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Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian-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, he participated in the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet Union and supported the activities of the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Bin Laden is most widely known as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri was an Egyptian-born militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until his death in July 2022.
The Maktab al-Khidamat, also Maktab Khadamāt al-Mujāhidīn al-'Arab, also known as the Afghan Services Bureau, was founded in 1984 by Abdullah Azzam, Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to raise funds and recruit foreign mujahideen for the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. MAK became the forerunner to al-Qaeda and was instrumental in creating the fundraising and recruitment network that benefited Al-Qaeda during the 1990s.
Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a Salafi jihadist militant group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999, and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi insurgency (2003–11), the group became a decentralized network with foreign fighters with a considerable Iraqi membership.
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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh, was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings, and attacks during the Iraq War, reportedly "turning an insurgency against US troops" in Iraq "into a Shia–Sunni civil war". He was sometimes known by his supporters as the "Sheikh of the slaughterers".
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An Afghan jihadist camp, or an Afghan training camp, is a term used to describe a camp or facility used for militant training located in Afghanistan. At the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001, Indian intelligence officials estimated that there were over 120 jihadist camps operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, run by a variety of militant groups.
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Inspire is an English-language online magazine published by the organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The magazine is one of the many ways AQAP uses the Internet to reach its audience. Numerous international and domestic extremists motivated by radical interpretations of Islam have been influenced by the magazine and, in some cases, used its bomb-making instructions in their attempts to carry out attacks. The magazine is an important brand-building tool, not just of AQAP, but of all al-Qaeda branches, franchises and affiliates.
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The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) is an Islamist propaganda organization that is associated with the terrorist group, al-Qaeda, and other jihadist groups. The GIMF is known by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an "underground media" organization. The GIMF specializes in production of jihadist material for distribution. It is one of several organizations that jihadists use to spread information via the Internet, including the well-known As-Sahab. Their slogan that is used on their materials is "Observing Mujahideen News and Inspiring the Believers." There is no indication who the leader of this organization is.
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 in the Sinai Peninsula, or AQSP, is an Egyptian militant jihadist organization possibly formed by a merger between al-Qaeda operatives in Sinai and Ansar al Jihad. It was Al-Qaeda's branch in the Sinai peninsula, and is composed of many Al-Qaeda factions in the area. AQSP made international headlines in November 2014 when the organization pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in a nine-minute audio speech released on Twitter.
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References
- 1 2 Vincent, James (4 September 2014). "Who are the SITE Intelligence Group that distributed the Sotloff video before the jihadis?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Jihadists appear caught offguard by release of Steven Sotloff video". Telegraph.co.uk. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "Inside SITE Intelligence Group: Steven Sotloff Beheading Discovered By Little-Known Research Organization". International Business Times . 2 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ Smith, Craig S. (11 April 2007). "Islamists Bring Fight to Capital of Algeria". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (29 May 2006). "Private Jihad". The New Yorker . Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ Sauer, Maddy (4 July 2007). "New Video From Al Qaeda No. 2". ABC News . Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ "Al Qaeda's No. 2 seeks to bolster support for terror network in Iraq". The New York Times. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ "Al-Qaeda number two slams Hamas for seeking negotiations". Lebanonwire . Agence France-Presse. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ "New Usama Bin Laden Video Urges Americans to Convert to Islam". Fox News Channel. Associated Press. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ Warrick, Joby (12 September 2007). "Bin Laden, Brought to You by ..." The Washington Post . Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. (6 May 2011). "Al Qaeda Confirms Bin Laden's Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ↑ Eric Lipton and Eric Lichtblau (September 23, 2004). "Even Near Home, a New Front Is Opening in the Terror Battle," New York Times; see page 2.
- ↑ Alexander, Leigh (30 May 2008). "Intelligence Group Mistakes Fallout 3 Screens For Terrorist Propaganda". Kotaku . Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ↑ Alexander, Leigh (30 May 2008). "SITE Refutes Fallout 3 Goof, Is Not "Red-Faced"". Kotaku. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
