Al Qaeda is the terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988. The group’s ideology is founded on the premise that Muslims who follow secular leaders are treating these leaders as gods, and therefore, are apostates because they are disobeying the first principle in Islam, the assertion that “There is no deity but Allah.” Adherents to this ideology claim to be defending Islam when they kill these Muslims and Westerners who advocate or support this form of apostasy. Al Qaeda’s goal is to liberate Muslim lands of “apostate” governments and establish an Islamic state, a caliphate, in their stead. Osama bin Laden envisioned al Qaeda as a global network that led the jihad against the United States, the West, and allied Muslim governments. The group known today as al Qaeda core serves as the center of the al Qaeda network, which now also includes groups recognized by the al Qaeda emir, or leader, as affiliates. These are al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Shabaab, al Qaeda in Iraq, Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus. Recovered al Qaeda correspondence, especially from the Abbottabad raid, reveals continued communications about ongoing developments and operations between senior leaders in Pakistan and leaders of affiliated groups. Read more at www.criticalthreats.org/al-qaeda/al-qaeda-affiliates

1. AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
INDIA
Al Qaeda and its
Affiliates in 2013
Al Qaeda’s threat to the United States did not end with Osama bin Laden
Al Qaeda is the terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988. The group’s ideology
is founded on the premise that Muslims who follow secular leaders are treating these leaders as
gods, and therefore, are apostates because they are disobeying the first principle in Islam, the
assertion that “There is no deity but Allah.” Adherents to this ideology claim to be defending
Islam when they kill these Muslims and Westerners who advocate or support this form of apostasy.
Al Qaeda’s goal is to liberate Muslim lands of “apostate” governments and establish an Islamic
state, a caliphate, in their stead.
Osama bin Laden envisioned al Qaeda as a global network that led the jihad against the United
States, the West, and allied Muslim governments. The group known today as al Qaeda core serves
as the center of the al Qaeda network, which now also includes groups recognized by the al Qaeda
emir, or leader, as affiliates. These are al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Shabaab, al Qaeda in
Iraq, Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda the Islamic Maghreb, and the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus.
Recovered al Qaeda correspondence, especially from the Abbottabad raid, reveals continued com-
munications about ongoing developments and operations between senior leaders in Pakistan and
leaders of affiliated groups.
AREA OF OPERATION: Pakistan, Afghanistan
KEY LEADERS:
Ayman al Zawahiri, emir
Saif al Adel (Ibrahim al Madani, Omar al Somali)
Adnan Shukrijumah
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
December 30, 2009 CIA base bombing
Location: Camp Chapman, Khost, Afghanistan
Total killed: 9; Total American deaths: 7
AL QAEDA in Pakistan has been weakened by the loss of key
leaders. In the past three years, the U.S. has killed four of the top
five individuals, including Osama bin Laden, Sheikh Said al Masri
(Mustafa Abu al Yazid), Atiyah Abdul Rahman, and Abu Yahya al
Libi. A significant military footprint in Afghanistan and devotion
of considerable intelligence assets enabled the U.S. to dismantle al
Qaeda core’s leadership network, but continued military pressure
will be required to prevent the group – which has proven itself
remarkably adaptable – from resurgence. The leadership, now
under Ayman al Zawahiri, continues to provide guidance to its
affiliates. The core group is also associated with the Haqqani
Network, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and
other local terrorist groups. The al Qaeda senior leadership still
seeks to attack the U.S. homeland.

2. 2
SAUDI ARABIA
YEMEN
SOMALIA
SOMALIA
ETHIOPIA
KENYA
AREA OF OPERATION: Yemen
KEY LEADERS:
Nasser al Wahayshi (Abu Basir), emir
Said al Shihri (Abu Sufyan al Azdi), deputy
Qasim al Raymi, military commander
Ibrahim al Asiri, explosives expert
Sheikh Ibrahim al Rubaish, spiritiual leader
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
May 2012 attempt to attack U.S. homeland
Location: Yemen
Interdicted by U.S. and other intelligence agencies
AL QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (AQAP)
poses the greatest direct threat to the U.S. homeland out of the al
Qaeda affiliates. The group has attempted to strike the U.S.
homeland three times since its founding: Umar Farouk Abdul-
mutallab brought a bomb concealed in his underwear onto a
U.S.-bound flight in December 2009; the group shipped two
bombs disguised as printer cartridges in October 2010; and
attempted to attack the U.S. again in May 2012. The explosive
device used in the interdicted May 2012 attempt was an
improved model of the underwear bomb, showing AQAP’s
ability to innovate and learn from past attempts. Its leadership
announced its establishment in January 2009, merging the Saudi
and Yemeni al Qaeda branches. AQAP fielded an insurgent
fighting group in 2011 under the name of Ansar al Sharia, which
seized and held territory in south Yemen. Yemeni-American
Anwar al Awlaki, killed by a U.S. airstrike in September 2011,
pioneered the group’s English-language outreach and helped vet
recruits.
AREA OF OPERATION: Somalia, northern Kenya
KEY LEADERS:
Ahmed Abdi Godane (Abu Zubair), emir
Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansur), deputy
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, senior leader
Fuad Mohamed Qalaf (Shongole), senior leader
Ali Mohamed Rage, spokesman
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
July 11, 2010 Kampala Bombings
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Total killed: 74; Total American deaths: 1
AL SHABAAB is al Qaeda’s affiliate in East Africa and was
recognized as such by al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in
February 2012. It traces its origins to the militant wing of the
Islamic Courts Union and rose to power in late 2006 and 2007.
At one point, al Shabaab controlled nearly all of southern and
central Somalia, but military victories by Somali troops and
African Union peacekeepers have reduced al Shabaab’s area of
control. Al Shabaab has ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,
across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen, and militants from Boko
Haram, a Nigerian Islamist group, claim to have trained in al
Shabaab’s camps. Al Shabaab may continue to plot against
regional American and Western targets.

3. 3
TURKEY
IRAN
SYRIA
IRAQ
SAUDI ARABIA
TURKEY
IRAN
SYRIA
IRAQ
SAUDI ARABIA
JABHAT AL NUSRA is al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. Al Qaeda
emir Ayman al Zawahiri recognized Jabhat al Nusra in a letter
dated May 23, 2013 published by al Jazeera on June 9, 2013. Syria
had been a key conduit for foreign fighters traveling to Iraq, and
al Qaeda in Iraq’s network in Syria proved to be fundamental in
founding the new group. Reports indicate that Jabhat al Nusra
first became active in late 2011; on January 23, 2012, the group
released a video announcing its presence and pledging to protect
the Syrian people. Jabhat al Nusra received significant support
from al Qaeda in Iraq in training and tactics, and has also
benefited from the support of Gulf donors. It has conducted
coordinated operations with other factions of the Syrian opposi-
tion, and has also claimed credit for asymmetrical attacks on
regime targets. The group distributes humanitarian assistance
and operates religious courts in areas under its control.
AREA OF OPERATION: Syria
KEY LEADER:
Abu Muhammad al Julani, emir
Actively involved in the ongoing fight against the
Assad regime in Syria.
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
AREA OF OPERATION: Iraq, eastern Syria
KEY LEADERS:
Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (Abu Dua), emir
Abu Muhammad al Adnani, spokesman
Abu Sulayman, war minister
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
Ongoing under the “Destroying the Walls Campaign”
At least 17 VBIED bombing waves identified.
Bombing waves now occurring weekly.
AL QAEDA IN IRAQ (AQI) regained the strongholds that it
held in 2006 after the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq
in 2011. The group is now actively engaged in internal Iraqi
affairs and in the Syrian civil war, and remains committed to al
Qaeda’s global ideology. It has supported radical elements of the
Syrian opposition and was instrumental in founding Jabhat al
Nusra in Syria, al Qaeda’s newest affiliate. AQI operates in Syria
under the name of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Its
operations in Iraq appear to be increasing. AQI is conducting
waves of bombing attacks under its ongoing “Destroying the
Walls Campaign,” announced in July 2012. Over three hundred
people were killed by mid-September 2012 in Baghdad, Basra,
Dhi Qar, Diyala, Diwaniya, Kirkuk, Misan, Ninewa, and
Salahuddin provinces. AQI was established by Abu Musab al
Zarqawi in Iraq in 2003, ahead of the U.S. invasion of the
country. Osama bin Laden recognized Zarqawi’s group as part
of the al Qaeda network in December 2004.

4. 4
MOROCCO
MAURITANIA
LIBYA
ALGERIA
MALI
NIGER
GEORGIA
ARMENIA
AZERBAIJAN
RUSSIA
TURKEY
AREA OF OPERATION: Algeria, Mali, western
Libya, and parts of Mauritania, Morocco, and Niger
KEY LEADERS:
Abdelmalek Droukdel (Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud), emir
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, commander, killed February 25
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, former commander
LAST MAJOR ATTACKS:
January 16, 2013 Algerian Hostage Crisis
Location: In Amenas, Algeria
Total killed: at least 67; Total American deaths: 3
September 11, 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi
Location: Benghazi, Libya
Total killed: 4; Total American deaths: 4
AL QAEDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB (AQIM) was
recognized by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri as an al
Qaeda affiliate on September 11, 2006. AQIM has historically
involved itself in drug trafficking, smuggling, and kidnappings
for ransom in the region. It has benefited from the outflow of
arms from Libya after the fall of the Qaddafi regime. AQIM also
coordinates its activities with two new violent Islamist groups in
Mali, Ansar al Din and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in
West Africa (MUJWA/MUJAO). AQIM’s then-commander of
its Moulethemine (Masked) Battalion, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, may
have been connected to the September 11, 2012 attack on the
American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and Belmokhtar’s
splinter group led the January 16, 2013 attack on the In Amenas
gas facility in Algeria.
ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF THE CAUCASUS (IEC) was
announced by its emir, Doku Umarov, on October 31, 2007. In
that same statement, Umarov declared that the IEC considered
the enemy to be not only Russia, but America, England, and
Israel as well. Abu Hafs al Urduni, an al Qaeda operative in
Chechnya, had previously noted the Chechen rebellion was
being reorganized under Umarov, who had been one of the
leaders of the rebellion. Al Qaeda had supported the Chechen
rebellion in the 1990s by providing training, weapons, and
funding to the rebels, further strengthening the Islamist radicals
in the region. In 2008, then-deputy al Qaeda leader Ayman al
Zawahiri recognized the Caucacus as one of three primary fronts
for al Qaeda. Recent Russian operations have significantly
degraded IEC’s leadership, but have not been able to eliminate
the group. The IEC has conducted spectacular attacks targeting
Russian transportation infrastructure, including the Moscow
subway and Domodedovo airport.
AREA OF OPERATION: Russian Caucasus
KEY LEADERS:
Doku Umarov (Abu Uthman), emir
LAST MAJOR ATTACK:
January 24, 2011 Domodedovo airport bombing
Location: Moscow, Russia
Total killed: 35
Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia
Aslan Byutukayev (Khamzat or Abubakar), deputy
Aslambek Vadalov