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Al-Qaeda

In an audiotape distributed on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri calls on Muslims to adhere to jihad against the United States on different fronts worldwide

On September 11, 2018, the Al-Sahab Foundation, Al-Qaeda’s media arm, released a 30-minute audiotape commemorating the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The audiotape, entitled “How should we confront America?” describes the United States as the main enemy of Muslims all over the world and specifies the different fronts where the United States fights against the Muslims, allegedly from religious motives.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (April 12-17, 2018)

With the takeover of the city of Duma and the evacuation of the last fighters from its territory, the Syrian army effectively completed the takeover of eastern Al-Ghouta. Now the Syrian army and the forces supporting it are shifting the center of operations to the Al-Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus. In Iraq, the security forces continued to operate against a number of areas where pockets of ISIS operatives remained. The Egyptian security forces, which have been working for around two months to eradicate the presence of ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula, suffered losses in an attempt by ISIS operatives to infiltrate one of the army bases in Sinai.
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Split among Al-Qaeda’s supporters in Syria, in light of severe differences of opinion regarding the nature of the ties with Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri

At the end of February 2018, six local groups of jihadists operating in northern Syria announced their withdrawal from the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham and the establishment of a new organization called the Guardians of the Religion Organization.
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Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global Islamic terrorist organization founded by Palestinian terrorist operative Abdullah Azzam in 1988. Al-Qaeda originated in Afghanistan as an underground movement that operated against the Soviet occupation. Since its establishment, Al-Qaeda operated under the leadership and funding of Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda was officially defined as an organized entity in 1988 by its founder and first leader, Osama bin Laden. Since being defined as an organized entity, Al-Qaeda has become a global Islamic terrorist organization operating in many arenas around the world. Ideologically, Al-Qaeda relies on the Salafi school of Islam, viewing jihad as the personal duty of every Muslim.

Al-Qaeda does not operate in a clear hierarchical framework, but rather as a confederation of terrorist organizations that carry out the organization’s ideology and tactics. Osama bin Laden served as a source of inspiration and guidance for carrying out terrorist activity. The organization also provides various types of assistance and support to terrorist organizations that advocate global jihad around the world.

Al-Qaeda was behind a series of showcase attacks against the United States, the most prominent of which was the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. Al-Qaeda’s activities also included harming the civilian population and damaging the holy sites of various religions. After a prolonged manhunt, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US Army forces on May 2, 2011. He was replaced by his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian who was also one of the founders of Al-Qaeda.

In recent years, Al-Qaeda’s center of power in Afghanistan and Pakistan has grown weaker. At the same time, local networks affiliated with Al-Qaeda in various Muslim countries have grown stronger, including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen; Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the Fateh al-Sham Front in Syria.