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Al Qaeda Of Osama Bin Laden

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Basic Overview
Al-Qaeda, or “the Base” in Arabic, is an arrangement of extremists initially organized by Osama Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda originated throughout the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Thousands of volunteers from around the Middle East came to Afghanistan as mujahideen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims. Bin Laden returned to his native Saudi Arabia after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and founded an organization to help veterans of the Afghan war, thus creating the basis of al-Qaeda. The death of Bin Laden, who was killed in a joint operation by US troops and CI operatives in May 2011, complicated the future of al-Qaeda. Some speculated that the group might seek retaliation, while others wondered if they would wallow without their supreme leader. More than a month after bin Laden’s death, al-Qaeda named Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri as their new leader. Following bin Laden’s death another powerful top ranking al-Qaeda leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed in June. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa and was responsible for the organized US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.
Al-Qaeda’s leadership masterminds a loosely organized network of cells, with a small, mobile and decentralized infrastructure. It recruits members from thousands of Arab Afghan veterans and radicals around the world, with each cell operating independently with its members not knowing the identity of other cells.

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