Qa`ida << KY ih duh >>, Al-, also spelled al-Qaida and al-Qaeda, is a terrorist organization that supports the activities of Muslim extremists around the world. Its founder and first leader was Osama bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire. United States special forces troops killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011, in Pakistan (May 1 in the United States). Al-Qa`ida is an Arabic term that means the base. The U.S. government has blamed al-Qa`ida for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon Building near Washington, D.C. Al-Qa`ida also is believed to have aided other attacks against U.S. targets, including the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Al-Qa`ida believes that governments of Muslim countries that fail to follow Islamic law should be overthrown. Al-Qa`ida also considers the United States to be a primary enemy of Islam. It opposed the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the country where the holiest Muslim sites are located. Thousands of U.S. troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia from 1991 to 2003. In 1996, bin Laden called upon Muslims to topple the Saudi government and liberate Islamic holy sites from foreign influence. Two years later, he also said it was the duty of Muslims to kill U.S. citizens, both civilian and military, and their allies.
In 1979, bin Laden reportedly joined the mujahideen, the Muslim resistance movement that was fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He spent much of the 1980’s raising funds to help the mujahideen. In the late 1980’s, bin Laden founded al-Qa`ida to resist the Soviets. During the 1990’s, al-Qa`ida expanded its goals. It opposed foreign influence in Muslim countries and called for the overthrow of Muslim governments allied to the United States. Al-Qa`ida is believed to support other Islamic extremist groups throughout the world.
In 1996, bin Laden and other al-Qa`ida leaders moved to Afghanistan. There, they lived under the protection of the Taliban, a conservative Islamic group that controlled most of the country. After the September 2001 attacks, the United States and its allies launched a military campaign against the Taliban. The campaign drove the Taliban from power later in 2001.
Since the fall of the Taliban, United States and allied forces have continued to search for al-Qa`ida leaders in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. Many of the leaders have been captured or killed. United States officials accused one of those killed, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, of leading a resistance movement against U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. The coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, and then remained in Iraq until 2011. The main resistance group—called al-Qa`ida in Iraq—was blamed for suicide bombings, kidnappings, and the beheading of hostages. In 2014, al-Qa`ida cut ties with the Iraqi group, which became known as the Islamic State, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Later in 2014, a collection of al-Qa`ida members known as the Khorasan Group became a target of U.S. air strikes in Syria.
In 2015, a branch of al-Qa`ida called al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for a bloody attack on a weekly newspaper in Paris, France. The group also has been fighting government and rival rebel forces in Yemen, where AQAP is based. Al-Qa`ida has created a strong presence in war-torn Syria as well. Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb, a branch based in Algeria, launched attacks in nearby Mali in 2015 and Burkina Faso in 2016. In the early 2020’s, al-Qa`ida and its many affiliated groups remained active in areas of conflict in Asia and Africa.
After Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, took over as al-Qa`ida’s leader. Al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike on July 31, 2022.
