Al-Qaeda

**al-Qaeda** (, _al-qāʿidah_, "the base") is a global Islamist jihadist multinational organization network that was founded around August 1988 and late 1989.<sup>p75</sup> It works as a network, as a stateless army, and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad on all fronts. Most of the world thinks it is a terrorist organization.

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.

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 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.

## History

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

- "...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".

### Death of Osama Bin Laden and current leadership

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

Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike on June 5, 2012. 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.

## Other websites

- Council on Foreign Relations al-Qaeda

## Infobox (war faction)

- **name**: Qaidat Al-Jihad
- **native name**: تَنْظِيمْ قَاعِدَةُ اَلجِهَادْ
- **native name lang**: ar
- **war**: the War on Terror, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan conflict (1978–present), Afghanistan conflict, Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Somali Civil War, Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present), Insurgency in the Maghreb, Iraq War, Iraqi insurgency (2011–present), Iraqi insurgency, al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen, Syrian Civil War, Arab Spring, and List of wars and battles involving al-Qaeda, other conflicts
- **image**: Flag of al-Qaeda.svg
- **caption**: Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
- **active**: 1988–present
- **ideology**: Salafist jihadism
Wahhabism
Qutbism
Pan-Islamism
Anti-Communism
Anti-Zionism
Antisemitism
- **clans**: al-Qaeda Central <small>(1988–present)</small>

al-Qaeda in Iraq <small>(2004–2013, became Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq), Mujahideen Shura Council in January 2006)</small>

Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq), Mujahideen Shura Council <small>(January 2006–October 2006, became Islamic State of Iraq in October 2006)</small>

Islamic State of Iraq <small>(2006–2013)</small>

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant <small>(2013–2014)</small>

al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb <small>(2007–present)</small>

Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip), al-Qaeda in Palestine <small>(2008–present)</small>

al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula <small>(2009–present)</small>

Al-Shabaab (militant group), al-Qaeda in Somalia <small>(2010–present)</small>

Al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda in the Levant <small>(2012–2017, became Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017)</small>

Tahrir al-Sham <small>(alleged, 2017–present)</small>

Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), Al-Mourabitoun <small>(2013–2015, joined AQIM in December 2015)</small>

Jund al-Aqsa <small>(2014–2017)</small>

al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent <small>(2014–present)</small>

Khorasan Group

al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula

Imam Shamil Battalion

Guardians of Religion Organization <small>(2018–present)</small>

al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions

Ansaru, Al Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel
al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, al-Qaeda in Mali

Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, al-Qaeda in Spain

Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad, al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago
- **founder**: Osama Bin Laden
- **leaders**: Osama bin Laden (1988–2011)
Ayman al-Zawahiri (2011–2022)
Saif al-Adel (2022–present)
- **area**: Worldwide

Predominantly in the Middle East

List of active rebel groups#Groups which control territory, Rebel group with current territorial control in:
* Somalia
* Syria
* Yemen
- **status**: Disabled
- **allies**: **State allies:**
*  (alleged, denied)
*  (alleged, denied)
*  (alleged, denied)
**Non-state allies:**
*  Taliban
*  Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
*  Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
*  Turkistan Islamic Party
*  Lashkar-e-Taiba
*  Caucasus Emirate
*  Haqqani network
*  Egyptian Islamic Jihad
* Jaish-e-Mohammed
* Jemaah Islamiyah
- **opponents**: **State opponents**
*  NATO
**  International Security Assistance Force, ISAF
*
*
*
*
*  <small>(1988–1991)</small>
*
**Non-State opponents**
*  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
*  Hezbollah
*  Hamas
*  Houthis
*  Southern Movement
- **battles**: War on Terror

In Afghanistan
* Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
* War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
In Tajikistan
* Civil war in Tajikistan
In Chechnya
* Second Chechen War
In Yemen
* al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
* Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
In the Maghreb
* Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present), Maghreb insurgency
* Northern Mali conflict
In Iraq
* Iraq War
* Iraqi insurgency (2011–present), Iraqi insurgency
In Pakistan
* War in North-West Pakistan
* Balochistan conflict
In Somalia
* Somali Civil War (2006–2009)
* Somali Civil War (2009–present)
In Syria
* Syrian Civil War
* Military intervention against ISIL
* American-led intervention in Syria
In Egypt
* Sinai insurgency
* Egyptian Crisis (2011–14), Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014))
- **designated as terror group by**: