Al-Qaeda

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Al-Qaeda is a transnational pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Islamist jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic caliphate. Its core membership is primarily composed of Arabs, with additional representation from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing, and the September 11 attacks. It has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and over two dozen countries around the world. The organization was founded in a series of meetings held in Peshawar during 1988, attended by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Atef, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and other veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War. Building upon the networks of Maktab Al-Khidamat, the founding members decided to create the organization to serve as a "vanguard" for jihad. When...

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