Al Qaeda is an international terrorist organization, which was formed in August 1988. The word Al Qaeda means 'The Base'. This organization is considered as a top threat for the world super power United States of America. Al Qaeda is responsible for many attacks throughout the world with its extensive and effective networks. This group is responsible for attack like the September 7, 2001 attack on the world trade centre and pentagon in the United States of America. It aims to develop stateless army by bringing all Muslim countries on one platform by establishing caliphate. The European Union, United Nations Security Council, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), United Kingdom, United States of America and many other countries, have declared the group as terrorist organization. Al Qaeda in recent times has been weakened due to the death of their key leaders. Today it is not considered that much efficient and effective as it was before however, it still poses threats to many countries all around the world due its huge networks in various countries and its ability to strike any time and anywhere they want (Blanchard, 2010).
Origin of Al Qaeda:
The origin of Al Qaeda can be traced back to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when a movement by the name of Islamic Muja hid Movement was launched in order to counter soviets ruthless invasion in Afghanistan which started in December 1979 and continued till February 1989. United States of America was observing the situation closely as its counter part was invading Afghanistan, which for sure meant to get access to warm waters of Pakistan. United States of America never wanted Soviets to dominate and for that, they needed to stop Soviets in Afghanistan and force them to withdraw their soldiers back to from where they came from. Soviets were up against the Mujahidin who were confronting the Soviets and giving them tough time however, due to lack of training and absence of advance weapons that were being used by the Soviets ruthlessly on Afghanistan Mujahidin caused them to take fatal blows thus slowing their movement and causing Soviets to take larger control. Meanwhile United States of America decided to fund these Mujahidin by launching an operation known as Operation Cyclone by giving them advance weapons and money to buy more weapons through Pakistan's intelligence ISI. United States of America also helped the Mujahidin by getting them trained by the Pakistani Armed Forces and then sending them for confrontation as a result slowly and slowly Soviets started to loose control and finally were force to withdraw their forces in Afghanistan. These Mujahidin consisted of people from various parts of the world mainly Arab. During the war in 1984, these mujahidin established Maktab al Khidmat in Peshawar, which also acted as their Services Office, which intended to collect funds from all around the world and to recruit and train people for this cause. Osama Bin Laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam established Maktab al Khidmat. Osama Bin Laden was a major financer for this cause as he decided to spend all his wealth by using his connections in the Royal Family (Hassan, 2004). With Service Office established in Peshawar and funds being received in large amount by both Saudi Arabia and United States of America and mujahidin being hired and recruited, Osama Bin laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam established base camps in Afghanistan. After the Soviets were defeated and force to withdraw, their forces from Afghanistan the mujahidin now wanted to expand their operations in other part of the world where the Muslims were being oppressed like Kashmir and Palestine so numbers of organizations were formed to support this cause. Eventually one of these or collection of these was later known as Al Qaeda, which was formed by Osama Bin Laden in August 11, 1988. Initially the name Al Qaeda and its operation were kept secret. The major aim of this organization was to lift the word of God and to make their religion victorious. On February 1989 Osama Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia. In August 1990, Kuwait is invaded by the Iraqi Forces, which puts the Saudi kingdom under great pressure as now the Iraqi forces were very close to the Saudi oil fields and were within striking distance. Saudi forces were well trained and were ready to counter this attack but the problem was that they were out numbered. At this critical moment, Osama Bin Laden offered his help and ensured King Fahd that the mujahidin will be able to counter this attack and force Iraqi forces to withdraw if he was given the permission. The...
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