The international activities of Al-Qaeda includes involvements in Europe, where members of the group have been involved in militant and terrorist activities in several countries. Al-Qaeda has been responsible for or involved in attacks in Western Europe and Russia, including the 2004 Madrid train bombings, [1] 2010 Moscow Metro bombings, [2] 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, [3] and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks. [4]
Al-Qaeda linked militants organized around the Caucasus Emirate have been involved in the Second Chechen War and the Insurgency in the North Caucasus. In August 2009 it was reported that during a raid the Russian police had killed an Algerian-born militant in Dagestan who according to the Federal Security Service, was "the Al-Qaeda co-ordinator in Dagestan". The militant was an Algerian national known as "Doctor Mohammed" and was thought to be a member of the 'Jamaat Shariat of Dagestan' [5] [6]
In 2010, Russian police shot and killed a militant in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The man was later determined to be one of the co-founders of the North Caucasus branch of al-Qaeda. The man's name was Mohamed Shaaban.[ citation needed ]
On 11 December 2010, a man linked to Al-Qaeda exploded a car bomb and a suicide bomb in Stockholm, killing only himself and injuring two others. Firefighters reported that the car had a gas cylinder, resulting in further explosions. [7] He was later revealed to be Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi man, [8] who was born in Baghdad and was granted Swedish citizenship in 1992. [9]
In 2003 Tony Blair sent armoured vehicles and hundreds of troops to London Heathrow Airport because the UK security services claimed there was a planned Al-Qaeda attack. [10] MI5 said they received detailed intelligence in February 2003 about a plot to hijack planes flying from Eastern Europe and to fly them into Heathrow, to punish the United Kingdom for supporting the Iraq War. [10]
The men behind the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot reportedly had links to al-Qaeda. [11] MI5, Britain's secret service, accused the militant Islamic organisation of committing the attack. Osama bin Laden also made a video of the suicide bombing. [12] U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chertoff was clearly accusing al-Qaeda. [13] In September 2009, Tanvir Hussain, Assad Sarwar and Ahmed Abdullah Ali were convicted of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks on aircraft leaving from London and going to North America. [14] [15] [16] British and US security officials said the plan – unlike many recent homegrown European terrorist plots – was directly linked to al-Qaeda and guided by senior Islamist militants in Pakistan. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]
During the Bosnian War in the early 1990s, al-Qaeda is considered to have been involved with organising volunteers for the Bosnian mujahideen. [22] [23] Al-Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are thought to have visited camps in Bosnia during the war. [24] The volunteer mujahideen from all over the world flocked there, including France, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yemen. [25]
In May 2009 two French nationals were detained by Italian police due to suspected immigration offences however they are now suspected of being key Al-Qaeda figures. It is thought that they had planned to attack Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France. Italian police stated that they are "two leading men for the communication of al-Qaeda in Europe". [26]
In 2012, a pentito of the Camorra stated that, the criminal organisation was in contact with members of Al-Qaeda and aware of incoming terrorist attacks. The organisation was informed that "something involving airplanes would have happened" and that Al-Qaeda was planning a train bombing in Spain. [27]
In 2015, the Vatican was listed as a possible target for an attack by people associated with al-Qaeda. [28]
Islamist elements in the Kosovo Liberation Army during the Kosovo War from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organised by Islamic leaders in Western Europe allied to Bin Laden and Zawahiri. [29]
SHISH's head Fatos Klosi had said that Osama was running a terror network in Albania to take part in the war under the disguise of a humanitarian organisation reportedly started in 1994. Claude Kader who was a member testified its existence during his trial. [30] In 2001, the official Belgrade news agency, Tanjug, reported that the "terrorist and fanatical Islamist" Osama bin Laden, had come from Albania to use his armer forces of 500 Islamic militants in Kosovo around Korce and Pogradec to "commit terrorist acts." [31]
The 11 March 2004 train bombings in Madrid killed 191 people and wounded more than 2,000. The terror cell had links to Al-Qaeda [32] and the affiliated Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). It was the violent start of the new Al-Qaeda. The new Islamic terrorist organization was already made up of jihadist organisations dependent on Osama Bin Laden, who made their own decisions. [33] It was the worst Islamist attack in European history. [34] [35] [36] On 2 August 2012 three members of Al-Qaeda were arrested in Ciudad Real and Cadiz, suspected of planning attacks in Spain and other European countries. There was an intended attempt at a mall in Cadiz with teleridigidas aircraft loaded with explosives. At the time of the arrest of one of the jihadists who opposed a "huge resistance, using their military training" were eliminated by the police. [37]
A Europe-wide terror plot against the 1998 FIFA World Cup had the backing of bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. [38] [39] [40] Preparations for an act of terrorism against the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France were completed by European law enforcement agencies between March and May 1998. The assassination was orchestrated by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) [41] along with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. More than 100 people had been arrested in seven countries as a result of the investigation. [42]
In December 2000, the "Frankfurt Group", an Al-Qaeda cell consisting of more than ten terrorists from Germany, France and the United Kingdom led by bin Laden deputy Mohammed Bensakhria was rounded up by law enforcement. [43] The group had planned to bomb the Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve. [44] [45]
In October 2009 a physicist of Algerian descent working for CERN was arrested due to his links with Al-Qaeda. [46] Officials said he had been in contact with people linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and planned attacks. [46] He later admitted to corresponding with Al-Qaeda members located in North Africa over the Internet. [47]
In January 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was responsible for coordinated attacks in Paris, including the Charlie Hebdo shooting, killing several people. [4] [48]
In September 2009 security measures were heightened in response to a direct threat against Germany, through an Al-Qaeda video, the threat came about due to German participation in the Afghanistan war [49] [50] [51] Osama bin Laden stated: [52] [53]
It is shameful to be part of an alliance whose leader does not care about spilling the blood of human beings by bombing villages intentionally. If you had seen [the mass killings] of your American allies and their helpers in northern Afghanistan ... then you would understand the bloody events in Madrid and London, [54]
Al-Qaeda is a pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic state known as the Caliphate. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the US and its allies; such as the 1998 US embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing and the September 11 attacks. The organization is designated as a terrorist group by NATO, UN Security Council, the European Union, and various countries around the world.
The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists is a list created and first released on October 10, 2001, with the authority of United States President George W. Bush, following the September 11 attacks (9/11 incident). Initially, the list contained 22 of the top suspected terrorists chosen by the FBI, all of whom had earlier been indicted for acts of terrorism between 1985 and 1998. None of the 22 had been captured by US or other authorities by that date. Of the 22, only Osama Bin Laden was by then already listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi-born Islamic dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his organization is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various other countries. He is most widely known as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
The following timeline is a chronological list of all the major events leading up to, during, and immediately following the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001, through the first anniversary of the attacks in 2002.
Jemaah Islamiyah is a Southeast Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which is dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in Southeast Asia. On 25 October 2002, immediately following the JI-perpetrated 2002 Bali bombings, JI was added to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267.
Islamic terrorism refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists.
Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harbi, is a Saudi national who was associated with Osama bin Laden's mujahadeen group in the 1980s, and is thought to have rejoined bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the mid-1990s. Also known as Abu Suleiman al-Makki, he has a thick beard and requires the use of a wheelchair.
The following is a list of attacks which have been carried out by Al-Qaeda.
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two Capital East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and the other at the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school also known as Pesantren Al-Mukmin and Pondok Ngruki, is a pesantren located in Ngruki, a suburb in the regency of Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia. It was founded 1972 by the alleged 'spiritual head' of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Bashir, and by Abdullah Sungkar. Al-Mukmin's activities were initially limited to religious discussion after dhuhr. Following increasing interest, the founders expanded Al-Mukmin into a madrasah and then into a pesantren. It currently houses over 2000 students aged between 12 and 18.
Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a Saudi Arabian-born member of Al-Qaeda. He was a son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and, following his father's death in 2011 and the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, he was described as an emerging leader of the Al-Qaeda organization.
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is a global military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks and is the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. The main targets of the campaign are militant Islamist movements like Al-Qaeda, Taliban and their allies. Other major targets included the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, which was deposed in an invasion in 2003, and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing insurgency. After its territorial expansion in 2014, the Islamic State militia has also emerged as a key adversary of the United States.
Osama bin Laden, a militant Islamist and reported founder of al-Qaeda, in conjunction with several other Islamic militant leaders, issued two fatawa – in 1996 and then again in 1998—that military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdraw support for Israel and withdraw military forces from Islamic countries. He was indicted in United States federal court for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and was on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list until his death.
Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism refers to the involvement of Pakistan in terrorism through the backing of various designated terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been frequently accused by various countries, including its neighbours Afghanistan, Iran, and India, as well as by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, of involvement in a variety of terrorist activities in both its local region of South Asia and beyond. Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border have been described as an effective safe haven for terrorists by Western media and the United States Secretary of Defense, while India has accused Pakistan of perpetuating the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir by providing financial support and armaments to militant groups, as well as by sending state-trained terrorists across the Line of Control and de jure India–Pakistan border to launch attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir and India proper, respectively. According to an analysis published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in 2008, Pakistan was reportedly, "with the possible exception of Iran, perhaps the world's most active sponsor of terrorist groups... aiding these groups that pose a direct threat to the United States. Pakistan's active participation has caused thousands of deaths in the region; all these years Pakistan has been supportive to several terrorist groups despite several stern warnings from the international community." Daniel Byman, a professor and senior analyst of terrorism and security at the Center For Middle East Policy, also wrote that, "Pakistan is probably 2008's most active sponsor of terrorism". In 2018, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, suggested that the Pakistani government played a role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group. In July 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to the United States, acknowledged the presence of some 30,000–40,000 armed terrorists operating on Pakistani soil. He further stated that previous administrations were hiding this truth, particularly from the United States, for the last 15 years during the War on Terror.
Pakistan's role in the War on Terror is a widely discussed topic among policy-makers of various countries, political analysts and international delegates around the world. Pakistan has simultaneously received allegations of harbouring and aiding terrorists and commendation for its anti-terror efforts. Since 2001, the country has also hosted millions of Afghan refugees who fled the war in Afghanistan.
The 2010 European terror plot was an alleged al-Qaeda plot to launch "commando-style" terror attacks on the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The existence of the plot was revealed in late September 2010 after it was disrupted by intelligence agencies. Thought to be ordered by Osama bin Laden himself, the plot led to an unprecedented increase in drone attacks in Pakistan and travel advisories from several countries to their citizens to be careful while traveling in Europe.
At around 9:30 pm on September 11, 2001, George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) told President George W. Bush and U.S. senior officials that the CIA's Counterterrorism Center had determined that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were responsible for the September 11 attacks. Two weeks after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation connected the hijackers to al-Qaeda, a militant Salafist Islamist multi-national organization. In a number of video, audio, interview and printed statements, senior members of al-Qaeda have also asserted responsibility for organizing the September 11 attacks.
Mohammed Atef was the prominent military chief of al-Qaeda, and a deputy of Osama bin Laden, although Atef's role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years. He was killed in a US airstrike in November 2001.
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad, formerly called simply Islamic Jihad and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and then the Jihad Group, or the Jihad Organization, is an Egyptian Islamist group active since the late 1970s. It is under worldwide embargo by the United Nations as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. It is also banned by several individual governments worldwide. The group is a proscribed terrorist group organization in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.
al-Qaeda has five distinct phases in its development: its beginnings in the late 1980s, a "wilderness" period in 1990–1996, its "heyday" in 1996–2001, a network period from 2001 to 2005, and a period of fragmentation from 2005 to 2009.
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