Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a <a href="/facts/Pan-Islamist/DH7VURGL">pan-Islamist</a> militant organization led by Sunni <a href="/facts/Jihadists/FaY0bQcQ">jihadists</a> who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global <a href="/facts/Revolutionary_Islamism/FaY0bQcQ">Islamist revolution</a> to unite the <a href="/facts/Muslim_world/n9vVGogr">Muslim world</a> under a supra-national Islamic <a href="/facts/Caliphate/qQ6hCspe">caliphate</a>. Its membership is mostly composed of <a href="/facts/Arab/E77duPsg">Arabs</a> but also includes people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the <a href="/facts/1998_United_States_embassy_bombings/qUJSm82y">1998 US embassy bombings</a>, the <a href="/facts/USS_Cole_bombing/BoaTeXFd">USS Cole bombing</a>, and the <a href="/facts/September_11_attacks/PfWQcQNx">September 11 attacks</a>. 
The organization was founded in a series of meetings held in <a href="/facts/Peshawar/fTlsFmgE">Peshawar</a> during 1988, attended by <a href="/facts/Abdullah_Yusuf_Azzam/0L5ErXsX">Abdullah Azzam</a>, <a href="/facts/Osama_bin_Laden/BPGsesb9">Osama bin Laden</a>, <a href="/facts/Mohammed_Atef/5f9hQ1qq">Muhammad Atef</a>, <a href="/facts/Ayman_al-Zawahiri/Hu9JC1MM">Ayman al-Zawahiri</a> and other veterans of the <a href="/facts/Soviet%25E2%2580%2593Afghan_War/nBl7TvtD">Soviet–Afghan War</a>. Building upon the networks of <a href="/facts/Maktab_al-Khidamat/RwaKHUBx">Maktab al-Khidamat</a>, the founding members decided to create an organization named "Al-Qaeda" to serve as a "vanguard" for <a href="/facts/Jihad/DerLM18J">jihad</a>. When <a href="/facts/Saddam_Hussein/nHnSodgy">Saddam Hussein</a> <a href="/facts/Iraqi_invasion_of_Kuwait/Gzhla9lE">invaded and occupied Kuwait</a> in 1990, bin Laden offered to support <a href="/facts/Saudi_Arabia/uyUpe1J2">Saudi Arabia</a> by sending his <a href="/facts/Mujahideen/nDVlPBW9">Mujahideen</a> fighters. His offer was rebuffed by the Saudi government, which instead sought the aid of the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>. The stationing of U.S. troops in the <a href="/facts/Arabian_Peninsula/x1fDka2b">Arabian Peninsula</a> prompted bin Laden to declare a jihad against both the rulers of Saudi Arabia – whom he denounced as <a href="/facts/Murtadd/HawdPXQ1">murtadd</a> (apostates) – and against the US. From 1992, al-Qaeda established its headquarters in <a href="/facts/Sudan/yGeaNdvS">Sudan</a> until it was expelled in 1996. It then shifted its base to the <a href="/facts/Taliban/VJC0WJlq">Taliban</a>-ruled <a href="/facts/Islamic_Emirate_of_Afghanistan_(1996%25E2%2580%25932001)/gtud8bFE">Afghanistan</a> and later expanded to other parts of the world, primarily in the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a> and <a href="/facts/South_Asia/7gTqe3hY">South Asia</a>. In 1996 and 1998, bin Laden issued two <a href="/facts/Fataw%25C4%2581_of_Osama_bin_Laden/rlvp7CGM">fatāwā</a> that demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia.
In 1998, al-Qaeda conducted the <a href="/facts/1998_United_States_embassy_bombings/qUJSm82y">US embassy bombings</a> in <a href="/facts/Kenya/Y9Ko9pQu">Kenya</a> and <a href="/facts/Tanzania/MJueJ7E4">Tanzania</a>, which killed 224 people. The U.S. retaliated by launching <a href="/facts/Operation_Infinite_Reach/A6p0KXXF">Operation Infinite Reach</a>, against al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. In 2001, al-Qaeda carried out the <a href="/facts/September_11_attacks/PfWQcQNx">September 11 attacks</a>, resulting in nearly <a href="/facts/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks/BADU0jpY">3,000 deaths</a>, <a href="/facts/Health_effects_arising_from_the_September_11_attacks/RWefworh">long-term health consequences of nearby residents</a>, <a href="/facts/Economic_effects_of_the_September_11_attacks/oQ0Pnf5y">damage to global economic markets</a>, the triggering of <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_the_September_11_attacks/PQzuLvTd">drastic geo-political changes</a> as well as generating profound <a href="/facts/Cultural_influence_of_the_September_11_attacks/Le9Dfdld">cultural influence across the world</a>. The U.S. launched the <a href="/facts/War_on_Terror/CTGl4eto">war on Terror</a> in response and <a href="/facts/United_States_invasion_of_Afghanistan/1QRqNSDS">invaded Afghanistan</a> to depose the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition <a href="/facts/2003_invasion_of_Iraq/V9zysaV1">invaded Iraq</a>, overthrowing the <a href="/facts/Ba%2527athist_Iraq/lbHnSQBz">Ba'athist regime</a> which they <a href="/facts/Rationale_for_the_Iraq_War/WcBoJobH">falsely accused</a> of having ties with al-Qaeda. In 2004, al-Qaeda launched its <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda_in_Iraq/dlMIFT5e">Iraqi regional branch</a>. After <a href="/facts/Manhunt_for_Osama_bin_Laden/0ymrRhfW">pursuing him for almost a decade</a>, the U.S. military <a href="/facts/Killing_of_Osama_bin_Laden/86rGP6wX">killed bin Laden</a> in <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistan</a> in May 2011.
Al-Qaeda members believe that a <a href="/facts/Judeo-Christian/gzebnfU7">Judeo-Christian</a> alliance (led by the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>) is waging a <a href="/facts/War_on_Islam_controversy/gdunukt7">war against Islam</a> and conspiring to destroy <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islam</a>. Al-Qaeda also opposes <a href="/facts/Man-made_law/aSNXtCqg">man-made laws</a>, and seek to implement <a href="/facts/Sharia/H9cG0yCF">sharīʿah</a> (Islamic law) in Muslim countries. Al-Qaeda fighters characteristically deploy tactics such as <a href="/facts/Suicide_attack/M5M7TFHv">suicide attacks</a> (<a href="/facts/Inghimasi/sjMT89K7">Inghimasi</a> and <a href="/facts/Istishhad/famjRN24">Istishhadi</a> operations) involving simultaneous bombing of several <a href="/facts/Target_of_opportunity/VHCf8h6D">targets</a> in battle-zones. <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda_in_Iraq/dlMIFT5e">Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch</a>, which later morphed into the <a href="/facts/Islamic_State_of_Iraq/CavASPma">Islamic State of Iraq</a> after 2006, was responsible for numerous <a href="/facts/Sectarian_violence_among_Muslims/f2XxCwNN">sectarian</a> attacks against <a href="/facts/Shia_Islam/JIQl7ooz">Shias</a> during its <a href="/facts/Iraqi_insurgency_(2003%25E2%2580%25932011)/mLrxhL2j">Iraqi insurgency</a>. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision the violent removal of all foreign and <a href="/facts/Secularism/QEGcV0XI">secularist</a> influences in <a href="/facts/Muslim_world/n9vVGogr">Muslim countries</a>, which it denounces as corrupt deviations. Following the death of bin Laden in 2011, al-Qaeda vowed to avenge his killing. The group was then led by Egyptian <a href="/facts/Ayman_al-Zawahiri/Hu9JC1MM">Ayman al-Zawahiri</a> until he too was <a href="/facts/Killing_of_Ayman_al-Zawahiri/fd1Sdvcf">killed by the United States</a> in 2022. As of 2021, they have reportedly suffered from a deterioration of central command over its regional operations.

Al-Qaeda open-in-new

Al-Qaeda