, North Carolina|pages=539–544|chapter=19- Al-Qaeda: 1988–2001}}</ref>

== 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'i]]sm, [[Maliki]]sm, and [[Hanafi]]sm. 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{{snd}}practices 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.<ref name=AbdelBariAtwan>Abdel Bari Atwan. ''The Secret History of Al Qaeda'', p. 233. University of California Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-520-24974-7}}</ref>}}On 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 the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mandaville|first=Peter|title=Islam and Politics|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-0-415-78256-2|edition=2nd|location=New York|pages=344–347}}</ref>

=== Attacks on civilians ===
Under the leadership of [[Osama bin Laden]] 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."<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003-86">{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003-86" />
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]]?"<ref>{{Cite news|last=Haid|first=Haid|date=September 26, 2023|title=A book by al-Qaeda's new leader reveals shifting strategies|work=Al Majalla|url=https://en.majalla.com/node/300646/opinion/book-al-qaedas-new-leader-reveals-shifting-strategies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028132542/https://en.majalla.com/node/300646/opinion/book-al-qaedas-new-leader-reveals-shifting-strategies|archive-date=October 28, 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|History of al-Qaeda}}

== Attacks ==
{{For timeline|Timeline of al-Qaeda attacks}}
[[File:RecentAlQaedaAttacks.svg|thumb|upright=1.65|
[[1998 United States embassy bombings|Nairobi, Kenya]]: August 7, 1998<br />
[[1998 United States embassy bombings|Dar es Salaam, Tanzania]]: August 7, 1998<br />
[[USS Cole bombing|Aden, Yemen]]: October 12, 2000<br />
[[September 11 attacks|World Trade Center, US]]: September 11, 2001<br />
[[September 11 attacks|The Pentagon, US]]: September 11, 2001<br />
[[2003 Istanbul bombings|Istanbul, Turkey]]: November 15 and 20, 2003]]

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/twenty-years-war/496736/|title=Al-Qaeda Has Been at War With the United States for 20 Years|first=Dominic|last=Tierney|date=August 23, 2016|website=The Atlantic|access-date=March 29, 2024|archive-date=August 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824134716/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/twenty-years-war/496736/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 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 to [[Islam]], Paulo Jose de Almeida Santos, to [[Attempted assassination of Zahir Shah|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 [[cigarillo]]s 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bergen|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bergen|date=2021|title=The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWI7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-982170-52-3|pages=60–61}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 14, 2002|title=Bin Laden 'tried to kill king'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1390843/Bin-Laden-tried-to-kill-king.html|access-date=April 8, 2024|website=The Telegraph}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref name="wright174">{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=174}}.</ref>

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.<ref name="wright174" /> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jansen|1997}}.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2009}}

=== Late 1990s ===
[[File:Kenya bombing 1.jpg|left|thumb|upright|1998 [[1998 United States embassy bombings|Nairobi embassy bombing]]]]
{{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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Osama bin Laden came within minutes of killing Bill Clinton|first1=Tom|last1=Leonard|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=December 25, 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/6867331/Osama-bin-Laden-came-within-minutes-of-killing-Bill-Clinton.html|access-date=December 25, 2009|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225150252/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/6867331/Osama-bin-Laden-came-within-minutes-of-killing-Bill-Clinton.html|archive-date=December 25, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 missile]]s 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}}
[[File:FEMA - 4235 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-28-2001 in New York.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the September 11 attacks]]
[[File:Mohamed Atta.jpg|thumb|Mohamed Atta, the pilot hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 and leader of the September 11 attacks]]
The September 11 attacks on America by al-Qaeda killed 2,996 people{{snd}}2,507 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.<ref name="Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/|title=Bin Laden says he wasn't behind attacks|publisher=CNN|access-date=July 6, 2006|date=September 17, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705161654/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/|archive-date=July 5, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> Bin Laden strongly supported the attacks by identifying numerous grievances of Muslims, such as the general perception that the US was actively oppressing Muslims.<ref>{{Harvnb|Esposito|2002|p=22}}.</ref> In his "''Letter to the American people''" published in 2002, Osama Bin Laden stated: <blockquote>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.<ref name=Letter2002 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'|url=https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/218e2431-0b76-43ff-8ac5-284ae73d29ad/content|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014061421/https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/218e2431-0b76-43ff-8ac5-284ae73d29ad/content|archive-date=14 October 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

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.<ref>Hamid Miir 'Osama claims he has nukes: If U.S. uses N-arms it will get the same response' "Dawn: the Internet Edition" November 10, 2001</ref>

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".<ref name="AL-QAIDA-LEADERS-SAY-NUCLEAR-POWER-STATIONS-WERE-ORIGINAL-TARGETS">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Al-Qaeda-SCALED-BACK-10-PLANE-PLOT">{{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}}</ref>

== 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}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Azerbaijan}}<ref name=terrorlist>{{cite web|title=Armed group neutralized in Azerbaijan linked to Al-Qaeda|url=https://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}}</ref>
* {{BHR}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=12342&language=en-US|title=Bahrain Terrorist List (individuals – entities)|website=mofa.gov.bh|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-date=October 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017055422/https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=12342&language=en-US|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Belarus}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://belarusdigest.com/story/is-radical-islam-a-threat-for-belarus/|title=Is Radical Islam a Threat for Belarus? – BelarusDigest|access-date=January 11, 2019|archive-date=April 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425062631/https://belarusdigest.com/story/is-radical-islam-a-threat-for-belarus/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Brazil}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Canada}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|China}}<ref name="uyg1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2535_665405/t819914.shtml|title=Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu's Remarks on the Killing of Al-Qaeda Leader Bin Laden in Pakistan|website=fmprc.gov.cn|access-date=November 12, 2019|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525101605/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2535_665405/t819914.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|European Union}}<ref name="EU">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|France}}<ref name="fr-report">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|India}}<ref name="The Hindu : Centre bans Al-Qaeda">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Indonesia}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4181557/jakarta-terrorist-attacks-indonesia-isis/|title=Indonesia's Long Battle With Islamic Extremism|magazine=Time|access-date=January 11, 2019|archive-date=February 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219035550/https://time.com/4181557/jakarta-terrorist-attacks-indonesia-isis/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Iran}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/06/12/iran-wants-to-talk-with-us-just-not-about-nukes/|title=Iran Wants to Talk With U.S.; Just Not About Nukes|last1=Moody|first1=John|date=June 12, 2007|publisher=[[Fox News]]|access-date=July 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225195502/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/06/12/iran-wants-to-talk-with-us-just-not-about-nukes/|archive-date=December 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ireland}}<ref name="Department of Justice 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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Israel}}<ref name="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}}</ref><ref name="justice.gov.il">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Japan}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kazakhstan}}<ref name="Mfa-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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://central.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_ca/features/2017/04/12/feature-01|title=Kyrgyzstan to publicise list of banned terrorist groups|last=Caravanserai|website=Caravanserai|access-date=January 11, 2019|archive-date=September 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919094559/http://central.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_ca/features/2017/04/12/feature-01|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|NATO}}<ref name="NATOQaeda">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/structur/library/bibref/them0305.pdf|title=Al Qaeda|author=NATO Library|year=2005|access-date=June 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614032137/http://www.nato.int/structur/library/bibref/them0305.pdf|archive-date=June 14, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{MYS}}<ref>{{cite web|title=List if Individuals, Entities and Other Groups and Undertakings Declared but the Minister if Home Affairs as Specified Under Section 66B(1)|url=http://www.moha.gov.my/images/maklumat_bahagian/KK/kdndomestic.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.moha.gov.my/images/maklumat_bahagian/KK/kdndomestic.pdf|archive-date=October 9, 2022|url-status=live|website=Ministry of Home Affairs – Malaysia|pages=7–10|date=May 31, 2019}}</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|New Zealand}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Pakistan}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/456294/list-of-banned-organisations-in-pakistan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026232240/http://tribune.com.pk/story/456294/list-of-banned-organisations-in-pakistan/|archive-date=October 26, 2012|title=List of banned organisations in Pakistan|date=October 24, 2012}}</ref>
* {{flag|Philippines}}<ref name="newsflashabus">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Russia}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{KSA}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?newsid=1206711|title=سياسي / وزارة الداخلية: بيان بالمحظورات الأمنية والفكرية على المواطن والمقيم ، وإمهال المشاركين بالقتال خارج المملكة 15 يوما إضافية لمراجعة النفس والعودة إلى وطنهم / إضافة أولى وكالة الأنباء السعودية|website=spa.gov.sa|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-date=October 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022233244/https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?newsid=1206711|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|South Korea}}<ref name="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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Sweden}}<ref name="Ministry for Foreign Affairs 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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Switzerland}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efv.admin.ch/d/dokumentation/downloads/themen/finanzkrimi/CH_UNTerror_1201_e.pdf|title=Report on counter-terrorism submitted by Switzerland to the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001)|date=December 20, 2001|access-date=June 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609153811/http://www.efv.admin.ch/d/dokumentation/downloads/themen/finanzkrimi/CH_UNTerror_1201_e.pdf|archive-date=June 9, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tajikistan}}<ref>''Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia'', page 8</ref>
* {{flag|Turkey}} designated Al-Qaeda's Turkish branch<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114042731/http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html|title=Terörle Mücadele ve Harekat Dairesi Başkanlığı|archive-date=January 14, 2013|access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wam.ae/ar/news/emirates-arab-international/1395272465559.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117230142/http://www.wam.ae/ar/news/emirates-arab-international/1395272465559.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2014|title=مجلس الوزراء يعتمد قائمة التنظيمات الإرهابية. – WAM|date=November 17, 2014}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}<ref>{{cite act|title=Terrorism Act 2000|chapter=Schedule 2: Proscribed Organisations|reporter=UK Public General Acts|volume=2000 c. 11|date=July 20, 2000|chapter-url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2|access-date=April 25, 2024|title-link=Terrorism Act 2000}} {{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2|title=Terrorism Act 2000|access-date=April 28, 2018|archive-date=January 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121085241/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>
* {{flagdeco|United Nations}} [[United Nations Security Council]]<ref name="UNSC-WORK-RELATED-TO-RESOLUTION-1267">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|United States}}<ref name="US">{{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}}</ref>
* {{flag|Uzbekistan}}<ref name=CRISIS>[http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=236626 Terrorism 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 Foundation</ref><ref name=CORNELL>[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8147-18.cfm Uzbekistan: 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</ref>
* {{flag|Vietnam}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/1957304/vietnamese-born-al-qaeda-recruit-sentenced-40-years|title=Vietnamese-born al-Qaeda recruit sentenced to 40 years in US over plot to bomb Heathrow|date=May 28, 2016|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=January 11, 2019|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913192111/https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/1957304/vietnamese-born-al-qaeda-recruit-sentenced-40-years|url-status=live}}</ref>
 {{div col end}}

== War on terror ==
{{Main|War on terror|List of wars and battles involving al-Qaeda}}

[[File:US 10th Mountain Division soldiers in Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|US troops in Afghanistan]]

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",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20011015-NEWS-310159983|title=US Jets Pound Targets Around Kabul|work=[[The Portsmouth Herald]]|date=October 15, 2001|access-date=July 25, 2012|archive-date=May 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515161128/http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20011015-NEWS-310159983|url-status=live}}</ref> and British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] warned the Taliban regime: "Surrender bin Laden, or surrender power."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/blair-to-taliban-surrender-bin-laden-or-surrender-power-1.295241|title=Blair to Taliban: Surrender bin Laden or surrender power|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=October 3, 2001|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=January 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128192016/http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2001/10/02/blair_war011002.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.

[[File:Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after capture.jpg|thumb|[[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] after his arrest in [[Rawalpindi]], Pakistan, in March 2003]]

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html|title=U.S. Releases Videotape of Osama Bin Laden|access-date=July 4, 2006|date=December 13, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625223529/http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html|archive-date=June 25, 2006}}</ref> Although its authenticity has been questioned by a couple of people,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/september11/story/0,11209,619188,00.html|author=Morris, Steven|title=US urged to detail origin of tape|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=July 11, 2006|date=December 15, 2001}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202084109/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/|archive-date=February 2, 2007|title=Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape}}</ref>

In September 2004, the [[9/11 Commission]] officially concluded that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/|title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States|access-date=April 27, 2006|date=September 20, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427220632/http://www.9-11commission.gov/|archive-date=April 27, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm|title=Full transcript of bin Ladin's speech|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=July 12, 2006|date=November 1, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711055450/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm|archive-date=July 11, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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;<ref name="martinez interrogations">{{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}}</ref> [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] in 2003;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article209722184.html|title=Lawyers: Scan suggests alleged 9/11 plotter suffered head injury in CIA custody|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol|date=April 30, 2018|newspaper=[[Miami Herald]]|access-date=February 2, 2019|archive-date=February 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202095528/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article209722184.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<!--Despite this, the US government continues to warn that the organization is not yet defeated and battles between US forces and al-Qaeda-related groups continue.

By the end of 2008, the Taliban had severed any remaining ties with al-Qaeda.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/06/afghan.saudi.talks/?iref=mpstoryview|title=Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace|publisher=CNN}}</ref> According to senior US military intelligence officials, there are fewer than 100 members of al-Qaeda remaining in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111019644.html|title=In Afghanistan, Taliban leaving al-Qaeda behind|first=Joshua|last=Partlow|date=November 11, 2009|work=The Washington Post}}</ref>

WP article "FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect"--> The West was criticized for not being able to handle al-Qaeda despite a decade of the war.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Paul|last1=Rogers|url=http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/articles_multimedia/al_qaida_multiform_idea|title=Al-Qaida – A Multiform Idea|publisher=Oxford Research Group|date=August 8, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110090613/http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/articles_multimedia/al_qaida_multiform_idea|archive-date=November 10, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Activities ==
{{wide image|Main countries of activity of Al-Qaeda.png|400px|Main countries of activity of al-Qaeda}}

=== Africa ===
{{Main|Al-Qaeda involvement in Africa}}

[[File:GSPC map.png|thumb|[[Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb]] (formerly [[Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat|GSPC]]) area of operations]]

[[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.<ref name="Trofimov 2009">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Riedel|2008|p=126}}.</ref>

In Mali, the [[Ansar Dine]] faction was also reported as an ally of al-Qaeda in 2013.<ref>Baba Ahmed and Jamey Keaten, Associated Press (January 12, 2013) [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/11/french-action-against-mali/1828181/ Hundreds of French troops drive back Mali rebels] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009223902/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/11/french-action-against-mali/1828181/ |date=October 9, 2017 }}. ''USA Today''. Retrieved August 4, 2013</ref> The Ansar al Dine faction aligned themselves with the [[al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb|AQIM]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=a_Xhxv5YDjkC&pg=PA137 Ansar al Dine]. Google Books. Retrieved August 4, 2013</ref>

In 2011, al-Qaeda's North African wing condemned Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] and declared support for the [[Anti-Gaddafi forces|Anti-Gaddafi rebels]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-alqaeda-idUKTRE71N12X20110224|title=Al Qaeda backs Libyan protesters, condemns Gaddafi|work=Reuters|date=February 24, 2011|access-date=March 29, 2024|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326133358/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-alqaeda-idUKTRE71N12X20110224|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8344417/Libya-al-Qaeda-backs-protesters.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8344417/Libya-al-Qaeda-backs-protesters.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Libya: al-Qaeda backs protesters|website=The Telegraph|date=February 24, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8860684/Libya-revolutionaries-turn-on-each-other-as-fears-grow-for-law-and-order.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8860684/Libya-revolutionaries-turn-on-each-other-as-fears-grow-for-law-and-order.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Libya: revolutionaries turn on each other as fears grow for law and order|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=October 31, 2011|access-date=November 10, 2013|location=London|first1=Nick|last1=Meo}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/libyans-storm-ansar-al-shariah-compound-in-backlash-after-attack-on-us-consulate/|title=Libyans storm Ansar Al-Shariah compound in backlash after attack on US Consulate|publisher=Fox News|date=September 21, 2012|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=September 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926021008/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/21/libyans-storm-ansar-al-sharia-compound-in-backlash-attack-on-us-consulate/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/africa/us-libya-benghazi-suspects|title=Sources: 3 al Qaeda operatives took part in Benghazi attack|publisher=CNN|date=May 4, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513205605/http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/africa/us-libya-benghazi-suspects|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/index.html|title=U.S. forces raid terror targets in Libya, Somalia|publisher=CNN|date=October 6, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=November 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110025849/http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 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]] 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.<ref name="9-11commission.gov" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/30/terrorism.september113|title=Last words of a terrorist &#124; The Observer|work=The Guardian|date=September 30, 2001|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=August 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825155640/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/30/terrorism.september113|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201715_pf.html|title=al-Qaeda's Hand in Istanbul Plot|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145110/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201715_pf.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3735645|title=Msn News – Bin Laden allegedly planned attack in Turkey – Stymied by tight security at U.S. bases, militants switched targets|publisher=NBC News|date=December 17, 2003|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=December 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206130743/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3735645|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gardham|first1=Duncan|title=Gang is brought to justice by most complex operation since the war|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=September 8, 2009|page=2|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6152185/Airline-bomb-plot-investigation-one-of-biggest-since-WW2.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6152185/Airline-bomb-plot-investigation-one-of-biggest-since-WW2.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gardham|first1=Duncan|title=Complex operation brings gang to justice|work=The Weekly Telegraph|edition=Australian|issue=947|date=September 16, 2009|page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Milmo|first1=Cahal|title=Police watched the plot unfold, then pounced|work=The Independent|location=London|date=September 8, 2009|pages=2–4|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-watched-the-plot-unfold-then-pounced-1783388.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910200749/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-watched-the-plot-unfold-then-pounced-1783388.html|archive-date=September 10, 2009|url-access=limited|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2009}}</ref> British and US officials said the plot{{snd}}unlike many similar homegrown European Islamic militant plots{{snd}}was directly linked to al-Qaeda and guided by senior al-Qaeda members in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|agency=Associated Press|url=https://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804512098&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512043550/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804512098&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 12, 2011|title=UK court convicts 3 of plot to blow up airliners|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=September 7, 2009|access-date=May 8, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sandford|first1=Daniel|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8221375.stm|title=UK &#124; Airline plot: Al-Qaeda connection|publisher=BBC News|date=September 7, 2009|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=March 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320035501/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8221375.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elder|first1=Miriam|title=Russia accuses al-Qaida of 'forest jihad' in Europe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/russia-al-qaida-forest-jihad|access-date=November 6, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 3, 2012|location=London|archive-date=January 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107063338/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/russia-al-qaida-forest-jihad|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Arab world ===
{{Main|Al-Qaeda involvement in Asia|Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb|Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula|USS Cole bombing}}

[[File:INTEL-COGNITIVE-Cole.jpg|thumb|[[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'']] after the October 2000 attack]]

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|USS ''Cole'' bombing]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Weir|first1=Shelagh|date=July–September 1997|title=A Clash of Fundamentalisms: Wahhabism in Yemen|journal=[[Middle East Report]]|publisher=[[Middle East Research and Information Project]]|issue=204|pages=22–26|doi=10.2307/3013139|jstor=3013139|url=http://www.merip.org/mer/mer204/weir.htm|access-date=January 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003091516/http://www.merip.org/mer/mer204/weir.htm|archive-date=October 3, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}; cited in {{Cite book|last1=Burke|first1=Jason|author-link=Jason Burke|title=Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alqaedacastingsh00burk/page/128 128–29]|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2003|location=New York|isbn=1-85043-396-8|url=https://archive.org/details/alqaedacastingsh00burk/page/128}}</ref> Concerns grew over al-Qaeda's group in [[Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown|Yemen]].<ref>"[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yemen-the-next-front-line-against-al-qaeda/ Yemen: The Next Front Line Against al Qaeda] ". CBS News. October 30, 2010</ref>

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]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Riedel|2008|p=100}}.</ref> 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.<ref>See the works cited in {{Harvnb|Riedel|2008|p=101}} {{Harvnb|Hafez|2007|pp=97–98}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Al-Shishani|first1=Murad Batal|title=Al-Zarqawi's Rise to Power: Analyzing Tactics and Targets|work=Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor|volume=3|issue=22|date=November 17, 2005}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/07/iraq-weapons-factory-al-qaida-us-failure|title=How the US let al-Qaida get its hands on an Iraqi weapons factory|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=January 7, 2011|first1=Dominic|last1=Streatfeild|author1-link=Dominic Streatfeild|date=January 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107134826/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/07/iraq-weapons-factory-al-qaida-us-failure|archive-date=January 7, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2010, the militant group [[Islamic State of Iraq]], which is linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, threatened to "exterminate all [[Iraqi Christians]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/csi-urges-obama-to-protect-iraqs-endangered-christian-community-106490518.html|title=CSI Urges Obama to Protect Iraq's Endangered Christian Community|date=November 1, 2010|agency=PR Newswire|access-date=July 6, 2014|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714163040/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/csi-urges-obama-to-protect-iraqs-endangered-christian-community-106490518.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>"[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraqi-christians-mourn-58-dead-in-church-siege/ Iraqi Christians Mourn 58 Dead in Church Siege] ". CBS News. November 1, 2010.</ref>

Al-Qaeda did not begin training [[Palestinians]] until the late 1990s.<ref name="palestinian operatives">{{Harvnb|Gunaratna|2002|p=150}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="palestinian operatives" />

{{as of|2015}}, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are openly supporting the [[Army of Conquest]],<ref name="weekly">"[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/12392/21/Gulf-allies-and-%E2%80%98Army-of-Conquest%E2%80%99.aspx 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.</ref><ref>"[https://news.yahoo.com/army-conquest-rebel-alliance-pressures-syria-regime-090529121.html 'Army of Conquest' rebel alliance pressures Syria regime] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223037/http://news.yahoo.com/army-conquest-rebel-alliance-pressures-syria-regime-090529121.html |date=March 4, 2016 }}". Yahoo News. April 28, 2015.</ref> 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]].<ref name="independent">{{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}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>[http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx Terrorism in India and the Global Jihad] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111191820/http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx |date=November 11, 2011 }}, [[Brookings Institution]], November 30, 2008</ref> 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.<ref>[https://fas.org/irp/crs/RS22049.pdf Al Qaeda: Profile and Threat Assessment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508044340/http://fas.org/irp/crs/RS22049.pdf |date=May 8, 2015 }}, [[Congressional Research Service]], February 10, 2005</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2dcf2,487ca21a2a,0.html|title=Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir Pakistan|publisher=United Nations High Commission for Refugees|date=July 2, 2008|access-date=May 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512172350/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic%2C463af2212%2C469f2dcf2%2C487ca21a2a%2C0.html|archive-date=May 12, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many of the militants active in Kashmir were trained in the same [[madrasa]]hs 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.<ref name=CFRKashmir>[http://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/ 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</ref> 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.<ref name=Letter2002 /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/10/int3.htm|title=Osama men plan to target Delhi: Kathmandu receives threat|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=November 10, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020418160409/http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/10/int3.htm|archive-date=April 18, 2002}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2043800.stm Analysis: Is al-Qaeda in Kashmir?], [[BBC]], June 13, 2002</ref><ref name=SMH>[https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/13/1023864326179.html Rumsfeld offers US technology to guard Kashmir border], [[The Sydney Morning Herald]], June 14, 2002</ref> Rumsfeld proposed hi-tech ground sensors along the [[Line of Control]] to prevent militants from infiltrating into Indian-administered Kashmir.<ref name=SMH />
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]].<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0702/p01s02-wosc.html Al Qaeda thriving in Pakistani Kashmir], [[The Christian Science Monitor]], July 2, 2002</ref> 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]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1385795/SAS-joins-Kashmir-hunt-for-bin-Laden.html SAS joins Kashmir hunt for bin Laden], [[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]], February 23, 2002</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3832366/Al-Qaeda-terror-trial-Rangzieb-Ahmed-was-highest-ranking-al-Qaeda-operative-in-Britain.html Al-Qaeda terror trial: Rangzieb Ahmed was highest ranking al-Qaeda operative in Britain], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. December 18, 2008</ref>

US officials believe al-Qaeda was helping organize attacks in Kashmir in order to provoke conflict between India and Pakistan.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/06/12/kashmir.qaeda/ Bin Laden's finger on Kashmir trigger?], [[CNN]], June 12, 2002</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/05/29/taliban-kashmir.htm Taliban, al-Qaeda linked to Kashmir], ''[[USA Today]]'', May 29, 2002</ref> In 2006 al-Qaeda claimed they had established a wing in Kashmir.<ref name="CFRKashmir" /><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/world/asia/13iht-india.2194572.html Al Qaeda claim of Kashmir link worries India], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 2006-07-13</ref> 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]] and [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]] based in Pakistan.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070823034704/http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/18/stories/2007061801191400.htm No Al Qaeda presence in Kashmir: Army], ''[[The Hindu]]'', 2007-06-18</ref> It has been noted that [[Waziristan]] has become a battlefield for Kashmiri militants fighting [[NATO]] in support of al-Qaeda and Taliban.<ref>[http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=199076 Ilyas Kashmiri had planned to attack COAS]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''[[The News International]]'', September 18, 2009 {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=148529 Waziristan new battlefield for Kashmiri militants] {{dead link|date=November 2017}}{{cbignore}}, [[The News International]], November 24, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kashmiri-militants-move-to-waziristan-open/390569/ Kashmiri militants move to Waziristan, open training camps] [[The Indian Express]], November 26, 2008</ref> [[Dhiren Barot]], who wrote the ''Army of Madinah in Kashmir''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/Barot/ArmyMadinahinKashmir.pdf|title=Army of Madinah in Kashmir|website=nefafoundation.org|publisher=[[Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation]]|access-date=June 6, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503125705/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/Barot/ArmyMadinahinKashmir.pdf|archive-date=May 3, 2012}}</ref> 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.<ref>[https://archive.today/20081204081859/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article628497.ece How radical Islam turned a schoolboy into a terrorist], ''[[The Times]]'', November 7, 2006</ref>

<!--left off here-->
[[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.<ref name=CFRKashmir /> 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.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200410/bergen The Long Hunt for Osama], ''[[The Atlantic]]'', October 2004</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2007/05terrorism_riedel.aspx|title=Al Qaeda Strikes Back|first1=Bruce|last1=Riedel|work=The Brookings Institution|access-date=April 12, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605132922/http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2007/05terrorism_riedel.aspx|archive-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> Bin Laden personally welcomed Azhar and threw a lavish party in his honor after his release.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100411010821/http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/18/stories/2006091814740100.htm Al-Qaeda involved in Indian plane hijack plot], ''[[The Hindu]]'', September 18, 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/osama-threw-lavish-party-for-azhar-after-hi/12921/ Osama threw lavish party for Azhar after hijack], ''[[The Indian Express]]'', September 18, 2006</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3500661/Rashid-Rauf-profile-of-a-terror-mastermind.html Rashid Rauf: profile of a terror mastermind], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', November 22, 2008</ref>

[[Lashkar-e-Taiba]], 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.<ref>LeT, which is based at Muridke, near Lahore in Pakistan, has networks throughout India and its leadership has close links with core al-Qaeda figures living in Pakistan [https://web.archive.org/web/20100529171012/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5248563.ece Focus on Westerners suggests al-Qaeda was pulling strings], ''[[The Times]]'', November 28, 2008</ref> In late 2002, top al-Qaeda operative [[Abu Zubaydah]] was arrested while being sheltered by [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] in a safe house in [[Faisalabad]].<ref name=WSJ20081204>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122834970727777709 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</ref> 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.<ref name=WSJ20081204 /> [[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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/03-lashkar-e-taiba-threat-revived-after-chicago-arrest-ss-09|title=Lashkar-e-Taiba threat revived after Chicago arrest|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=November 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123124223/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/03-lashkar-e-taiba-threat-revived-after-chicago-arrest-ss-09|archive-date=November 23, 2009}}</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLC383495 Interview – French magistrate details Lashkar's global role], [[Reuters]], November 13, 2009</ref>

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."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/04/gadahn.video/index.html 'Azzam the American' releases video focusing on Pakistan], [[CNN]], October 4, 2008</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/12-us+drones+killed+two+terrorist+leaders+in+pak--bi-10|title=US drones killed two terrorist leaders in Pak|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=September 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923225021/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/12-us%2Bdrones%2Bkilled%2Btwo%2Bterrorist%2Bleaders%2Bin%2Bpak--bi-10|archive-date=September 23, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kashmiri was described by [[Bruce Riedel]] as a 'prominent' al-Qaeda member<ref>[http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1215_terrorism_riedel.aspx Al Qaeda's American Mole] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924002003/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1215_terrorism_riedel.aspx |date=September 24, 2011 }}, [[Brookings Institution]], December 15, 2009</ref> while others have described him as head of military operations for al-Qaeda.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091019084848/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C10%5C15%5Cstory_15-10-2009_pg1_11 Ilyas Kashmiri alive, lays out future terror strategy], ''[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]]'', October 15, 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-102709-rana-headley,0,5879769.htmlpage United States of America vs Tahawwur Hussain Rana], ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107012334/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-102709-rana-headley%2C0%2C5879769.htmlpage |date=January 7, 2014 }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/04-ilyas-kashmiri-danish-plot-qs-04|title=US charges Ilyas Kashmiri in Danish newspaper plot|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=January 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118131229/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/04-ilyas-kashmiri-danish-plot-qs-04|archive-date=January 18, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> US officials also believe that Kashmiri was involved in the [[Camp Chapman attack]] against the CIA.<ref>[http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100109051225/http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id%3D217152 US seeks Harkat chief for Khost CIA attack]{{cbignore}}, ''[[The News International]]'', January 6, 2010</ref> 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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100529171046/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6999959.ece Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert], ''[[The Times]]'', January 24, 2010</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/03-al-qaeda-could-provoke-new-india-pakistan-war-gates-ss-02|title=Al Qaeda could provoke new India-Pakistan war: Gates|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=January 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123140217/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/03-al-qaeda-could-provoke-new-india-pakistan-war-gates-ss-02|archive-date=January 23, 2010}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Timothy|last1=Thomas|url=http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/03spring/thomas.pdf|title=Al Qaeda and the Internet: The Danger of Cyberplanning|date=February 14, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030326120423/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/03spring/thomas.pdf|archive-date=March 26, 2003}}</ref>

[[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),<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 24, 2004|title=U.S.-Based Al Qaeda Websites Operate Freely; Shocking Pix! – Jeremy Reynalds – MensNewsDaily.com™|url=http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/reynalds/04/reynalds072204.htm|access-date=May 22, 2024|archive-date=July 24, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040724075824/http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/reynalds/04/reynalds072204.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Daniel Pearl]] obtained by investigators, have taken place.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Major Business News|url=https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/pearl-022102.htm|access-date=May 22, 2024|website=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373884|title=Bin Laden Identifies Saudi Arabia as the Enemy of Mujahideen Unity|author=Scheuer, Michael|date=January 2008|work=Terrorism Focus|publisher=Jamestown Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625152714/http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373884|archive-date=June 25, 2007}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Whitlock|first1=Craig|author-link=Craig Whitlock|title=Briton Used Internet As His Bully Pulpit|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 8, 2005|page=A1|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/07/AR2005080700890.html|access-date=September 4, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Babar Ahmad Indicted on Terrorism Charges|publisher=United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut|date=October 6, 2004|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ct/Press2004/20041006.html|access-date=May 29, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526115318/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ct/Press2004/20041006.html|archive-date=May 26, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28335976|title=British cyber-jihadist Babar Ahmad jailed in US|publisher=BBC News|access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref>

==== 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nytimes.com/2013/09/30/us/qaeda-plot-leak-has-undermined-us-intelligence.html|work=The New York Times|first1=Eric|last1=Schmitt|first2=Michael S.|last2=Schmidt|title=Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence|date=September 29, 2013}}</ref>

=== Aviation network ===
Al-Qaeda is believed to be operating a clandestine aviation network including "several [[Boeing 727]] aircraft", [[turboprops]] and [[executive jet]]s, 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gaynor|first1=Tim|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C3E820100113?type=politicsNews|title=Al Qaeda linked to rogue aviation network|work=Reuters|date=January 13, 2010|access-date=May 8, 2011}}</ref>

=== 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)]]
|Asia
|Afghanistan
|Al-Qaeda Central
|-
! scope="row" align=center|2002
|align=center|ongoing
|[[Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)]]
|Africa
|Algeria<br />Chad<br />Mali<br />Mauritania<br />Morocco<br />Niger<br />Tunisia
|[[Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb]]
|-
! scope="row" align=center|2003
|align=center|2011
|[[Iraq War]]
|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]]<ref name="al-Qaeda">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=US allies, Al Qaeda battle rebels in Yemen|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-allies-al-qaeda-battle-rebels-in-yemen/|publisher=Fox News|date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Allies cut deals with al Qaeda in Yemen to serve larger fight with Iran|url=https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Allies-cut-deals-with-al-Qaeda-in-Yemen-to-serve-13135822.php|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=August 6, 2018}}</ref>
|}

== 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-Qaeda."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2112701,00.html|title=Breivik Studied al-Qaeda Attacks|newspaper=Time|date=April 20, 2012|access-date=May 8, 2012|last1=Ritter|first1=Karl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525123005/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C2112701%2C00.html|archive-date=May 25, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/europe/norway-anders-breivik-studied-al-qaeda.html|title=Norway: Militant Studied Al Qaeda|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 20, 2012|access-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref>

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?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/will-obama-end-war-terror-63627|title=Will Obama End the War on Terror?|last1=Klaidman|first1=Daniel|date=December 17, 2012|website=Newsweek|access-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref>

== 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 (2003–2011)|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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bergen|Cruickshank|2008}}; {{Harvnb|Wright|2008}}. Quotes taken from {{Harvnb|Riedel|2008|pp=106–107}} and {{Harvnb|Bergen|Cruickshank|2008}}.</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AA64F530-BCA8-40B0-8226-22154CCD1032.htm|title=Libya releases scores of prisoners|publisher=English.aljazeera.net|date=April 9, 2008|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718232829/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AA64F530-BCA8-40B0-8226-22154CCD1032.htm|archive-date=July 18, 2008}}</ref>

In 2007, on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks,{{sfn|Wright|2008}} 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?<ref name=theunraveling>{{Harvnb|Bergen|Cruickshank|2008}}.</ref>}}

According to Pew polls, support for al-Qaeda had dropped in the Muslim world in the years before 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/taking_stock_in_the_war_on_ter.html|title=Taking Stock of the War on Terror|publisher=Realclearpolitics.com|date=May 22, 2008|access-date=March 22, 2010}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/17/saudi.poll/index.html|title=December 18, 2007 Poll: Most Saudis oppose al Qaeda|publisher=CNN|date=December 18, 2007|access-date=March 22, 2010}}</ref>

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|Wright|2008}}

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.<ref>{{harvnb|Wright|2008}}: 'In December, in order to stanch the flow of criticism, Zawahiri boldly initiated a virtual town-hall meeting... Zawahiri protested that Al Qaeda had not killed innocents. "In fact, we fight those who kill innocents. Those who kill innocents are the Americans... and their agents."'</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/11/09/libya.jihadi.code/ "New jihad code threatens al Qaeda"], Nic Robertson and Paul Cruickshank, [[CNN]], November 10, 2009</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jihadology.net/2017/06/06/new-release-from-the-global-islamic-media-front-lies-in-disguise-a-response-from-the-deep-heart-of-a-mujahid-of-the-lions-of-islam-in-somalia/|title=New release from the Global Islamic Media Front: 'Lies in Disguise: A Response From the Deep Heart of a Mujāhid of the Lions of Islām in Somalia'|date=June 6, 2017}}</ref>

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 which [[Osama bin Laden]] 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/isis-spokesman-declares-caliphate-rebrands-group-as-islamic-state.html|title=ISIS Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as 'Islamic State'|last=SiteIntelGroup|website=news.siteintelgroup.com|date=June 29, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

== 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 end}}

=== Publications ===
* ''[[Al Qaeda Handbook]]''
* ''[[Management of Savagery]]''

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{Main|List of books about al-Qaeda}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{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=July 11, 2025 |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|pages=[https://archive.org/details/howdidthishappen00hoge/page/129 129–143]|chapter=Strangling The Hydra: Targeting Al Qaeda's Finances|editor2-last=Rose|editor2-first=Gideon|editor-link2=Gideon Rose}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Wright|first1=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=Wright|first1=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}}
{{Refend}}

=== Government 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}} [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg81977/pdf/CHRG-113hhrg81977.pdf 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, 2005}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110108062146/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1909?_hi=27&_pos=4 Al-Qaeda in Oxford Islamic Studies Online]
* [http://www.counterextremism.com/threat/al-qaeda Al-Qaeda], [[Counter Extremism Project]] profile
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120505212905/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/letters-from-abbottabad-bin-ladin-sidelined 17 de-classified documents captured during the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070101144608/http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2006/1/18/13810/7770 Excerpt: The Osama bin Laden I know]
* [http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0302goldenchain#a0302goldenchain Context of '1988: 'Al-Qaeda' Possibly the Name of a Computer Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012032531/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0302goldenchain#a0302goldenchain |date=October 12, 2013 }} at Cooperative Research

'''Media'''
* [[Peter Taylor (journalist)|Peter Taylor]]. (2007). "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/age_of_terror/7306413.stm War on the West]". ''Age of Terror'', No. 4, series 1. BBC.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/default.stm Investigating Al-Qaeda], [[BBC News]]
* {{Cite video|people=[[Adam Curtis]]|year=2004|title=[[The Power of Nightmares]]|publisher=BBC}}
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/ "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}}
* {{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}}
* ''Der Spiegel'', "[http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,359690,00.html Osama's Road to Riches and Terror]"
* {{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-}}
[[Category:Al-Qaeda| ]]
[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Anti-Christian sentiment]]
[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]]
[[Category:Anti-Hindu sentiment]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Anti-Shi'ism]]
[[Category:Anti-Zionist organizations]]
[[Category:Islam and antisemitism]]
[[Category:Islamic fundamentalism in the United States]]
[[Category:Islamic fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Islam-related controversies]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Australia]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Bahrain]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by India]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by China]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Israel]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Japan]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Malaysia]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Paraguay]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Russia]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1988]]
[[Category:Islamic organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights]]
[[Category:Pan-Islamism]]
[[Category:Rebel groups that actively control territory|Al-Qaeda]]
[[Category:Jihadist groups]]
[[Category:Sunni Jihadist organizations]]
[[Category:Sunni Islamist groups]]
[[Category:Qutbist organisations]]
[[Category:Violence against LGBTQ people in Asia]]
[[Category:Violence against Shia Muslims]]