al-Qaeda

Salafi jihadist organization founded in 1988

al-Qaeda[35] (Arabic: الْقَاعِدَةُ, al-qāʿidah, "the base") is a global Islamist jihadist multinational organization network that was founded around August 1988 and late 1989.[36]p75[37] It works as a network, as a stateless army,[38] and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad on all fronts. Most of the world thinks it is a terrorist organization.[39][40]

al-Qaeda
الْقَاعِدَةُ
LeadersOsama bin Laden  (1988–2011)
Ayman al-Zawahiri  (2011–2022)
Dates of operation1988–present
Group(s)al-Qaeda Central (1988–present)

al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–2013, became Mujahideen Shura Council in January 2006)
Mujahideen Shura Council (January 2006–October 2006, became Islamic State of Iraq in October 2006)
Islamic State of Iraq (2006–2013)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013–2014)
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (2007–present)
al-Qaeda in Palestine (2008–present)
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (2009–present)
al-Qaeda in Somalia (2010–present)
al-Qaeda in the Levant (2012–2017, became Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017)
Tahrir al-Sham (alleged, 2017–present)
Al-Mourabitoun (2013–2015, joined AQIM in December 2015)
Jund al-Aqsa (2014–2017)
al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (2014–present)
Khorasan Group
al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula
Imam Shamil Battalion
Guardians of Religion Organization (2018–present)
al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions
Al Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina
al-Qaeda in Mali
al-Qaeda in Spain

al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago
Active regionsWorldwide

Predominantly in the Middle East
Rebel group with current territorial control in:

IdeologySalafist jihadism[4][5]
Wahhabism
Qutbism[6]
Pan-Islamism[7][8]
Anti-Communism[9]
Anti-Zionism[10][11]
Antisemitism[10][11][12][13][14]
AlliesState allies:

Non-state allies:

OpponentsState opponents

Non-State opponents

Battles and warsWar on Terror

In Afghanistan

In Tajikistan

In Chechnya

In Yemen

In the Maghreb

In Iraq

In Pakistan

In Somalia

In Syria

In Egypt

Designated as a terrorist group by Canada
 China
 France
 Iran
 Japan
 United Kingdom
 Russia
 United States
 United Arab Emirates
A jihadist flag of uncertain origin
The September 11 attacks, was the deadlist al-Qaeda attack.

Members of al-Qaeda have performed many acts of terrorism. Most of these have been done against the United States and Shias. Some of its most well-known attacks have been the September 11 attacks, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attack on the U.S. Navy ship USS Cole in 2000. al-Qaeda has done suicide attacks and simultaneous (at the same time) bombings of different targets.[41]

Among al-Qaeda's goals is for other countries to stop influencing Muslim countries and for a new Islamic caliphate to be made. There have been reports that al-Qaeda believes that Christian and Jewish Islamophobia is trying to destroy Islam[42] and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad.

There have been guesses that there are 500–1,000 operatives in Afghanistan and around 5,000 worldwide. However, there is no confirmation of this.

The group is diverse in its beliefs even though the group calls itself Salafi, it has many members who are Hanafi, Shafi`i, Maliki, Wahhabi, and Sufi as the former leader of the group Osama bin Laden was accepting of members as long as they were Muslims in his eyes. A few exceptions include followers of Shiism who curse and reject the companions of Muhammad (exceptions were made for those few who did not reject and curse the companions), and followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.[43]

History

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In June 2001, al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had been associated with each other for many years, merged into 'Qaeda al-Jihad'.[44]

"...the members of Islamic Jihad and its guiding figure Ayman al-Zawahiri have provided the backbone of [al-Qaeda's] leadership. According to officials in the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., Zawahiri has been responsible for much of the planning of the terrorist operations against the United States".[44]

Death of Osama Bin Laden and current leadership

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Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri was the highest-ranking surviving member of al-Qaeda's leadership after Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011.

Death of Abu Yahya al-Libi

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Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike on June 5, 2012.[45][46] He ranked second to Ayman al-Zawahiri at the time. The strike was carried out in the northwest tribal area of Waziristan. The Pakistan Government has protested to the U.S. about the strike.[45]

References

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  1. Evan Centanni (May 31, 2013). "War in Somalia: Map of Al Shabaab Control (June 2013)". Political Geography Now. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  2. "Prensa Latina News Agency". Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  3. "Aden intelligence service building targeted". AFP. Gulf News. August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  4. Moghadam, Assaf (2008). The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks. Johns Hopkins University. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8018-9055-0.
  5. Livesey, Bruce (January 25, 2005). "Special Reports – The Salafist Movement: Al Qaeda's New Front". PBS Frontline. WGBH educational foundation. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
    Geltzer, Joshua A. (2011). US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View (Reprint ed.). Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-415-66452-3.
  6. Wright, Looming Tower, 2006, p. 79
  7. "The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants". Der Spiegel. September 11, 2001. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  8. "al-Qaeda seeks global dominance". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012.
    "Jihadists Want Global Caliphate". ThePolitic.com. July 27, 2005. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
    Pike, John. "Al-Qaida". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
    Burke, Jason (March 21, 2004). "What exactly does al-Qaeda want?". The Guardian. London.
  9. United States v. Usama bin Laden et al., Cr. 1023, Testimony of Jamal Ahmed Mohamed al-Fadl (SDNY February 6, 2001).
    "al-Qaeda's origins and links". BBC News. July 20, 2004. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
    Cooley, John K. (Spring 2003). Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Conversation With Terror". Time. January 1999. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  11. 11.0 11.1 "October 6, 2002. Appeared in Al-Qala'a website and then The Observer and The Guardian on November 24, 2002". TheGuardian.com. November 24, 2002. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013.
  12. "frontline: the terrorist and the superpower: who is bin laden?: interview with osama bin laden (in may 1998)". pbs.org. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999.
  13. "New ISIS and al-Qaeda propaganda prioritize the US and Jews as targets". Anti-Defamation League.
  14. "ISIS Augments Its Threats Against Israel". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  15. Thomas, Carls. "The Saudis channel the mafia: Fears of Saudi retaliation deter truth about 9/11". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  16. Haaretz; Press, The Associated (July 11, 2017). "Fact Check: Is Qatar Supporting Terrorism? A Look at Its Ties to Iran, ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood". הארץ – via Haaretz.
  17. Study questions Iran-al Qaeda ties, despite U.S. allegations - Reuters
  18. Treasury Targets Al Qaida Operatives in Iran
  19. "The Chinese regime and the Uyghur dilemma" Summary of Castets, Rémi (2003). "The Uyghurs in Xinjiang – The Malaise Grows". China Perspectives. 2003 (5). doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.648. ISSN 1996-4617. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  20. Bill Roggio (April 26, 2011). "How many al Qaeda operatives are now left in Afghanistan?". Longwarjournal.org. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  21. "Al Qaeda in Afghanistan Is Attempting A Comeback". The Huffington Post. October 21, 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  22. "al-Qaeda map: Isis, Boko Haram and other affiliates' strongholds across Africa and Asia". June 12, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Bruce Hoffman (March 6, 2018). "al-Qaeda's Resurrection". Council on Foreign Relations.
  24. "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)". Council on Foreign Relations. March 27, 2015. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  25. "Profile: al-Qaeda in North Africa". BBC. January 17, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  26. "Mali: qui sont les nouveaux chefs des katibas jihadistes?". Radio France internationale. May 14, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  27. "Notorious Extremist Said to Head Al-Qaida West Africa Branch". abc. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  28. "AP Investigation: US allies, al-Qaida battle rebels in Yemen". AP News. August 7, 2018.
  29. "Jihadist groups across globe vying for terror spotlight". Fox News Channel. July 10, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  30. "Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?". BBC News. December 22, 2017.
  31. "Bombs are falling on a rebel enclave in Syria every minute". NBC News. February 21, 2018.
  32. Reality Check team (September 7, 2018). "Syria: Who's in control of Idlib?". BBC News. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  33. Kyle Orton (March 1, 2018). "A New Branch of al-Qaeda Emerges in Syria". Kyle Orton's Blog.
  34. ""L'intervention française au Mali a déplacé la menace djihadiste vers le sud"". November 18, 2013.
  35. pronounced /ælˈkaɪdə/ al-KYE-də or /ælˈkeɪdə/ al-KAY-də; alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida
  36. Bergen, Peter L. (2006). The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-7892-5.
  37. United States District Court, Southern District of New York (February 6, 2001). "Testimony of Jamal Ahmad Al-Fadl". United States v. Usama bin Laden. James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Archived from the original on December 14, 2001. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  38. Gunaratna 2002, pp. 95–96. "al-Qaeda's global network, as we know it today, was created while it was based in Khartoum, from December 1991 till May 1996. To coordinate its overt and covert operations as al-Qaeda's ambitions and resources increased, it developed a decentralised, regional structure. [...] As a global multinational, al-Qaeda makes its constituent nationalities and ethnic groups, of which there are several dozen, responsible for a particular geographic region. Though its modus operandi is cellular, familial relationships play a key role."
    See also:
  39. Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2003). The Dynamics of Political Crime. SAGE. ISBN 978-0-8039-7045-8.
  40. 2010 Amil Khan, The Long Struggle, p 88
  41. Wright, Lawrence (2006). The Looming Tower: al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred a Knopf Incorporated. ISBN 0-375-41486-X.
  42. Fu'ad Husayn 'al-Zarqawi ... "The Second Generation of al-Qa’ida, Part Fourteen," al-Quds al-Arabi, July 13, 2005
  43. Mandaville, Peter (2014). Islam and Politics (2nd ed.). 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA: Routledge. pp. 344–347. ISBN 978-0-415-78256-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  44. 44.0 44.1 Lawrence Wright 2002. The New Yorker. The man behind Bin Laden Archived 2011-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  45. 45.0 45.1 al-Qaeda commander Abu Yahya al-Libi killed - US officials. BBC News Asia al-Qaeda commander Abu Yahya al-Libi killed - US officials - BBC News
  46. "Abu Yahya al-Libi, al Qaeda deputy leader, killed in U.S. drone strike - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. June 5, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2024.

Other websites

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