Al-Qaeda: Salafi jihadist organization founded in 1988

Most of the world thinks it is a terrorist organization.

Al-Qaeda
القاعدة
Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
Leaders	Osama bin Laden † (1988–2011) Ayman al-Zawahiri † (2011–2022)
Dates of operation	1988–present
Group(s)	Al-Qaeda Central (1988–present) Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–2013, became Mujahideen Shura Council in January 2006) Mujahideen Shura Council (January 2006–October 2006, became Islamic State of Iraq in October 2006) Islamic State of Iraq (2006–2013) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013–2014) Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (2007–present) Al-Qaeda in Palestine (2008–present) Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (2009–present) Al-Qaeda in Somalia (2010–present) Al-Qaeda in the Levant (2012–2017, became Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017) Tahrir al-Sham (alleged, 2017–present) Al-Mourabitoun (2013–2015, joined AQIM in December 2015) Jund al-Aqsa (2014–2017) Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (2014–present) Khorasan Group Al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula Imam Shamil Battalion Guardians of Religion Organization (2018–present) Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions Al Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina Al-Qaeda in Mali Al-Qaeda in Spain Al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago
Active regions	Worldwide Predominantly in the Middle East Rebel group with current territorial control in: Somalia Syria Yemen
Ideology	Salafist jihadism Wahhabism Qutbism Pan-Islamism Anti-Communism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism
Allies	State allies:  Saudi Arabia (alleged, denied)  Qatar (alleged, denied)  Iran (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 ISAF  United States  United Kingdom  France  Russia  Soviet Union (1988–1991)  China Non-State opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Hezbollah Hamas Houthis Southern Movement
Battles and wars	War on Terror In Afghanistan Afghan Civil War (1996–2001) War in Afghanistan (2001–present) 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 Maghreb insurgency Northern Mali conflict In Iraq Iraq War 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 (2011–2014))
Designated as a terrorist group by	Canada  China  France  Iran  Japan  United Kingdom  Russia  United States  United Arab Emirates

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 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.

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 4, 2022. 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.