Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy

Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy

Updated May 6, 2024
Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy
Al Qaeda (AQ, alt. Al Qaida or Al Qa’eda) is a
created space for AQ affiliates to pursue regionally tailored
transnational Sunni Islamist terrorist organization with a
strategies and make inroads into local communities.
network of affiliates. The group rose to global prominence
On July 31, 2022, Zawahiri was killed by a U.S. drone
after perpetrating the September 11, 2001 attacks (9/11) in
strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, though neither AQ nor the
the United States. Since then, sustained counterterrorism
Taliban formally acknowledged his death. Al Qaeda has
(CT) efforts by the United States and its partners have
also not announced Zawahiri’s successor, though United
weakened the group, particularly in its historic base in
Nations sanctions monitors and others assess that the de
Afghanistan. For several years, U.S. officials and
facto leader of the group is Sayf al Adl. Al Adl reportedly
international observers have characterized the AQ threat as
resides in Iran; Iran’s government has allowed some AQ
stemming mainly from the group’s affiliates in Yemen and
figures to operate in its territory despite historic enmity
Africa. The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) of the
between Sunni Al Qaeda and Iran’s Shia Islamic Republic.
U.S. Intelligence Community described Africa as the
AQ leaders may view Iran as relatively safe from U.S.
“center of gravity in the Sunni global jihad,” although it did
counterterrorism pressure, while Iranian leaders may view
not characterize affiliates there as posing a direct threat to
AQ’s presence as leverage against the United States, as well
the U.S. homeland. U.S. policy efforts, as directed and
as an opportunity to support another U.S. adversary.
overseen by Congress, to counter Al Qaeda have included
military action, foreign partnerships, sanctions, and law
Structure
enforcement activities.
Al Qaeda once had a hierarchical organization and a
relatively small and geographically contained membership.
Background
The attenuation of AQ core leadership, the growth of
In 1988, Osama bin Laden established Al Qaeda from a
regional affiliates, and the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in
network of Arab and other foreign veterans of the U.S.-
2014 (which challenged AQ claims to be the global leader
backed Afghan insurgency against the Soviet Union, with
of Islamist terrorism) have changed the organization.
the aim of supporting Islamist causes in conflicts around the
Analysts have long debated how to characterize the shifting
world. After the 1991 Gulf War, citing opposition to Saudi
Arabia’s
ties between AQ leadership and groups that have pledged
decision to host U.S. troops and other grievances,
allegiance to it, as well as the relationships among these
the group made the United States its primary target. Bin
self-described affiliates. AQ appears to have “devolved
Laden left his native Saudi Arabia that year for Sudan, until
operational responsibility to regional affiliates as it has
the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 1996 and offered
shifted away from centrally directed plotting,” per the 2022
refuge to AQ members and other armed Islamists.
ATA. The traditional power dynamic may even have
Al Qaeda conducted terrorist attacks against U.S. and allied
reversed, with the affiliates now providing resources and
targets prior to 9/11, including the 1998 bombings of U.S.
legitimacy to the group’s core leadership; the 2024 ATA
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (after which the United
assessed that AQ affiliates “on the African continent and
States launched airstrikes against targets in Afghanistan and
Yemen will sustain the global network as the group
Sudan) and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. The
maintains its strategic intent to target the United States and
United States designated Al Qaeda as a Foreign Terrorist
U.S. citizens.” Al Qaeda may persist as a group that
Organization (FTO) in 1999. After 9/11, the United States
inspires ideologically motivated terrorism against U.S.
launched military operations to topple the Taliban
interests around the world and opportunistically enters (or
government in Afghanistan and expanded its CT efforts
secures the allegiance of participants in) local conflicts.
worldwide. Some AQ leaders fled to Pakistan, where U.S.
Changes in the relative balance of these elements of the
forces killed Bin Laden in 2011. AQ attacks against U.S.
group’s identity and structure may in turn prompt changes
and Western targets worldwide continued in the years after
in the focus of U.S. counterterrorism efforts over time.
9/11, but the group has not successfully carried out a major
attack inside the United States since then.
Status in Afghanistan
The Taliban’s 2021 return to power in Afghanistan has had
Leadership
a mixed impact on Al Qaeda. The two are long-time allies,
After Bin Laden’s death, Ayman al Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s
and U.N. sanctions monitors reported in early 2024 that
deputy for over a decade, served as AQ’s leader. Some
their “relationship remains strong,” despite Taliban efforts
observers attributed purported AQ struggles (including its
to “constrain some [AQ] activities.” U.N. sanctions
failure to strike inside the United States) under Zawahiri to
monitors also conveyed an assessment from regional
what they described as his understated leadership, as
governments that Al Qaeda “continues to pose a threat in
compared to Bin Laden’s charisma. Others argued that
the region, and potentially beyond,” while also stating that
Zawahiri’s more restrained approach was an asset that
“the group cannot at present project sophisticated attacks at
long range.” That latter assessment largely aligns with U.S.
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Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy
government appraisals that Al Qaeda is at an “operational
• Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) first
nadir” and maintaining a “low profile” in Afghanistan to
emerged as a faction in Algeria’s 1990s civil conflict. It
comply with Taliban “directives against conducting
pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and rebranded itself as
external operations and recruitment.”
AQIM in 2006-2007. AQIM’s center of gravity moved
southward and eastward after 2011, spawning a number
Select Global Affiliates
of splinter factions and local affiliates. Even as AQIM
Regional developments, notably the 2003 U.S. invasion of
activity in North Africa has waned, some of those
Iraq and the post-2011 instability that engulfed some states
offshoots have strengthened. The most prominent is the
after Arab Spring protests, created opportunities for AQ
Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (or JNIM,
affiliates throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
in Arabic), which was formed in 2017 as a merger of
Affiliates have also exploited local conflicts and political
AQIM’s Sahel branch, an offshoot known as Al
crises in Somalia and the Sahel region.
Murabitoun, and two Mali-based groups. Designated as
•
an FTO in 2018, JNIM is most active in Mali and
In 2004, the Iraq-based Jordanian national Abu Musab
Burkina Faso, where military juntas have seized power,
al Zarqawi formed the first AQ affiliate, Al Qaeda in
expelled French counterterrorism forces, and
Iraq (AQI). In 2006, AQI renamed itself the Islamic
strengthened security ties with Russia. JNIM has
State of Iraq (ISI). As security conditions in Syria
alternated between a “localized détente” and direct
deteriorated in 2011, AQI/ISI began operations there as
combat with the regional IS affiliate. JNIM has also
the Nusra Front. The Nusra Front soon became one of
expanded into parts of coastal West African countries.
the most powerful armed groups in Syria. In 2013,
AQI/ISI leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi attempted to
U.S. Policy Responses
subsume the Nusra Front under his leadership as part of
The U.S. campaign against Al Qaeda, now in its third
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (see CRS In Focus
decade, spans a wide array of policy areas. The United
IF10328, The Islamic State: Background, Current
States has conducted airstrikes on AQ targets in at least
Status, and U.S. Policy), an action Nusra and Al Qaeda
seven countries since 2012. In 2021, the United States
rejected. In 2017, the Nusra Front merged with other
removed military forces from Afghanistan and initiated
Syrian factions to become Hayat Tahrir al Sham
Operation Enduring Sentinel as the U.S. mission to conduct
(HTS). HTS leaders, who control most of the
“over the horizon” CT operations from outside Afghanistan
northeastern Syrian province of Idlib, have apparently
against threats emanating from within the country. Earlier
sought to distance themselves from AQ and have
that year, President Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S.
targeted some Islamic State personnel in areas under
forces from Somalia; President Biden ordered their
their control. An HTS breakoff group and rival, Hurras
redeployment in 2022. Over 1,000 U.S. forces in Niger
al Din, is seen as closer to AQ but weaker than HTS.
conducted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
•
and security cooperation until a 2023 coup; in April 2024,
U.S.-backed Saudi efforts dismantled an AQ branch in
U.S. officials stated plans to withdraw troops after the
the country by 2005, leaving only scattered cells
ruling junta rescinded the U.S. status of forces agreement.
remaining. In 2009, these cells united with Yemeni AQ
operatives to form Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula
The United States seeks to combat Al Qaeda and other
(AQAP), designated as an FTO that year. AQAP grew
terrorist threats “by, with, and through” local partners,
rapidly in the context of Yemen’s post-2011 instability
including through the provision of security assistance and,
and civil war. AQAP has attempted, perhaps more than
in some cases, logistical, intelligence, and/or advisory
any other AQ affiliate, to carry out and inspire attacks in
support. Some observers have argued that such efforts
the United States and Europe. While “in decline” due to
require U.S. military presence to be successful. The United
continued CT pressure and internal frictions, the group
States also works to bolster partner states’ civilian law
“remains the most effective terrorist group in Yemen
enforcement capabilities and strengthen governance.
with intent to conduct operations in the region and
beyond.”
U.S. policymakers also seek to combat Al Qaeda and other
Sayf al Adl’s son reportedly resides in Yemen
and “is close to AQAP leadership.”
terrorist groups by addressing the drivers of extremist

recruitment, by blocking the financing of Al Qaeda and its
• As its international reach grew with affiliates like
affiliates through sanctions and other tools, and by
AQAP, Al Qaeda attracted interest from likeminded
prosecuting individuals in the United States for providing
groups. Al Shabaab, a Somali group designated as an
support to the group and its affiliates. Congress has
FTO in 2008 whose founders had ties to Al Qaeda,
addressed the enduring presence of AQ affiliates through
formally pledged allegiance to AQ in 2012. Al Shabaab
the oversight of executive branch counterterrorism policies
took over territory in central and southern Somalia in the
and practices, as well as the authorization and appropriation
mid-2000s and has carried out attacks against domestic
of U.S. funds for counterterrorism activities. Periodic
and international targets in Somalia and neighboring
deliberations in Congress about the repeal or revision of the
countries. U.S. officials have described the group as Al
2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF,
Qaeda’s largest and wealthiest affiliate. With an
P.L. 107-40) may also have implications for U.S. efforts
estimated 7,000-12,000 fighters, it reportedly generates
against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
“over $100 million” in annual revenue. In August 2023,
the Somali government launched an offensive against Al
Clayton Thomas, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
Shabaab that has since “stalled.”
Abigail G. Martin, Research Assistant
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Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy

IF11854

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