Al-Qaeda, officially known as Qaedat al-Jihad, is a multinational militant Sunni Islamic extremist network composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but may also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings; it has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, India, and various other countries.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, also transliterated as Usama bin Ladin, was a Saudi Arabian-born militant, mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and founder of the Pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda. The group is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Under bin Laden, al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States and many other mass-casualty attacks worldwide. On 2 May 2011, he was killed by U.S. special operations forces at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001-2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced that airstrikes targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had begun in Afghanistan. Operation Enduring Freedom primarily refers to the War in Afghanistan, but it was also affiliated with counterterrorism operations in other countries, such as OEF-Philippines and OEF-Trans Sahara.
Jemaah Islamiyah is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist 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 Bali bombing, JI was added to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 as a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-related charges. He was named as "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks" in the 9/11 Commission Report.
Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the nom de guerreHambali, born as Encep Nurjaman is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is linked with al-Qaeda. He is now in American custody in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. He is currently awaiting trial in a military commission.
The Singapore embassies attack plot was a plan in 2001 by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to bomb the diplomatic missions and attack personnel of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Israel based in Singapore. There were also several other targets. The plot was uncovered in December 2001 and as many as 15 people were arrested in Singapore within a month. Further investigation and intelligence prompted the detention of another 26 persons from 2002 to 2005. As of 2006, 37 of them were still being detained without trial, under the Internal Security Act. Four had been released on restriction orders.
Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) was a charity foundation, based in Saudi Arabia. Under various names it had branches in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Comoros, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, and the United States, and "at its height" raised between $40 and $50 million a year in contributions worldwide. While most of the foundation's funds went to feed poor Muslims around the world, a small percentage went to Al-Qaeda, and that money was "a major source of funds" for the terrorist group. In 2003, Saudi authorities ordered Al-Haramain to shut down all overseas branches, and by 2004 Saudi authorities had dissolved Al-Haramain. However, US intelligence officials believed it had reopened branches under new names.
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir also known as Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.
The Hamburg cell or Hamburg terror cell was, according to U.S. and German intelligence agencies, a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, Germany, that included students from different Arab countries who eventually came to be key operatives in the 9/11 attacks. Important members included Mohamed Atta, who led the four hijacking teams in 2001 and piloted American Airlines Flight 11; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who conspired with the other three members but was unable to enter the United States; Marwan al-Shehhi, who piloted United Airlines Flight 175; and Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines Flight 93 and failed to hit a target in Washington, D.C.. Other members included Said Bahaji, Zakariya Essabar, Mounir el-Motassadeq, and Abdelghani Mzoudi.
The Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta took place on September 9, 2004 in Indonesia.
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists took control of four commercial aircraft and used them as suicide weapons in a series of four coordinated acts of terrorism to strike the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and an additional target in Washington, D.C. Two aircraft hit the World Trade Center while the third hit the Pentagon. A fourth plane did not arrive at its target, but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt. The intended target is believed to have been the United States Capitol. As a result, 2,977 victims were killed, making it the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil, exceeding Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which killed 2,335 members of the United States Armed Forces and 68 civilians. The effort was carefully planned by al-Qaeda, which sent 19 terrorists to take over Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft, operated by American Airlines and United Airlines.
The 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on August 5, 2003 in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing 12 people and injuring 150. Those killed including a white Dutch man while the rest were Indonesian. The hotel was viewed as a Western symbol, and had been used by the United States embassy for various events. The hotel was closed for five weeks and reopened to the public on September 8.
Omar al-Faruq, also spelled or al-Farouq or al-Farooq, born Mahmoud Ahmad Mohammed Ahmad, was an islamic militant with high profile connections with Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia particularly the Philippines and Indonesia.
Muhammad Rais is an Indonesian convicted in May 2004 for involvement in the August 5 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, which killed 12 people and wounded over 150. He is a member of Jemaah Islamiah and the brother-in-law of Noordin Mohammed Top. He attended the Al-Mukmin Islamic school which was founded by Abu Bakar Bashir, and while training in Afghanistan was responsible for relaying messages between Bashir and Osama Bin Laden.
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 city of Surakarta, 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.
Huda bin Abdul Haq was an Indonesian terrorist who was convicted and executed for his role in coordinating the Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings and 2002 Bali bombings. Mukhlas was a senior and influential Jemaah Islamiah leader with ties to Osama bin Laden.
Mohammed Mansour Jabarah is a Kuwaiti convicted of terrorism-related offences. Jabarah was active in al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah circles, and was arrested in 2002.
My Friend the Fanatic is a travel narrative by the Indian-American author Sadanand Dhume about his exploration of Islamic extremism in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country. Dhume's travel companion is a young Javanese, an Osama bin Laden admirer who edits the country's foremost fundamentalist magazine.
Mohammed Atef was the military chief of al-Qaeda, and was considered one of Osama bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri, 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.
