Anwar al-Awlaki was a U.S.-Yemeni dual citizen and longtime cleric, propagandist, and operative for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).“Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 16, 2010, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg779.aspx. On September 30, 2011, Awlaki was targeted and killed in Yemen in the first U.S. drone strike to deliberately target a U.S. citizen.Spencer Ackerman, “US cited controversial law in decision to kill American citizen by drone,” Guardian (London), http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/us-justification-drone-killing-american-citizen-awlaki. While he was alive, Awlaki directed a number of terrorist plots against the United States,“Remarks by the President at the "Change of Office" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ceremony,” The White House, September 30, 2011, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/30/remarks-president-change-office-chairman-joint-chiefs-staff-ceremony. and disseminated English- and Arabic-language videos, audio recordings, and articles online.“Cleric al-Awlaki dubbed ‘bin Laden of the Internet,’” USA Today, last updated September 30, 2011, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-08-25-1A_Awlaki25_CV_N.htm. Awlaki’s teachings—still widely available on the Internet—continue to inspire scores of terrorist attacks, frequently aimed at the United States.“Anwar al-Awlaki’s Ties to Extremists,” Counter Extremism Project, accessed September 2016, http://www.counterextremism.com/anwar-al-awlaki?utm_source=Nationbuilder&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Awlaki%20Resource. CEP continues to identify these extremists in its online resource, Anwar al-Awlaki’s Ties to Extremists.

In November 2017, in response to external pressure from governments and CEP, Google drastically reduced the amount of Awlaki’s recorded lectures from its YouTube platform.“CEP Statement on YouTube Removal of Anwar al-Awlaki Material,” Counter Extremism Project, November 14, 2017, https://www.counterextremism.com/press/cep-statement-youtube-removal-anwar-al-awlaki-material-0; Scott Shane, “In ‘Watershed Moment,’ YouTube Blocks Extremist Cleric’s Message,” New York Times, November 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/us/politics/youtube-terrorism-anwar-al-awlaki.html.

Awlaki was born in New Mexico in 1971 and moved to Yemen with his family at the age of 7. He returned to the United States in 1990 to study engineering at Colorado State University, where he served as president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and delivered sermons at the Islamic Center of the Fort Collins in Fort Collins, Colorado.Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” The New York Times, May 8, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html; Bruce Finley, “Muslim Cleric Targeted by U.S. Made Little Impression During Colorado Years,” The Denver Post, April 11, 2010, http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_14861059. According to terror analyst J.M. Berger, in 1993, Awlaki may have spent his summer training with the muhajideen in Afghanistan.J.M. Berger, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam (Washington, D.C., Potomac Books Inc., 2011), https://books.google.com/books?id=LomKwVXd-o8C&pg=PT184&lpg=PT184&dq=summer+1993+awlaki+%2B+afghanistan&source=bl&ots=JnXxd00Vzf&sig=PbwAmJhS1Qh-JsmKajWKZLcKf2o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7_ZGqtqPPAhWBKB4KHdvEB7oQ6AEIIzAC#v=onepage&q=summer%201993%20awlaki%20%2B%20afghanistan&f=false; Cynthia Ghazali, “Anwar al-Awlaki, Al Qaeda chief, killed in Yemen by U.S. airstrike: Timeline of his life,” NY Daily News, September 30, 2011, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/anwar-al-awlaki-al-qaeda-chief-killed-yemen-u-s-airstrike-timeline-life-article-1.958573.

In the mid-late 1990s, while living in California, Awlaki became more involved in his local Muslim community while privately engaging in illegal activities. Between 1996 and 2000, Awlaki served as imam at the Arribat al-Islami (Rabat) mosque in San Diego,Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” The New York Times, May 8, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html. but was twice arrested for soliciting prostitutes.“Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki 'spent thousands on prostitutes as he traveled the U.S. spreading his message of radical Islam',” Daily Mail, July 2, 2013, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2353860/Al-Qaeda-leader-Anwar-al-Awlaki-spent-thousands-prostitutes.html;
“Anwar al-Awlaki Fast Facts,” CNN, August 23, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/world/meast/anwar-al-awlaki-fast-facts/. Awlaki is also believed to have participated in the financing of terror.J.M. Berger, “Exclusive: U.S. Gave Millions to Charity Linked to Al Qaeda, Anwar Awlaki,” INTELWIRE, April 14, 2010, http://news.intelwire.com/2010/04/us-gave-millions-to-charity-linked-to.html; Tom Hays, “FBI Eyes NYC 'Charity' in Terror Probe,” The Washington Post, February 26, 2004, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9947-2004Feb26.html. From 1998 to 1999, Awlaki served as vice president of the Charitable Society for Social Welfare, which one FBI agent later referred to as a “front organization to funnel money to terrorists.”J.M. Berger, “Exclusive: U.S. Gave Millions to Charity Linked to Al Qaeda, Anwar Awlaki,” INTELWIRE, April 14, 2010, http://news.intelwire.com/2010/04/us-gave-millions-to-charity-linked-to.html; Tom Hays, “FBI Eyes NYC 'Charity' in Terror Probe,” The Washington Post, February 26, 2004, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9947-2004Feb26.html.

The FBI opened an investigation on Awlaki in June 1999 upon receiving a tip that he had been contacted by one of Osama bin Laden’s agents in the United States.The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, official government edition (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004), p. 517, http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf; J.M. Berger, “Anwar Al-Awlaki's Links to the September 11 Hijackers,” Atlantic, September 9, 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/anwar-al-awlakis-links-to-the-september-11-hijackers/244796/. However, the investigation was closed in March of 2000 due to insufficient evidence.Joseph Rhee and Mark Schone, “How Anwar Awlaki Got Away,” ABC News, November 30, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInvestigation/anwar-awlaki/story?id=9200720. Days before the FBI closed his file, Awlaki met and allegedly befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mindhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who reportedly attended the San Diego mosque at which Awlaki preached.The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, official government edition (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004), p. 221, http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf; J.M. Berger, “Anwar Al-Awlaki's Links to the September 11 Hijackers,” Atlantic, September 9, 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/anwar-al-awlakis-links-to-the-september-11-hijackers/244796/. In 2001, Awlaki settled in Falls Church, Virginia, and became imam at the Dar Al Hijrah mosque, one of the largest mosques in the United States.Cynthia Ghazali, “Anwar al-Awlaki, Al Qaeda Chief, Killed in Yemen by U.S. Airstrike: Timeline of His Life,” NY Daily News, September 30, 2011, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/anwar-al-awlaki-al-qaeda-chief-killed-yemen-u-s-airstrike-timeline-life-article-1.958573;
Associated Press, “Al-Qaida Cleric Death: Mixed Emotions at Virginia Mosque Where He Preached,” Guardian (London), September 30, 2011, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/30/anwar-awlaki-mosque-virginia-worshippers; “Inside Dar Al-Hijrah,” Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/inside-dar-al-hijrah/2011/09/02/gIQAZzju2J_gallery.html. That year, Awlaki also reportedly met 9/11 hijacker Hani Hanjour.J.M. Berger, “Anwar Al-Awlaki's Links to the September 11 Hijackers,” Atlantic, September 9, 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/anwar-al-awlakis-links-to-the-september-11-hijackers/244796/. Although Awlaki met these three 9/11 hijackers before the attacks, Awlaki’s complicity in the attacks remains inconclusive. However, one detective told the 9/11 commission that he believed Awlaki “was at the center of the 9/11 story.”Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” The New York Times, May 8, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html.

Awlaki lived in the United States until 2002, when he moved to London before relocating to Yemen as late as 2004.“Anwar al-Awlaki Fast Facts,” CNN, August 23, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/world/meast/anwar-al-awlaki-fast-facts/;
Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” New York Times, May 8, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html. He was jailed in Yemeni prison for 18 months between mid-2006 and late 2007 on charges of kidnapping for ransom and plotting alongside al-Qaeda to kidnap a U.S. military attaché.“Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 16, 2010, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg779.aspx. Soon after his release, Awlaki traveled to his family’s ancestral home in Shabwah province, Yemen, and joined AQAP there a few months later, soon becoming a key leader in the group.Scott Shane, “The Lessons of Anwar al-Awlaki,” New York Times, August 27, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/magazine/the-lessons-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html?_r=0.

As a senior leader of AQAP, Awlaki helped to set the group’s strategic direction, recruit and train operatives, and direct attacks against U.S. interests.“Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 16, 2010, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg779.aspx. In the summer of 2009, Awlaki met with Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—colloquially known as the “underwear bomber”—in Yemen. Awlaki helped Abdulmutallab to film a “martyrdom video,” and instructed him to blow up a civilian airliner above the United States. On Christmas Day, 2009, Abdulmutallab carried out the failed attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit.“United States of America. v. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,” United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division, September 10, 2012, 12-14, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/documents/umar-farouk-abdul-mutallab-sentence-brief.pdf;
David Ariosto and Deborah Feyerick, “Christmas Day Bomber Sentenced to Life in Prison,” CNN, February 17, 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/justice/michigan-underwear-bomber-sentencing/.

Awlaki had documented ties to a number of other terrorists. In early 2009, Awlaki was in contact via email with Nidal Hasan, the U.S. Army Major who in November 2009 killed 13 soldiers at the Fort Hood military post near Killeen, Texas.“Anwar Awlaki E-Mail Exchange with Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan,” INTELWIRE, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html. Roughly a year after the attack, Awlaki referred to Hasan as a “hero.”“In quotes: Anwar al-Awlaki,” BBC News, September 30, 2011, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-15124351. Awlaki was also involved in an October 2010 plot to blow up a U.S. cargo plane flying from Yemen to the United States.“Remarks by the President at the "Change of Office" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ceremony,” The White House, September 30, 2011, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/30/remarks-president-change-office-chairman-joint-chiefs-staff-ceremony. The bomb, disguised as an ink cartridge, was built by AQAP’s chief bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri and was timed to detonate as the plane flew over the eastern seaboard of the United States. The bomb was removed by British police after a tip from Saudi intelligence.Gordon Rayner and Duncan Gardham, “Cargo plane bomb plot: ink cartridge bomb ‘timed to blow up over US,’” Telegraph (London), November 10, 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8124226/Cargo-plane-bomb-plot-ink-cartridge-bomb-timed-to-blow-up-over-US.html. In 2011, Awlaki instructed British citizen Minh Quang Pham to carry out a suicide bombing at London’s Heathrow International Airport. Pham, who trained alongside AQAP in Yemen during the first half of 2011, was arrested by British authorities in June 2012.“Documents in Al Qaeda Case,” New York Times, May 10, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/05/10/world/middleeast/document-al-qaeda-court-case.html?_r=0;
“Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces The Extradition Of Defendant From United Kingdom For Providing Material Support To, And Receiving Military Training From, Al Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 3, 2015, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-extradition-defendant-united-kingdom-providing-material. Despite Awlaki’s principle role in AQAP, at some point in 2010, when AQAP nominated Awlaki as a possible new leader, bin Laden reportedly vetoed the appointment.Peter Bergen, “The Last Days of Osama bin Laden,” Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-last-days-of-osama-bin-laden-11627657283.

President Barack Obama authorized the killing of Awlaki in April 2010. In defense of the decision to target an American citizen, director of national intelligence Dennis C. Blair told a House hearing that “if we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that.”Scott Shane, “U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric,” New York Times, April 6, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/middleeast/07yemen.html?_r=0. In January 2011, Awlaki was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia by a Yemeni court for his connection to the killing of a French engineer in Yemen.“Yemen Sentences Awlaki in Absentia,” Al Jazeera, January 17, 2011, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011117133558339969.html. Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike on September 30, 2011, while traveling between Marib and Jawf provinces in Yemen.Mark Mazzetti, Eric Schmitt, and Robert F. Worth, “Two-Year Manhunt Led to Killing of Awlaki in Yemen,” New York Times, Septmeber 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-is-killed-in-yemen.html.

In the announcement of Awlaki’s death, Obama referred to the U.S.-Yemeni terrorist as AQAP’s “director of external operations.”“Remarks by the President at the "Change of Office" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ceremony,” The White House, September 30, 2011, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/30/remarks-president-change-office-chairman-joint-chiefs-staff-ceremony. While Awlaki took a principal role in directing attacks against the United States, his vast collection of propagandizing material—widely available online—directly inspired individuals around the world to carry out attacks, especially in the West. Among Awlaki’s followers was failed bomber Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Manhattan’s Times Square in May 2010. Shahzad later told investigators that he had been inspired by Awlaki’s online sermons.Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti, “Times Sq. Bomb Suspect Is Linked to Militant Cleric,” New York Times, May 6, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/world/middleeast/07awlaki-.html. Roshonara Choudhry, a British student who stabbed Labor MP Stephen Timms in May 2010 because he had voted in favor of invading Iraq, was also reportedly self-radicalized online by Awlaki’s sermons.Vikram Dodd and Alexandra Topping, “Roshonara Choudhry jailed for life over MP attack,” Guardian (London), November 3, 2010, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/nov/03/roshonara-choudhry-jailed-life-attack.

Even after his death, Awlaki’s ideology has motivated homegrown extremists to commit acts of terror. The Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013, had watched YouTube videos of Awlaki’s lectures.Scott Shane, “The Lessons of Anwar al-Awlaki,” New York Times, August 27, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/magazine/the-lessons-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html?_r=1;
Ann O’Neill, “The 13^th Juror: The radicalization of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,” CNN, March 30, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/us/tsarnaev-13th-juror-jahar-radicalization/;
“United States of America v. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev a/k/a/ ‘Jahar Tsarni,’” United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, June 27, 2013, http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-ma/legacy/2013/06/27/Indictment1.pdf. They also built the pressure cooker bombs used in the attack from instructions in AQAP’s online magazine Inspire, which was founded by Awlaki in 2010.Ian Black, “Inspire magazine: the self-help manual for al-Qaida terrorists,” Guardian (London), May 24, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/may/24/inspire-magazine-self-help-manual-al-qaida-terrorists;
Sari Horwitz, “Investigators sharpen focus on wife of dead Boston bombing suspect,” Washington Post, May 3, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/investigators-sharpen-focus-on-boston-bombing-suspects-widow/2013/05/03/a2cd9d28-b413-11e2-baf7-5bc2a9dc6f44_story.html. In addition, the Kouachi brothers who carried out the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo were both reported to have met Awlaki in Yemen while training with AQAP.“Kouachi brothers had weapons training in Yemen,” Al Jazeera America, January 11, 2015, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/11/kouachi-france.html.

Awlaki’s radicalizing influence was also apparent in the May 2015 attack on the “Draw Muhammad” cartoon contest in Garland, Texas,Dan Frosch and Ana Campoy, “Mother of Texas Gunman Sought to Keep Son From Extremism,” Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/mother-of-texas-gunman-sought-to-keep-son-from-extremism-1430951298. as well as the December 2015 San Bernardino shootings that killed 14. Following the San Bernardino attack, evidence emerged that one of the perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook, had listened to Awlaki’s sermons since at least 2011.“U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: U.S. v. Enrique Marquez, Jr.,” Department of Justice, December 17, 2015, 4, https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/800606/download;
Adam Nagourney, Richard Perez Pena, and Ian Lovett, “Neighbor of San Bernardino Attackers Faces Terrorism Charges,” New York Times, December 17, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/us/san-bernardino-enrique-marquez-charges-justice-department.html. In the wake of the June 2016 Orlando shootings, it was revealed that shooter Omar Mateen had previously listened to Awlaki’s sermons.Gabe Gutierrez and Erik Ortiz, “Friend Who Told FBI About Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen Saw a ‘Red Flag,’” NBC News, June 21, 2016, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/friend-who-told-fbi-about-orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-saw-n596496.

Mohamed Belhoucine is a French jihadist who allegedly was the mentor to Amedy Coulibaly, the pro-ISIS terrorist who carried out the January 9, 2015, kosher supermarket attack in Paris.“France Pushes Back Charlie Hebdo Attack Trial To September,” Barron’s, March 31, 2020, https://www.barrons.com/news/france-pushes-back-charlie-hebdo-attack-trial-to-september-01585657804. Additionally, he has been considered the main facilitator of Coulibaly’s spouse Hayat Boumedienne’s flight to Syria.Boris Thiolay, “Jihadists at bac + 5 level,” L’Express, October 23, 2018, https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/enquete/djihadistes-niveau-bac-5_2039581.html. On December 16, 2020, Belhoucine and 13 others were convicted in France for aiding the 2015 attacks.Valentin Bontemps and Anne-Sophie Lasserre. “French Court Jails 13 Accomplices Over Charlie Hebdo Attack,” International Business Times, December 16, 2020, https://www.ibtimes.com/french-court-jails-13-accomplices-over-charlie-hebdo-attack-3103065.

Belhoucine was a former engineering student at the Albi School of Mines (Tarn). However, he did not complete his studies and dropped out after two years in 2009. In 2010, Belhoucine was arrested by French authorities for his role in the “Afghan sector,” which was a group that allegedly facilitated the travel of jihadists to Afghanistan and Pakistan. On July 11, 2014, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Belhoucine to two years in prison, but his sentence was suspended after one year.Boris Thiolay, “Jihadists at bac + 5 level,” L’Express, October 23, 2018, https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/enquete/djihadistes-niveau-bac-5_2039581.html.

Reports allege that Belhoucine met Coulibaly sometime in 2014 and began to provide Coulibaly with jihadist literature and facilitated Coulibaly’s online communication with jihadist sponsors.Boris Thiolay, “Jihadists at bac + 5 level,” L’Express, October 23, 2018, https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/enquete/djihadistes-niveau-bac-5_2039581.html. On January 9, 2015, Coulibaly opened fire on a Paris kosher supermarket, ultimately killing four people. Coulibaly was subsequently killed in a shootout with police later that day.Ricky Ben-David, “4 dead as French forces storm kosher supermarket, kill gunman; Charlie Hebdo terrorist brothers also killed,” Times of Israel, January 10, 2015, http://www.timesofisrael.com/terror-onslaught-in-paris/. It was reported that Belhoucine had flown into Istanbul from Madrid a week earlier on January 2, 2015. Six days later, he evaded Turkish authorities and reportedly entered Syria with his brother, Mehdi, and Coulibaly’s widow, Hayat Boumedienne.“Paris Gunman ‘was with five others in Madrid’,” The Local, January 11, 2015, https://www.thelocal.es/20150117/paris-gunman-coulibaly-was-with-five-others-in-madrid.

Following the kosher supermarket attack, French authorities inspected Coulibaly’s apartment and discovered Belhoucine’s writings, which included a letter of allegiance to ISIS.Boris Thiolay, “Jihadists at bac + 5 level,” L’Express, October 23, 2018, https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/enquete/djihadistes-niveau-bac-5_2039581.html. Additionally, French authorities discovered that Belhoucine had provided Coulibaly with two encrypted messaging accounts, which Coulibaly used to communicate with the sponsor of the two attacks he later carried out. The sponsor was never identified, but it is alleged he was based in Turkey and operated an account with the name [email protected].Boris Thiolay, “Jihadists at bac + 5 level,” L’Express, October 23, 2018, https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/enquete/djihadistes-niveau-bac-5_2039581.html.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that Belhoucine had been killed in Syria in 2016 following a series of drone strikes carried out by coalition forces in the region.“France Pushes Back Charlie Hebdo Attack Trial To September,” Barron’s, March 31, 2020, https://www.barrons.com/news/france-pushes-back-charlie-hebdo-attack-trial-to-september-01585657804; Sarah Chemla, “France’s ‘most-wanted woman’ absent from 2015 Paris attacks trial,” Jerusalem Post, September 2, 2020, https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/frances-most-wanted-woman-absent-from-2015-paris-attacks-trial-640783.

On September 2, 2020, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutors began the trials of 14 people accused of aiding the 2015 terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and other Paris targets, including the kosher supermarket attack.“France Pushes Back Charlie Hebdo Attack Trial To September,” Barron’s, March 31, 2020, https://www.barrons.com/news/france-pushes-back-charlie-hebdo-attack-trial-to-september-01585657804. Belhoucine was one of three suspects tried in absentia along with his brother Mehdi Belhoucine and Hayat Boumedienne.“France Pushes Back Charlie Hebdo Attack Trial To September,” Barron’s, March 31, 2020, https://www.barrons.com/news/france-pushes-back-charlie-hebdo-attack-trial-to-september-01585657804. According to prosecutors, Belhoucine helped Coulibaly prepare his attack, connected him with ISIS militants, and helped him prepare the video in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS.“Factbox: The Charlie Hebdo attackers and their alleged accomplices,” Reuters, September 1, 2020, https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-charliehebdo-suspects-factbox-idUKKBN25S6B3. All 14 defendants were found guilty on December 16, 2020. Belhoucine received a life sentence, though his whereabouts remain unknown. His brother, Mehdi Belhoucine, was also found guilty but was not sentenced because of what the court claimed to be overwhelming evidence that he was dead.Valentin Bontemps and Anne-Sophie Lasserre. “French Court Jails 13 Accomplices Over Charlie Hebdo Attack,” International Business Times, December 16, 2020, https://www.ibtimes.com/french-court-jails-13-accomplices-over-charlie-hebdo-attack-3103065; Roger Cohen, “French Court Finds 14 People Guilty of Aiding Charlie Hebdo and Anti-Semitic Attacks,” New York Times, December 16, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-trial-guilty.html.

Samantha Lewthwaite, a.k.a. the “White Widow,” is an alleged member of al-Shabab and the former wife of 7/7 London terrorist bomber, Germaine Lindsay.“The White Widow: British woman whose husband bombed London now leads Somali terror group Al-Shabaab,” National Post, August 6, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/news/world/the-white-widow-british-woman-whose-husband-bombed-london-now-leads-somali-terror-group-al-shabaab. Lewthwaite has been implicated in a 2012 bombing at a bar in Mombasa, Kenya, as well as being associated with the 2013 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall which killed over 71 people. Interpol and Kenyan authorities are currently pursuing Lewthwaite for alleged possession of explosives and conspiracy.“The White Widow: British woman whose husband bombed London now leads Somali terror group Al-Shabaab,” National Post, August 6, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/news/world/the-white-widow-british-woman-whose-husband-bombed-london-now-leads-somali-terror-group-al-shabaab.; Esther Addley and Afua Hirsch, “'White widow': Interpol arrest warrant issued for Samantha Lewthwaite,” Guardian, September 26, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/interpol-arrest-warrant-samantha-lewthwaite-white-widow.

According to sources, Lewthwaite was introduced to Islam when her parents divorced in 1994 as she sought comfort from Muslim neighbors who she considered to have a stronger family network. In 2001, when she was 17 years old, Lewthwaite converted to Islam, adopting the name Sherafiyah.Jon Rogers, Evelyn Richards, “MOST WANTED Who is the ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite and where is she now?” The Sun, July 27, 2020, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8092858/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-wanted-terror-netflix/. In 2002, she met Germaine Lindsay at a Stop the War march in London and eventually married him. In September 2004, Lindsay and Lewthwaite met and became close with Mohammad Siddique Khan—the ringleader of the deadly 7/7 bombings—at a mosque in London. On July 7, 2005, Lindsay and three other British men detonated homemade bombs on a London Underground train, killing themselves as well as 26 others.Dominic Casciani, “Kenya terrorism police probe link to 7/7 bomber widow,” BBC News, February 29, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17209899. Although denying association with the 7/7 bombing and claiming her late husband’s mind was poisoned after attending radical mosques, Lewthwaite later fled town with her children.“Profile: Samantha Lewthwaite,” BBC News, September 26, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24204517.

It is alleged that Lewthwaite moved to Kenya in either 2007 or 2011 under a fraudulent passport by the name of Natalie Faye Webb, and shortly after began to work closely with extremist groups in eastern Africa.“Samantha Lewthwaite, Britain’s ‘White Widow’ suspected in Kenya carnage,” Al Arabiya, September 24, 2013, https://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2013/09/24/Is-Britain-s-White-Widow-behind-Kenyan-mall-attacks-.html.; Lauren Morris, “Who is Samantha Lewthwaite? The terror suspect featured in Netflix’s World’s Most Wanted,” Radio Times, August 5, 2020, https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2020-08-05/worlds-most-wanted-fugitives-samantha-lewthwaite-where-now-netflix-documentary/. According to experts, Lewthwaite was originally shielded by an al-Qaeda unit called the “suicide squad,” but later took on a key role in al-Shabab to plan and carry out attacks.“The White Widow: British woman whose husband bombed London now leads Somali terror group Al-Shabaab,” National Post, August 6, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/news/world/the-white-widow-british-woman-whose-husband-bombed-london-now-leads-somali-terror-group-al-shabaab.

In December 2011, Kenyan police raided Lewthwaite’s apartment in Mombasa, Kenya, and found chemicals similar to those used in the 7/7 bombings. Lewthwaite was not in the apartment during the time of the raid, but Kenyan police arrested British citizen Jermaine Grant who claimed to be working for Lewthwaite.David Clark Scott, “Samantha Lewthwaite: Is 'White Widow' behind Kenya mall attack?,” Christian Science Monitor, September 23, 2013, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2013/0923/Samantha-Lewthwaite-Is-White-Widow-behind-Kenya-mall-attack. Kenyan authorities allege the two were planning a bomb attack in Mombasa.Ewan Palmer, “White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite \'Marries al-Shabaab Terror Chief,” International Business Times, May 27, 2014, https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-marries-al-shabaab-terror-chief-1450117. On January 4, 2012, Kenyan authorities issued an arrest warrant for Lewthwaite, but they were unable to locate her.Jon Rogers, Evelyn Richards, “MOST WANTED Who is the ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite and where is she now?” The Sun, July 27, 2020, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8092858/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-wanted-terror-netflix/. In March 2012, it was reported that Lewthwaite fled over the border from Kenya to Somalia.Ewan Palmer, “White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite \'Marries al-Shabaab Terror Chief,” International Business Times, May 27, 2014, https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-marries-al-shabaab-terror-chief-1450117.

Kenyan authorities allege that Lewthwaite was involved in a grenade attack at the Jericho bar in Mombasa on June 24, 2012. Al-Shabab militants targeted the bar as it was filled with tourists watching the Euro 2012 football match between England and Italy. The attack killed three.Rebecca Evans, “Sinister web diary 'of British 7/7 bomb widow': Jihad is an obligation we must accept, says blog,” Daily Mail, July 1, 2012, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167442/Sinister-web-diary-British-7-7-bomb-widow-Jihad-obligation-accept-says-blog.html. Lewthwaite was also implicated in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping center which took place on September 21, 2013, where al-Shabab militants stormed the center with grenades and indiscriminately fired at shoppers. The attack killed at least 71 and injured over 200 others.Daniel Howden, “Terror in Nairobi: the full story behind al-Shabaab's mall attack,” Guardian, October 4, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/westgate-mall-attacks-kenya.; Jon Rogers, Evelyn Richards, “MOST WANTED Who is the ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite and where is she now?” The Sun, July 27, 2020, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8092858/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-wanted-terror-netflix/.

On September 26, 2013, Interpol issued a red notice for Lewthwaite on charges of possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.Esther Addley and Afua Hirsch, “'White widow': Interpol arrest warrant issued for Samantha Lewthwaite,” Guardian, September 26, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/interpol-arrest-warrant-samantha-lewthwaite-white-widow. In May 2014, British intelligence sources claimed Lewthwaite married Hassan Maalim Ibrahim, a.k.a. Sheikh Hassan, a senior leader of al-Shabab in Somalia.Russell Myers and Stewart Whittingham, “White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite marries ruthless terror chief on the run in lawless Somalia,” Daily Mirror, May 26, 2014, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-marries-3611431. Lewthwaite’s whereabouts are still unknown, although it is suspected that she is being protected by al-Shabab operatives on the Somalia-Kenya border.“The White Widow: British woman whose husband bombed London now leads Somali terror group Al-Shabaab,” National Post, August 6, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/news/world/the-white-widow-british-woman-whose-husband-bombed-london-now-leads-somali-terror-group-al-shabaab.

Abu Hamza al-Qurashi was the spokesman for ISIS. He began serving as spokesman in October 2019, making major announcements for the terror group.Rukmini Callimachi and Eric Schmitt, “Isis Names New Leader as It Confirms Al-Bagdadi’s death,” New York Times, October 31, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/middleeast/isis-al-baghdadi-dead.html; “Islamic State names its new leader as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi,” BBC News, October 31, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50254785. On March 10, 2022, ISIS released an audio recording confirming the death of Qurashi.“IS Names New Leader, Confirms Death Of Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi,” Agence France Presse, March 10, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/news/is-names-new-leader-confirms-death-of-abu-ibrahim-al-qurashi-01646930407?tesla=y.

Qurashi replaced former ISIS spokesman Abu Hasan al-Muhajir, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in late October 2019 in Syria shortly after the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, “Baghdadi’s successor likely to be Iraqi religious scholar,” CNN, October 29, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/28/politics/isis-leadership-contender-al-mawla/index.html; Isabel Coles, Nazih Osseiran, and Jessica Donati, “Islamic State Spokesman Killed in U.S. Airstrike,” Wall Street Journal, October 28, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-spokesman-targeted-in-u-s-airstrike-say-kurds-11572268364; “Islamic State group names its new leader as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi,” BBC News, October 31, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50254785. On October 31, 2019, Qurashi announced Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi—a.k.a. Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla—as the new leader of ISIS. He declared that ISIS’s shura council had met quickly after Baghdadi’s death to select his replacement and called on Muslims to pledge allegiance to the new leader.Rukmini Callimachi and Eric Schmitt, “Isis Names New Leader as It Confirms Al-Bagdadi’s death,” New York Times, October 31, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/middleeast/isis-al-baghdadi-dead.html; “Islamic State names its new leader as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi,” BBC News, October 31, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50254785.

On January 27, 2020, Qurashi delivered an audio speech, distributed by ISIS’s al-Furqan Media, calling for ISIS’s followers around the world to travel to the nearest ISIS province and join a training camp. Qurashi called for the slaughter of “the Jews inside Palestine and outside of Palestine” and wherever they can be found. Qurashi further called on followers to increase strikes against ISIS’s enemies using snipers, IEDs, silencers, and boobytraps.“ISIS Spokesman Dismisses Trump’s Declarations Of Annihilating ISIS, Declares War On Israel: 'Oh Soldiers Of The Caliphate Everywhere... Go For The Israeli Settlements And Marketplaces; Turn Them Into Lands For Testing Your Weapons... Attack The Jews And Slaughter Them,’” MEMRI, January 27, 2020, https://www.memri.org/reports/isis-spokesman-dismisses-trumps-declarations-annihilating-isis-declares-war-israel-oh.

On May 28, 2020, Qurashi released a message extending greetings from Mawla and calling for ISIS’s followers to continue their war of attrition.Hassan Hassan, Twitter post, May 28, 2020, 11:38 a.m., https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1266031106253565958. Qurashi referred to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 as a divine punishment for the “crusaders” who are now facing the same misery ISIS has faced through lockdowns and bodies in the streets. Qurashi said the virus has distanced ISIS’s enemies and kept them occupied and promised “big changes in the region that’ll offer greater opportunities than” ISIS “previously had in the past decade.”Hassan Hassan, Twitter post, May 28, 2019, 10:54 a.m., https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1266019995659702273; Hassan Hassan, Twitter post, May 28, 2019, 11:01 a.m., https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1266021717169917959; Hassan Hassan, Twitter post, May 28, 2019, 11: 34 a.m., https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1266030188934115333.

Qurashi released an audio recording on October 18, 2020, through ISIS’s official Telegram channel calling for the overthrow of “tyrannical” Arab rulers. The statement was released in the midst of normalization agreements between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain with Israel. The move by the UAE and Bahrain promises complete normalization of diplomatic, commercial, security, and other relations with Israel in exchange for Jerusalem suspending annexation of occupied West Bank territory. Qurashi further called on ISIS operatives and supporters in Saudi Arabia and Africa to attack Western citizens and interests.“Spotlight on Global Jihad (October 15-21, 2020),” The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, October 22, 2020, https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/spotlight-on-global-jihad-october-15-21-2020/; “In response to normalization … ISIS calls for attacks in the...,” Al Khaleej Today, October 19, 2020, https://alkhaleejtoday.co/saudi-arabia/5139962/In-response-to-normalization-%E2%80%A6-ISIS-calls-for-attacks-in-the.html; Jonathan Hoffman, “Why Gulf nations are normalizing ties with Israel,” Washington Post, September 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/24/why-gulf-nations-are-normalizing-ties-with-israel/; Peter Baker, Isabel Kershner, David D. Kirkpatrick and Ronen Bergman, “Israel and United Arab Emirates Strike Major Diplomatic Agreement,” August 13, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/politics/trump-israel-united-arab-emirates-uae.html.

On June 22, 2021, ISIS released an audio message attributed to Qurashi. In the message, ISIS renewed its threats against Sunni tribal fighters aligned with the Iraqi government saying Sunni fighters should “not deceive yourselves that you are safe and that our swords can’t reach you, but we are delaying raiding your houses in the hope you repent.”Sinan Mahmoud, “ISIS issues warning to Iraqi Sunnis but struggles to regroup,” The National, June 23, 2021, https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/isis-issues-warning-to-iraqi-sunnis-but-struggles-to-regroup-1.1247357. Qurashi also hailed militants in central and northern Iraq and called for the release of “prisoners of atheists and apostates.”Sinan Mahmoud, “ISIS issues warning to Iraqi Sunnis but struggles to regroup,” The National, June 23, 2021, https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/isis-issues-warning-to-iraqi-sunnis-but-struggles-to-regroup-1.1247357.

Arabic-speaking observers suspected Qurashi was Iraqi based on his dialect.Hassan Hassan, Twitter post, May 28, 2020, 2:03 p.m., https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1266067678642536449.

On March 10, 2022, ISIS released an audio recording confirming the death of Qurashi as well as leader Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla. According to the statement, the two were “killed in recent days.”“IS Names New Leader, Confirms Death Of Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi,” Agence France Presse, March 10, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/news/is-names-new-leader-confirms-death-of-abu-ibrahim-al-qurashi-01646930407?tesla=y.

Jasimuddin Rahmani is a Bangladeshi radical Islamist cleric and spiritual leader of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a banned terrorist organization in Bangladesh.Vidhi Doshi, “Authorities in Bangladesh say Manhattan bombing suspect was self-radicalized,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/authorities-in-bangladesh-say-manhattan-bomber-wasself-radicalized/2017/12/13/b58cebb8-debf-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_story.html. In February 2013, a secular activist and blogger was killed by a group of students in a machete attack in Dhaka. Two other bloggers were murdered in a similar manner in the subsequent months.Geeta Anand and Julfikar Ali Manik, “Bangladesh Says It Now Knows Who’s Killing the Bloggers,” New York Times, June 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/world/asia/bangladesh-killings-bloggers.html; Agence France-Presse, “Two sentenced to death for Bangladesh blogger murder,” Guardian, December 31, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/31/two-sentenced-death-bangladesh-blogger-ahmed-rajib-haider. ABT was implicated in the attacks, and the students involved were allegedly inspired by Rahmani’s sermons, which called for the deaths of individuals opposed to Islam.“Bangladesh bans Islamist group accused of blogger attacks,” BBC News, May 25, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32879662; Geeta Anand and Julfikar Ali Manik, “Bangladesh Says It Now Knows Who’s Killing the Bloggers,” New York Times, June 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/world/asia/bangladesh-killings-bloggers.html; Agence France-Presse, “Two sentenced to death for Bangladesh blogger murder,” Guardian, December 31, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/31/two-sentenced-death-bangladesh-blogger-ahmed-rajib-haider; Jufilkar Ali Manik, “Preaching militancy, building network,” Daily Star (Dhaka), August 14, 2013, http://www.thedailystar.net/news/preaching-militancy-building-network. Rahmani was arrested in August 2013 and convicted in December 2015 for his role in inciting the murders.Jufilkar Ali Manik, “Preaching militancy, building network,” Daily Star (Dhaka), August 14, 2013, http://www.thedailystar.net/news/preaching-militancy-building-network; “Court accepts charges against ABT chief, 9 others,” Daily Star (Dhaka), November 9, 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/city/court-accepts-charges-against-abt-chief-9-others-1311745. He was sentenced to five years in prison.“Court accepts charges against ABT chief, 9 others,” Daily Star (Dhaka), November 9, 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/city/court-accepts-charges-against-abt-chief-9-others-1311745.

Reportedly inspired by the teachings of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, Rahmani began to propagate his own radical views in Bangladesh since at least 2007, through speeches, publications, and online communications. Around 2008, he began to construct a radical Islamist network called the Ansurallah Bangla Team (ABT) that operated in small cells across the country. ABT’s membership was reportedly largely composed of wealthy university students, and the group’s ultimate objective was to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh.Jufilkar Ali Manik, “Preaching militancy, building network,” Daily Star (Dhaka), August 14, 2013, http://www.thedailystar.net/news/preaching-militancy-building-network. In addition to organizing and leading ABT, Rahmani was also a leader at a mosque in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.Agence France-Presse, “Two sentenced to death for Bangladesh blogger muder,” Guardian, December 31, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/31/two-sentenced-death-bangladesh-blogger-ahmed-rajib-haider.

On February 15, 2013, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a secular activist and blogger critical of Islamic fundamentalism was hacked to death with a machete by a group of students from North South University in Dhaka. Two more so-called “atheist bloggers” were killed in a similar manner in the following two months. The assailants had regularly listened to Rahmani speak at their local mosque, and had allegedly been inspired by his sermons. During his sermons, Rahmani had decreed a fatwa on bloggers who criticized Islam, preaching that it was legal––and necessary––for them to be killed.Geeta Anand and Julfikar Ali Manik, “Bangladesh Says It Now Knows Who’s Killing the Bloggers,” New York Times, June 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/world/asia/bangladesh-killings-bloggers.html; Agence France-Presse, “Two sentenced to death for Bangladesh blogger murder,” Guardian, December 31, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/31/two-sentenced-death-bangladesh-blogger-ahmed-rajib-haider; Jufilkar Ali Manik, “Preaching militancy, building network,” Daily Star (Dhaka), August 14, 2013, http://www.thedailystar.net/news/preaching-militancy-building-network.

On August 12, 2013, Rahmani and 30 of his followers were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killings.Jufilkar Ali Manik, “Preaching militancy, building network,” Daily Star (Dhaka), August 14, 2013, http://www.thedailystar.net/news/preaching-militancy-building-network. On December 31, 2015, Rahmani was found guilty of inciting the murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider through his radical sermons and was sentenced to five years in prison.“Court accepts charges against ABT chief, 9 others,” Daily Star (Dhaka), November 9, 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/city/court-accepts-charges-against-abt-chief-9-others-1311745. Investigations implicated ABT in all three of the murders, and on May 25, 2015, Bangladesh officially banned the group.“Bangladesh bans Islamist group accused of blogger attacks,” BBC News, May 25, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32879662.

On November 8, 2016, additional charges were filed against Rahmani under Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act for planning to take control of territory and wage violent jihad in the country.“Court accepts charges against ABT chief, 9 others,” Daily Star (Dhaka), November 9, 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/city/court-accepts-charges-against-abt-chief-9-others-1311745.

Akayed Ullah, the Bangladeshi U.S. immigrant who carried out an attempted suicide bombing in a New York City subway passageway on December 11, 2017, was reportedly inspired in part by the writings and online sermons of Rahmani.Tracy Connor, “Akayed Ullah hears charges in NYC subway bombing from hospital bed,” NBC News, December 13, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/akayed-ullah-hears-charges-nyc-subway-bombing-hospital-bed-n829346; Vidhi Doshi, “Authorities in Bangladesh say Manhattan bombing suspect was self-radicalized,” Washington Post, December 13, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/authorities-in-bangladesh-say-manhattan-bomber-wasself-radicalized/2017/12/13/b58cebb8-debf-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_story.html.

Mirsad Kandic was a Kosovo-born U.S. legal permanent resident who traveled from New York to Istanbul, Turkey, in 2013 to work as a recruiter for ISIS. In this role, he made arrangements for foreign fighters from around the world to travel to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS, including Australian teenager Jake Bilardi who carried out a suicide attack in March 2015. Kandic also worked for the terrorist group’s media arm, managing more than 100 propaganda accounts on Twitter.“New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. Kandic relocated to Bosnia in January 2017, where he went into hiding, and was arrested by Bosnian authorities in July.Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4; “Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta. He was charged with one count of conspiracy and five counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization by a Brooklyn federal court in August and extradited to the United States on October 31 to await trial.Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4; “United States of America v. Mirsad Kandic,” U.S. Department of Justice, August 27, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1008001/download.

Kandic was born in Kosovo in 1981.“Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta. Sometime before 2005, he immigrated to the United States, where he became a legal permanent resident and resided in the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. In 2005, Kandic reportedly expressed a desire to travel to the Middle East and wage violent jihad against U.S. military forces. He was placed on the U.S. no-fly list.“United States of America v. Mirsad Kandic,” U.S. Department of Justice, August 27, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1008001/download; “New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states; Emily Saul, “Brooklyn-man-turned-ISIS propagandist extradited to US,” New York Post, November 1, 2017, http://nypost.com/2017/11/01/brooklyn-man-turned-isis-%E2%80%8Bpropagandist-extradited-to-us/.

Kandic traveled to Istanbul, Turkey in December 2013, reportedly using fake documents to circumvent his designation on the no-fly list.“Ex-New Yorker accused of trying to recruit for ISIS,” CBS News, November 1, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-new-yorker-accused-of-trying-to-recruit-for-isis/; “New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. He joined ISIS and worked for the group from Turkey. In his primary role as recruiter, Kandic communicated with potential foreign fighter recruits and helped them arrange documentation and travel plans so that they could travel to Iraq and Syria and join ISIS. Kandic allegedly recruited individuals from around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4; “United States of America v. Mirsad Kandic,” U.S. Department of Justice, August 27, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1008001/download; “New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. In a recorded voice memo to an ISIS associate, Kandic reportedly stated that he recruited over 20,000 individuals in total.“New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. One of Kandic’s recruits was Jake Bilardi, an Australian teenager known as “Jihadi Jake” who traveled to the Middle East in August 2014. Kandic helped Bilardi arrange his travel from Melbourne to Istanbul, and also encouraged him to carry out a suicide attack, stating that he hoped that his organs would “implode.” After Bilardi carried out a suicide attack in Ramadi, Iraq, on March 11, 2015, Kandic publicized the attack on Twitter.Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4; “New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states; Jared Owens and Paul Maley, “Aussie teen Jake Bilardi carries out suicide bombing says Islamic State,” Australian (Surry Hills), March 12, 2015, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/aussie-teen-jake-bilardi-carries-out-suicide-bombing-says-islamic-state/news-story/bafd57d595452aa84600ece89fe98043.

Kandic also managed some of ISIS’s social media accounts and propagandized on behalf of the group. He controlled more than 100 Twitter accounts through which he provided updates about ISIS’s attacks and territorial gains.“New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. He also expressed praise for major ISIS-claimed terror attacks around the world, including the May 2015 shooting in Garland, Texas, and the November 2015 Paris attacks.Emily Saul, “Brooklyn-man-turned-ISIS propagandist extradited to US,” New York Post, November 1, 2017, http://nypost.com/2017/11/01/brooklyn-man-turned-isis-%E2%80%8Bpropagandist-extradited-to-us/. Kandic reportedly also used WhatsApp to communicate with high-ranking ISIS officials.“OPASNI SARADNIK ISIL-A IZRUČEN SAD-u: Teroristički logističar skrivao se pola godine na Grbavici!” Oslobođenje (Sarajevo), October 31, 2017, https://www.oslobodjenje.ba/vijesti/bih/opasni-saradnik-isil-a-izrucen-sad-u-teroristicki-logisticar-skrivao-se-pola-godine-na-grbavici. In one online communication, Kandic stated that he worked in ISIS’s Border Office in Turkey and helped to conduct background checks of foreign fighter recruits. He also stated that he frequently traveled into ISIS territory, including ISIS’s de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, for his work.“New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states. According to Bosnian Minister of Security Dragan Mektić, Kandic also oversaw weapons supply and was the head of ISIS’s intelligence service.“Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta.

The United States issued a warrant for Kandic’s arrest in 2014, and an Interpol Red Notice was issued for his arrest in 2016.“SAD: Mirsad Kandić optužen za pomaganje ISIL-u,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 2, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/sad-mirsad-kandic-optuzen-za-pomaganje-isil-u. In January 2017, Kandic relocated to Bosnia, entering the country under the alias “Ivan Popović.”Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4; “Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta. According to Bosnian Minister of Security Mektić, Kandic had at least ten false identities. Once in Bosnia, Kandic went into hiding under the alias “Edin Radončić.”“Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta. However, after a transmission on his mobile phone alerted Bosnian authorities of his presence in the country in January, they immediately launched a search for him.“OPASNI SARADNIK ISIL-A IZRUČEN SAD-u: Teroristički logističar skrivao se pola godine na Grbavici!” Oslobođenje (Sarajevo), October 31, 2017, https://www.oslobodjenje.ba/vijesti/bih/opasni-saradnik-isil-a-izrucen-sad-u-teroristicki-logisticar-skrivao-se-pola-godine-na-grbavici. Bosnia’s State Investigation and Protection Agency discovered his location in Sarajevo on July 4 and arrested him shortly afterward.“Mektić o hapšenju u Sarajevu: Saradnik ISIL-a koristio deset identiteta,” Al Jazeera Balkans, November 1, 2017, http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/mektic-o-hapsenju-u-sarajevu-saradnik-isil-koristio-deset-identiteta. On August 17, a federal court in Brooklyn charged him with one count of conspiracy and five counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization, which carry the possibility of a life prison sentence if convicted.“United States of America v. Mirsad Kandic,” U.S. Department of Justice, August 27, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1008001/download; “New York Resident Charged With Providing Material Support to ISIS, Extradited to United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 1, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-resident-charged-providing-material-support-isis-extradited-united-states; “Ex-New Yorker accused of trying to recruit for ISIS,” CBS News, November 1, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-new-yorker-accused-of-trying-to-recruit-for-isis/. Kandic was extradited to the United States on October 31, and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him the following day in Brooklyn federal court.Brendan Pierson, “Former Brooklyn resident charged in U.S. with aiding Islamic State,” Reuters, November 1, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-islamic-state/former-brooklyn-resident-charged-in-u-s-with-aiding-islamic-state-idUSKBN1D15L4.

Ahmed Ajaj is a Palestinian convicted for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others.Robin Wright and John-Thor Dahlburg, “Legwork, Luck Closed Net Around Bombing Suspect: A mysterious informer’s tip capped an intense search for alleged mastermind of trade center blast,” Los Angeles Times, February 12, 1995, http://articles.latimes.com/1995-02-12/news/mn-31228_1_trade-center-bombing/2; Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html. Ajaj met Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the bombing, at a jihadist training camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.Mark S. Hamm, Terrorism as Crime (New York and London: New York University Press, 2007), 32, https://books.google.com/books?id=VkAdEJZou64C(accessed October 24, 2017). Although Ajaj was arrested for a passport violation upon his return to the United States, he remained in contact with Yousef and continued to help plot the attack from prison.Robert L. Jackson and John J. Goldman, “4 Found Guilty in Plot to Bomb N.Y. Trade Center : Terrorism: Musli extremists are convicted a year after the blast that killed six and injured 1,000. Verdict is met with angry outbursts in Manhattan courtroom,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-03-05/news/mn-30117_1_trade-center; Alison Mitchell, “A SIXTH SUSPECT CHARGED IN BLAST,” New York Times, May 7, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/07/nyregion/a-sixth-suspect-charged-in-blast.html. Ajaj was convicted of ten counts related the bombing in March 1994 and was sentenced to a life in prison without parole two months later.Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html; Robert L. Jackson, “Islamic Militants Given Life Terms in N.Y. Bombing : Terrorism: Judge says the four ‘violated the laws not only of man, but God’ in killing six at World Trade Center. Group sought to punish U.S. for backing Israel,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-25/news/mn-61988_1_world-trade-center.

Ajaj was born in Jerusalem and raised on the West Bank. He and his family returned to Jerusalem after their home was torn down to make way for an Israeli settlement.John J. Goldman, “Palestinian Held in World Trade Center Bombing : Suspect: Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammed Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center; Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html. He was reportedly arrested in October 1987 by Israeli authorities for an undetermined reason and imprisoned until November 1989. He was reportedly deported to Jordan in May 1991John J. Goldman, “Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center.. Later that year, Ajaj traveled to the United States, claiming political asylum.Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html. In a 1993 affidavit, he alleged that he went to the United States to seek shelter “from Israeli occupation and torture,” claiming that he had been interrogated and beaten by Israeli authorities on multiple occasions.John J. Goldman, “Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center; Richard Bernstein, “Questioning Focuses on One Defendant,” New York Times, November 11, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/11/nyregion/questioning-focuses-on-one-defendant.html. In the United States, he stayed with relatives in Houston and worked at a Domino’s Pizza. According to the New York Times, he was a “deeply religious” Muslim.Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html.

In April 1992, Ajaj traveled from New York to Peshawar, Pakistan, under the alias Ibraham Salameh. He went to a jihadist training camp called Camp Khaldan on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, but was reportedly instructed to travel to Saudi Arabia to obtain a letter of recommendation. He traveled to Saudi Arabia in May and returned to the camp in June with the requisite letter. At the camp, he took a course on bomb construction taught by Ramzi Yousef, who would become the lead plotter of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.Mark S. Hamm, Terrorism as Crime (New York and London: New York University Press, 2007), 32, https://books.google.com/books?id=VkAdEJZou64C(accessed October 24, 2017).

Ajaj returned to the United States on September 1, 1992, on the same flight as Yousef.John J. Goldman, “Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center; Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html. Upon his arrival, Ajaj was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport for trying to enter the country with a forged Swedish passport containing the name Khurram Khan.John J. Goldman, “Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center; Richard Bernstein, “Questioning Focuses on One Defendant,” New York Times, November 11, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/11/nyregion/questioning-focuses-on-one-defendant.html. He was found to be in possession of four passports with different names, two photo identification cards, and twelve military manuals that included instructions on how to build the type of bomb used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html; Richard Bernstein, “Questioning Focuses on One Defendant,” New York Times, November 11, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/11/nyregion/questioning-focuses-on-one-defendant.html. He was imprisoned at a federal prison in New York after pleading guilty to a passport violation.Alison Mitchell, “A SIXTH SUSPECT CHARGED IN BLAST,” New York Times, May 7, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/07/nyregion/a-sixth-suspect-charged-in-blast.html.

On February 26, 1993, while Ajaj was still in prison, a 1,500-pound bomb planted in a truck parked in the basement garage of the World Trade Center’s North Tower exploded, creating a hole of 200 feet by 100 feet. The attack killed six people, injured more than 1,000 others, and caused $500 million in damage. The bomb had been intended to topple both towers.Robin Wright and John-Thor Dahlburg, “Legwork, Luck Closed Net Around Bombing Suspect: A mysterious informer’s tip capped an intense search for alleged mastermind of trade center blast,” Los Angeles Times, February 12, 1995, http://articles.latimes.com/1995-02-12/news/mn-31228_1_trade-center-bombing/2. Ajaj was released from prison on March 1, only to be arrested again eight days later.John J. Goldman, “Lawyers say Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj has been wrongfully detained. He was in prison on a passport violation at the time of the blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/mn-31904_1_trade-center. The FBI linked Ajaj to Yousef, already a suspect in the bombing, whose fingerprints were found in two of Ajaj’s bomb-making manuals.Alison Mitchell, “A SIXTH SUSPECT CHARGED IN BLAST,” New York Times, May 7, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/07/nyregion/a-sixth-suspect-charged-in-blast.html; Richard Bernstein, “Hundreds of Fingerprints Introduced in Blast Trial, New York Times, February 3, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/03/nyregion/hundreds-of-fingerprints-introduced-in-blast-trial.html. Further investigation revealed that Ajaj had participated in the plot from prison. While in prison, he remained in contact with Yousef and the others involved in the plot, often placing his calls through an intermediary. Ajaj also reportedly made calls to the apartment where the bomb was assembled during its construction.Robert L. Jackson and John J. Goldman, “4 Found Guilty in Plot to Bomb N.Y. Trade Center : Terrorism: Musli extremists are convicted a year after the blast that killed six and injured 1,000. Verdict is met with angry outbursts in Manhattan courtroom,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-03-05/news/mn-30117_1_trade-center; Mark S. Hamm, Terrorism as Crime (New York and London: New York University Press, 2007), 32, https://books.google.com/books?id=VkAdEJZou64C(accessed October 24, 2017); Foreign Terrorists in America: Five Years After the World Trade Center: Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, 1998 Leg.., statement of J. Gilmore Childers and Henry J. DePippo. https://fas.org/irp/congress/1998_hr/s980224c.htm. After a court ordered the government to return Ajaj’s belongings, which included the bomb-making manuals, Ajaj arranged for them to be delivered to Yousef.Foreign Terrorists in America: Five Years After the World Trade Center: Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, 1998 Leg.., statement of J. Gilmore Childers and Henry J. DePippo. https://fas.org/irp/congress/1998_hr/s980224c.htm.

On May 6, 1993, Ajaj was charged with conspiring to destroy the World Trade Center.Palestinian Charged in Trade Center Blast,” Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1993, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-07/news/mn-32413_1_trade-center. Ajaj went on trial in October 1993 along with three others charged in connection with the bombing, Mohammed A. Salamen, Nihad A. Ayyad, and Mahmud Abouhalima.“1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts,” CNN, February 21, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/05/us/1993-world-trade-center-bombing-fast-facts/index.html. On March 4, 1994, all four defendants were convicted in federal court. Ajaj was convicted of ten counts, which included counts of conspiracy, property destruction, and international travel as part of committing a crime.Richard Bernstein, “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S.,” New York Times, March 5, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-4-are-convicted-bombing-world-trade-center-that-killed-6.html. On May 23, Ajaj and the three others were sentenced to 240 years in prison without parole.Robert L. Jackson, “Islamic Militants Given Life Terms in N.Y. Bombing : Terrorism: Judge says the four ‘violated the laws not only of man, but God’ in killing six at World Trade Center. Group sought to punish U.S. for backing Israel,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-25/news/mn-61988_1_world-trade-center.

While imprisoned in the 1990s, Ajaj was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a lung removed. He spent time in prisons in Texas and New York, participated in a hunger strike, and attempted to file further claims in his defense.Benjamin Weiser, “Trade Center Terrorist Ends Hunger Strike Under Threat,” New York Times, January 30, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/30/nyregion/trade-center-terrorist-ends-hunger-strike-under-threat.html. As of 2011, Ajaj was imprisoned at the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, the nation’s highest security prison.“DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communiations Management Units,” NPR, March 3, 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/03/08/134227726/data-graphics-population-of-the-communications-management-units.

Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, an Uzbek national who immigrated to the United States in 2010, drove a truck for roughly a mile down a bike path in New York City on October 31, 2017, in a vehicular attack that killed eight people and injured at least 12 others.Benjamin Mueller et. al, “Terror Attack Kills 8 and Injures 11 in Manhattan,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html; Corey Kilgannon and Joseph Goldstein, “Sayfullo Saipov, the Suspect in the New York Terror Attack, and His Past,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-manhattan-truck-attack.html; “Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html. He was ultimately taken into custody after being shot by a police officer.Mahita Gajanan and Alana Abramsom, “What to Know About New York City Terror Attack Suspect Sayfullo Saipov,” Time, November 1, 2017, http://time.com/5004635/new-york-city-attack-suspect-sayfullo-saipov-lower-manhattan/; Benjamin Mueller et. al, “Terror Attack Kills 8 and Injures 11 in Manhattan,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html. Saipov was charged with multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, providing material support to ISIS, and one count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle causing death.“Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html. In an interview with authorities, Saipov stated that he had been inspired to carry out the attack by ISIS propaganda videos.“Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html. Saipov was convicted on multiple terrorism charges on January 26, 2023.Luc Cohen, “Jury convicts New York bike path attacker, to weigh death penalty,” Reuters, January 26, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/legal/man-behind-new-york-bike-path-attack-convicted-murder-2023-01-26/. He was formally sentenced to life in prison on May 17, 2023.Luc Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, “New York bike-path attacker sentenced to life after victims confront him,” Reuters, May 17, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/man-convicted-new-york-bike-path-attack-be-formally-sentenced-life-2023-05-17/.

Saipov immigrated to the United States from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in March 2010, through the State Department’s Diversity Visa Program––a lottery program for countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.Corey Kilgannon and Joseph Goldstein, “Sayfullo Saipov, the Suspect in the New York Terror Attack, and His Past,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-manhattan-truck-attack.html; Travis Fedschun, “NYC terror attack suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, entered US through Diversity Visa Program,” Fox News, November 1, 2017, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/01/nyc-terror-attack-suspect-sayfullo-saipov-entered-us-through-diversity-visa-program.html. Through the program, Saipov became a U.S. legal permanent resident.Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html; Kurtis Lee, “Here’s the visa program New York terrorism suspect Sayfullo Saipov used to get into the country,” Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-diversity-visa-20171101-htmlstory.html. Upon arriving in the United States, Saipov first settled in Ohio. He worked as a truck driver and eventually came to own two trucking companies.Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html; Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html. Saipov married an Uzbek woman, Nozima Odilova, in 2013, and in the summer of 2015, the couple moved to Tampa, Florida.Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html; Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html. In Florida, Saipov reportedly had difficulty finding work and struggled with his finances. He attended a mosque in Tampa, where he reportedly attracted some concern due to his extremist beliefs. Other acquaintances reported that Saipov had espoused extremist beliefs ever since his arrival in the United States in 2010.Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html.

Saipov was ticketed in Missouri in December 2015 for an equipment violation as a truck driver. He was briefly taken into custody in 2016 because he failed to pay the requisite fine, but was released after posting a bond. In March 2017, Saipov, his wife, and three children moved to Paterson, New Jersey.Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html. There, Saipov worked as an Uber driver.Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html.

According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Saipov stated that he began planning the attack about a year in advance, and made the decision to use a truck about two months prior “in order to inflict maximum damage against civilians.“Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html.” In the weeks preceding the attack, Saipov reportedly drove multiple times to the area of the attack and, on October 22, he rented a truck from Home Depot to take a test drive.Jonathan Dienst et al, “Sayfullo Saipov’s Path from Immigrant Trucker to Accused Terrorist,” NBC News, November 1, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/nyc-terrorist-attack/sayfullo-saipov-s-path-immigrant-trucker-accused-terrorist-n816331; Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html; “Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html. Saipov also stated that he considered putting ISIS flags on the outside of his truck, but ultimately decided not to because he did not want to attract attention. He stated that he decided to carry out the attack on Halloween because he thought there would be more people on the streets and wanted to “kill as many people as he could.”“Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html.

On October 31, 2017, Saipov rented a pickup truck from a Home Depot in Paissac, New Jersey, at about 2:06 p.m., then drove into Manhattan. At 3:04 p.m., he drove the truck southbound onto a crowded bike path for about a mile alongside the West Side Highway near Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring at least 12 others. After crashing into a school bus, he jumped out of the truck holding a pellet and paintball gun and began shouting, “Allahu akbar.”Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html; Benjamin Mueller et. al, “Terror Attack Kills 8 and Injures 11 in Manhattan,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html; “Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html. A police officer shot Saipov in the abdomen, and he was taken into the hospital in critical condition to undergo surgery.Mahita Gajanan and Alana Abramsom, “What to Know About New York City Terror Attack Suspect Sayfullo Saipov,” Time, November 1, 2017, http://time.com/5004635/new-york-city-attack-suspect-sayfullo-saipov-lower-manhattan/; Benjamin Mueller et. al, “Terror Attack Kills 8 and Injures 11 in Manhattan,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html; Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html. In the truck, authorities found a stun gun and a bag containing three knives.“Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html. Authorities also found a document indicating his allegiance to ISIS at the scene of the attack.Benjamin Mueller et. al, “Terror Attack Kills 8 and Injures 11 in Manhattan,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/police-shooting-lower-manhattan.html; “Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html.

Authorities determined that Saipov had been inspired by ISIS propaganda. John Miller, New York Police Department deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, stated that Saipov appeared to have followed instructions “almost to a T,” which ISIS published in its November 2016 issue of its English-language propaganda magazine, Rumiyah, on how to carry out a truck attack.Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html. Saipov was questioned by authorities while in custody. During the interview, Saipov told authorities that he had been inspired to carry out the attack by ISIS videos––particularly one in which ISIS emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi asked what Muslims in the West were doing in response to the killing of Muslims in Iraq. Authorities found 90 ISIS propaganda videos on his cell phone, including a bomb-making instruction video, a beheading video, a video in which a prisoner is shot, and a video in which a prisoner is run over by a vehicle. Authorities also reported that out of 3,800 images on the phone, there were “many” that appeared to be ISIS-related, including images of Baghdadi. Furthermore, during his interview with authorities, Saipov stated that he “felt good about what he had done” and asked to display ISIS’s flag in his hospital room.“Complaint Against Suspect in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/01/us/document-U-S-v-Sayfullo-Saipov-Complaint.html.

On November 1, federal prosecutors filed charges against Saipov in civilian court, which included one count of providing material support to terrorists and one count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle causing death. The latter charge carries the possibility of the death penalty.Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html. On November 22, he was indicted in federal court on 22 charges, including multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeering, providing and attempting to provide material aid to ISIS, and one count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle resulting in death.“Sayfullo Saipov Charged With Terrorism and Murder in Aid of Racketeering in Connection With Lower Manhattan Truck Attack,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 21, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/sayfullo-saipov-charged-terrorism-and-murder-aid-racketeering-connection-lower-manhattan. In June 2018, he was charged with an additional six counts of attempted murder.Kaja Whitehouse, “Alleged bike-path terrorist faces additional murder charges,” New York Post, June 20, 2018, https://nypost.com/2018/06/20/alleged-bike-path-terrorist-faces-additional-murder-charges/. Saipov has pled not guilty but his lawyers have said he is willing to plead guilty if he is spared the death penalty.Larry Neumeister, “Lawyers: Bike path attack defendant willing to plead guilty,” Associated Press, January 17, 2018, https://www.apnews.com/1cfc28fcb9c546858beb8b4f8c63f8a9.

Saipov himself had never been the subject of a prior FBI investigation, but he previously attended a wedding in Florida of an Uzbek national who was under investigation by the FBI. An FBI investigation is reportedly looking into whether Saipov had any meaningful links to known or suspected terrorists.Holly Yan and James Griffiths, “Who is New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov?” CNN, November 1, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html; Benjamin Mueller et al., “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack,” New York Times, November 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/driver-had-been-planning-attack-in-manhattan-for-weeks-police-say.html; Corey Kilgannon and Joseph Goldstein, “Sayfullo Saipov, the Suspect in the New York Terror Attack, and His Past,” New York Times, October 31, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-manhattan-truck-attack.html.

On November 2, 2017, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, calling Saipov “one of the caliphate soldiers.“ISIS claims responsibility for New York truck attack, report says,” Fox News, November 2, 2017, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/02/isis-claims-responsibility-for-new-york-truck-attack-report-says.html. During a June 22, 2018, court appearance, Saipov praised ISIS for spreading sharia (Islamic law) and rejected the court’s authority.Larry Neumeister, “Man charged in bike path killings speaks in court of ‘Allah,’” Associated Press, June 22, 2018, https://www.apnews.com/8001394ef2824dfaa99780a84ec42e12. Federal prosecutors announced in September 2018 that they would seek the death penalty against Saipov.Tom Hays, “Prosecutors want death penalty for bike path attacker,” Associated Press, September 28, 2018, https://www.apnews.com/39ff0a548ee94272a6276d0d879fa7d1; Larry Neumeister, “Lawyers fight to ban death penalty from truck attack trial,” Associated Press, October 9, 2018, https://www.apnews.com/a3389cba14394ae9aa6a2ee04a1a587a.

On March 12, 2019, Judge Vernon Broderick order a delay of Saipov’s trial until April 2020 to allow Saipov’s family adequate time to enter the country from Uzbekistan to testify. The judge also cited complications from a recent government shutdown and concerns about adequate access to evidence, including some in Uzbek.Stephen Rex Brown, “Sayfullo Saipov trial for Hudson River bike path attack delayed so his family can testify in his defense,” Boston Herald, March 13, 2019, https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/03/13/sayfullo-saipov-trial-for-hudson-river-bike-path-attack-delayed-so-his-family-can-testify-in-his-defense/. The trial was further delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in 2020.Stephen Rex Brown, “Victims of Hudson River bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov agonizing over indefinite trial delay: prosecutor,” Daily News, June 3, 2021, https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-sayfullo-saipov-trial-delay-victims-20210603-mzkk47eb4jaqrbn4oemhcf6vqq-story.html. In July 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on the death penalty while the Justice Department reviews its use of the punishment.Office of the Attorney General, “MORATORIUM ON FEDERAL EXECUTIONS PENDING REVIEW OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES,” U.S. Department of Justice, July 1, 2021, https://www.justice.gov/d9/2022-12/attorney_general_memorandum_july_1_2021.pdf. In September 2022, Garland filed in Manhattan federal court that the government would seek the death penalty for Saipov.Jonathan Stempel, “U.S. to seek death penalty against accused New York bike path killer,” Reuters, September 19, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-seek-death-penalty-against-accused-new-york-bike-path-killer-2022-09-19/. On October 7, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and New York Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief to delay the trial, arguing prosecutors had failed to provide his defense with potentially mitigating evidence.“ACLU, NYCLU File Amicus Supporting Delay of Federal Capital Trial Where Government Withheld Evidence,” ACLU, October 7, 2022, https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-nyclu-file-amicus-supporting-delay-federal-capital-trial-where-government. Nonetheless, jury selection began the following week.osh Russell, “Jurors scouted for NYC death penalty trial on bike path attack,” Courthouse News Service, October 11, 2022, https://www.courthousenews.com/jurors-scouted-for-nyc-death-penalty-trial-on-bike-path-attack/.

Saipov’s trial began on January 9, 2023, in federal court in New York City. Federal prosecutor Alexander Li argued Saipov killed to become a member of ISIS. Saipov’s attorney, New York City federal public defender David E. Patton, admitted Saipov had intentionally committed the attack, but denied he did so to join ISIS. According to Patton, Saipov had become convinced he was carrying out God’s will to carry out a martyrdom attack in revenge for the deaths of Muslims around the world.Benjamin Weiser and Lola Fadulu, “Terror Trial Opens With Chilling Descriptions of Deadly Bike-Path Scene,” New York Times, January 9, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/09/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-terror-trial.html. Saipov did not testify during the trial, nor did the defense call other witnesses. The defense relied on a strategy of questioning Saipov’s motives, rather than his responsibility for the attack itself. According to Patton, Saipov intended to die during the attack so he could not possibly hope to join ISIS.Lola Fadulu, “Bike-Path Terror Trial Is Wrapping Up in Federal Court,” New York Times, January 25, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/nyregion/saipov-bike-path-terror-trial-closings.html. In his closing argument, Patton admitted Saipov was “guilty of murder and assault among many other crimes,” but he argued Saipov was motivated by a religious desire to please his God and “ascend to paradise,” not the possibility of joining ISIS.Lauren del Valle, “Closing arguments conclude in trial of accused NYC bike path terror suspect,” CNN, January 25, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/us/sayfullo-saipov-nyc-attack-trial/index.html. In its closing arguments, the prosecution reiterated the contention those who consume and follow ISIS propaganda are, in fact, already part of ISIS. The jury began their deliberations on January 25.Lauren del Valle, “Closing arguments conclude in trial of accused NYC bike path terror suspect,” CNN, January 25, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/us/sayfullo-saipov-nyc-attack-trial/index.html. The jury returned on January 26 to convict Saipov on all 28 charges against him, including murder and attempted murder to gain entry to ISIS and providing material support to a terrorist organization.Luc Cohen, “Jury convicts New York bike path attacker, to weigh death penalty,” Reuters, January 26, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/legal/man-behind-new-york-bike-path-attack-convicted-murder-2023-01-26/.

The sentencing phase of Saipov’s trial began on February 13, 2023. According to prosecutors, Saipov was too dangerous to be left alive in prison.Benjamin Weiser and Lola Fadulu, “Bike-Path Terror Defendant Is Too Dangerous for Prison, Prosecutors Say,” New York Times, February 13, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/nyregion/saipov-bike-path-death-penalty.html. Jurors heard testimony from more than 20 victims, victims’ family members, bystanders, and corrections officers as the prosecution argued for the death penalty. Guards from the Federal Bureau of Prisons described how Saipov had covered surveillance cameras, cracked a window in his cell, and threatened to kill corrections officers. The prosecution rested its case on February 23.Lola Fadulu, “As U.S. Argued for Death Penalty, Bike Path Victims Gave Voice to Pain,” New York Times, February 23, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/nyregion/saipov-bike-path-terror-death-penalty-trial.html. The defense brought forward testimony from multiple members of Saipov’s family. His mother, Mukaddas Saipova, told the jury she had visited her son three times after he came to the United States. After her final visit in 2017, she had wanted him to return to Uzebekistan because he appeared exhausted from his job. Saipova expressed regret that she had not urged her son to return, which might have avoided the attack. Saipov refused to testify on his own behalf. The defense rested on March 1.Lola Fadulu, “Bike-Path Attacker’s Mother Says She Wanted ‘Tired’ Son to Leave U.S.,” New York Times, March 1, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-trial-mother.html. The jury returned from deliberations on March 13 unable to reach a unanimous decision on handing Saipov the death penalty. The jury’s only options were to hand down the death penalty or to sentence Saipov to life in prison. Federal law requires a unanimous decision for the death penalty. The jury informed Judge Vernon S. Broderick it could not reach a unanimous decision, resulting in an automatic life sentence. Per Broderick’s directive, the jury did not reveal how it was split on the death penalty decision.Benjamin Weiser and Lola Fadulu, “Bike-Path Attacker Will Get Life in Prison, Escaping Death Penalty,” New York Times, March 13, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-death-penalty.html. On May 17, Broderick formally sentenced to Saipov to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Luc Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, “New York bike-path attacker sentenced to life after victims confront him,” Reuters, May 17, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/man-convicted-new-york-bike-path-attack-be-formally-sentenced-life-2023-05-17/.

Mohammed Shamsuddin is a pro-ISIS extremist propagandist and former member of Anjem Choudary’s now-defunct al-Muhajiroun terrorist network. According to the 2016 British television documentary “The Jihadis Next Door,” Shamsuddin replaced Abu Rumaysah, the network’s former senior spokesman, who traveled to Syria in late 2014.The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. The documentary’s director, Jamie Roberts, identified Shamsuddin as the “most senior member” of the extremist network, which has included such figures as extremist propagandist Abu Haleema and June 2017 London Bridge attacker Khuram Shazad Butt.The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. Shamsuddin is also an associate of Omar Bakri Muhammad, the extremist preacher who initially created the al-Muhajiroun network and is incarcerated in Lebanon on terrorism-related charges.“London Bridge attacker was known member of extremist network,” Financial Times (London), June 5, 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/9e1cd794-4a0a-11e7-919a-1e14ce4af89b.

Shamsuddin has propagated incendiary, divisive, and extremist messaging both amongst members of his group and when speaking publicly. Speaking to a crowd of people in July 2015, Shamsuddin said, “My dear Muslim brothers, there’s a war taking place… the sharia [Islamic law] is coming to the UK. This black flag you see here, one day, is going to be on 10 Downing Street.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. He also said, “We’re going to arrest [former Prime Minister] David Cameron. We’re going to arrest [former parliamentarian] George Osborne. We’re going to arrest every single member of the Conservative Party and put him on trial for the crimes against Muslims.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016.

Despite advocating sharia in the United Kingdom and fiercely criticizing British foreign policy, the divorced father-of-five has a keen understanding of how to take advantage of the freedoms and benefits afforded to British citizens. In spite of Shamsuddin’s fiery rhetoric, he has managed to avoid imprisonment and has lived on state welfare benefits since he was 18 years old.Tom Kelly and Inderdeep Bains, “Bridge terrorist’s links to two extremist preachers: Jihadi was filmed at extremist events alongside cleric who hailed his support for ISIS,” Daily Mail (London), June 4, 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4571814/Bridge-terrorist-s-links-two-extremist-preachers.html#ixzz4kSNCFV6k. According to documentarian Jamie Roberts, who made “The Jihadis Next Door” for Britain’s Channel 4 in 2016, Shamsuddin was also very careful when asked about ISIS. As Shamsuddin says in the film: “You can get 10 years [in prison] just for saying something which is reckless or careless… even though you didn’t possibly mean it like that, you know what I mean? You could have possibly meant it innocently, but because that innocent word could land you in prison [for] ten years.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. At one point during the film, Roberts showed Shamsuddin and Haleema ISIS execution videos and the two laughed, with Haleema complimenting ISIS’s high-quality filming style.The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016.

At another point during the documentary, the group was stopped and searched by a British policeman who said he was alerted by the public that the men were carrying an ISIS flag. Shamsuddin loudly protested against the search, repeatedly asking “search for what?” and “what offense has he made?” and “why?” Shamsuddin also repeatedly yelled at the policeman: “you’re lying” and “you’re a liar.” At one point, Shamsuddin asked, “what section of the terrorism act… glorification? Instigation? Preparation? We’re not stupid. We know the law.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016.

When asked how many people Shamsuddin knows “who have gone [to join ISIS in Syria],” he replied, “I know a fair amount, yeah. I know a fair amount.” Shamsuddin has also mocked U.K. counterterrorism officials, calling the person who dropped charges against him, “the moron of counterterrorism command.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. In August 2015, when members of his extremist cell were required to appear at a court hearing, Shamsuddin spoke to the press. He said, “My message to the Muslim community in the UK is this: this is a war against Islam and Muslims. The dawa [proselytization] must continue, the struggle must continue, the call must continue, and one day Islam will be dominant and the black flag of Islam will be over Downing Street.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. That same month Shamsuddin was once again arrested and released during counter-terrorism raids.“Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, and Youssef Zaghba named: Everything we know about the London Bridge terrorists,” Telegraph (London), June 6, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/05/ringleader-london-bridge-terror-attack-named-khuram-butt/.

Shamsuddin’s radicalization process reportedly began while he was at university, where he served as head of Southampton Solent University’s Islamic Society before dropping out.“London terrorist Khuram Butt appeared in TV documentary The Jihadis Next Door and ‘tried to go to Syria,” Telegraph (London), June 5, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/05/london-terrorist-appeared-channel-4-jihadi-documentary-tried/; The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. It was there that Shamsuddin met Bakri Muhammad, whom Shamsuddin described as a “close figure in my life…he is the person that had the most effect on my life, no doubt about it, in terms of molding my views.”The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016. According to the Channel 4 documentary, Shamsuddin is divorced with five children and has suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome since he was 8 years old and lives on government benefits.The Jihadis Next Door. Directed by Jamie Roberts. United Kingdom: Channel 4, 2016.

Shamsuddin first gained media attention during the 2010 sentencing of Roshonara Choudhry, a London University student convicted of stabbing Stephen Timms, a member of parliament for East Ham. When the jury sentenced Choudhry to life in prison in November 2010, Shamsuddin and two fellow protestors berated one juror wearing a hijab, screaming, “Shame on you, sister.”Sue Reid, “Special Report: The ‘DIY Jihadists’ Paid for by us… Roshanara Choudhry supporters are living on benefits,” Daily Mail (London), November 5, 2010, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326844/DIY-jihadists-Roshonara-Choudhry-supporters-living-benefits.html. After the judge expelled the trio from the courtroom, they continued their protest outside, waving banners asserting that “Islam will dominate the world” and calling for the murder of British soldiers and Timms.Sue Reid, “Special Report: The ‘DIY Jihadists’ Paid for by us… Roshanara Choudhry supporters are living on benefits,” Daily Mail (London), November 5, 2010, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326844/DIY-jihadists-Roshonara-Choudhry-supporters-living-benefits.html.

In September 2014, Shamsuddin and other members of al-Muhajiroun were arrested in a counterterrorism raid. Although Shamsuddin was released without charge, his arrest alongside Choudary, Rumaysah, and Haleema spoke to his central role within the al-Muhajiroun network and Britain’s extremist Islamist milieu. Choudary himself initially recruited Shamsuddin into al-Muhajiroun.Ceylan Yeginsu, “One of U.K.’s Most Prolific Extremist Cells Is Regrouping,” New York Times, May 18, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/world/europe/uk-extremist-cell-anjem-choudary.html. Rumaysah, a.k.a. Siddartha Dhar, immigrated to Syria to join ISIS in later that month while out on bail, published a “travel guide” for aspiring foreign fighters, and was suspected of being the masked jihadist responsible for executing an alleged British spy in a January 2016 ISIS propaganda video.“Britain denounces Islamic State video showing ‘spies’ shot,” Reuters, January 4, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-video-idUSKBN0UI0QD20160104. He reportedly died in 2017.Tom Well, “‘JIHADI SID’ KILLED ‘Jihadi Sid’, the British former bouncy castle salesman turned ISIS fiend, is believed to have been killed in drone strike, officials say,” Sun (London), October 19, 2018, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7538880/jihadi-sid-killed-drone-strike/. Haleema is an alleged ISIS supporter who has used YouTube and social media as platforms to disseminate lectures and mobilize ISIS sympathizers in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Although Shamsuddin has not been charged for supporting the London Bridge attacks, his relationship with Khuram Butt and role in al-Muhajiroun are well-documented. Indeed, Shamsuddin functioned as a de-facto leader of the formally defunct al-Muhajiroun group following Omar Bakri’s detention in Lebanon and Choudary’s imprisonment for terrorism offenses in the United Kingdom.Sarah Knapton, Martin Evans, Nicola Harley, Harry Yorke, Pen Farmer, and Robert Mendick, “Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, and Youssef Zaghba named: Everything we know about the London Bridge terrorists,” Telegraph (London), June 6, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/05/ringleader-london-bridge-terror-attack-named-khuram-butt/. As a leading figure within the extremist network, Shamsuddin has implied support for the so-called Islamic State, called for a caliphate in the United Kingdom, and promised that Islam would dominate the world.Tom Kelly and Hugo Gye, “Sickening moment two henchmen of ISIS executioner ‘Jihadi Sid’ giggled as they watched beheading video while eating meal in London restaurant,” Daily Mail (London), January 19, 2016, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3406053/ISIS-militant-nicknamed-Jihadi-Sid-warned-black-flag-fly-Downing-Street.html.

The U.K. government banned al-Muhajiroun in 2006 over the group’s links to terrorism and later banned the group’s aliases.“Proscribed Terrorist Organizations,” U.K. Home Office, accessed July 31, 2019, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/538297/20160715-Proscription-website-update.pdf. British authorities released Choudary from prison on parole in October 2018, halfway through his sentence. Since then, British sources report that elements of al-Muhajiroun have sought to reorganize. Shamsuddin told the New York Times in May 2019 that the al-Muhajiroun members arrested in the 2000s are all now free or about to go free. He said that the police are now stretched too thin and the British government is too preoccupied with Brexit to focus on a regrouping al-Muhajiroun.Ceylan Yeginsu, “One of U.K.’s Most Prolific Extremist Cells Is Regrouping,” New York Times, May 18, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/world/europe/uk-extremist-cell-anjem-choudary.html.

Osama bin Laden was a Saudi citizen and co-founder and leader of al-Qaeda, notorious for orchestrating the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Throughout his three-decade-long jihadist career, bin Laden oversaw the planning of numerous largescale terrorist attacks, established a network of al-Qaeda-linked businesses and operatives, and united terrorist groups from the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Between 1996 and 2001, he lived in Afghanistan under the protection of the ruling Taliban and its leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, in a shootout with U.S. Navy SEALS at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was succeeded as al-Qaeda's emir by Ayman al-Zawahiri.“TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN,” United States District Court Southern District of New York, November 6, 1998, https://fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html;
Peter Baker, Helene Cooper, Mark Mazzetti, “Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says,” New York Times, May 1, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1957, Osama bin Laden was the 17^th of 54 children fathered by Saudi billionaire Mohammed bin Laden. The elder bin Laden, an immigrant from Yemen, was the head of a successful construction firm—building many of the palaces and major roads in the kingdom as well as renovating Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque. Osama’s mother, Hamida al-Attas, came from a prominent Syrian Alawite family and was Mohammed bin Laden’s tenth wife. Osama’s parents divorced soon after he was born, and his father died in a plane crash when he was five years old. Nevertheless, Osama would later work for and inherit millions from his father’s business empire.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 75, 84; Victory D. Comras, Flawed Diplomacy: The United Nations & the War on Terrorism, (Washington D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2010), 36.

In high school bin Laden joined the Saudi branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and read the extremist texts of influential Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb. Bin Laden’s friend at the time, Jamal Khalifa, later said that Qutb “was the one who most affected [his and bin Laden’s] generation.”Alastair Finlan, The Test of Terrorism: Responding to Political Violence in the Twenty-First Century, (London: Routledge: 2015); Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 90-92. In his books, Qutb called for an Islamic “vanguard” to take up jihad against secular governments and eventually resurrect the caliphate. Qutb also re-popularized the Islamic concept of takfir, which permits the labeling of fellow Muslims as apostates, thus justifying their persecution and murder.Alastair Finlan, The Test of Terrorism: Responding to Political Violence in the Twenty-First Century, (London: Routledge: 2015).

In 1974, bin Laden—then a deeply pious 18-year-old—married his 14-year-old Syrian cousin. Bin Laden would go on to marry two more women and father at least 23 children.“The life and death of Osama bin Laden,” Washington Post, May 2, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/timeline-life-of-osama-bin-laden/. Between 1976 and 1979, bin Laden studied economics at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. There, he formed a religious charity on campus, whose members “devoted a lot of time to interpreting the Quran and jihad,” according to bin Laden’s own account.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 90. It was also at that university that bin Laden met Abdullah Azzam, a renowned Palestinian scholar and a professor at the school. Azzam, often referred to as the father of modern jihad, would serve as a spiritual mentor to bin Laden and eventually become a co-founder of al-Qaeda.Aryn Baker, “Who Killed Abdullah Azzam?” Time, June 18, 2009, http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1902809_1902810_1905173-1,00.html;
Asaf Maliach, “Abdullah Azzam, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas,” Institute for National Security Studies, October 2010, Volume 2, No. 2, http://www.inss.org.il/uploadimages/Import/(FILE)1298359986.pdf.

Bin Laden reportedly traveled to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border within two weeks of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 55, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf;
Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 109. Bin Laden acted as a visiting envoy, meeting various militant leaders and devising ways to raise funds for the mujahideen (“holy warriors”). In the early-mid 1980s, he traveled back and forth to Saudi Arabia, where he implored wealthy family members to financially support the Afghan jihad. Bin Laden also brought construction machinery and Arab recruits into Afghanistan, and provided the fighters with logistical and humanitarian aid.Kate Zernike and Michael T. Kaufman, “The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism,” New York Times, May 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/02osama-bin-laden-obituary.html; “Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html. Bin Laden’s former professor, Abdullah Azzam, arrived in Peshawar in late 1981, and the two men worked closely to recruit, train, and equip Arab fighters for the jihad.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 111.

In September 1984, bin Laden and Azzam decided to create a formal role for Arabs and other foreign (including Western) fighters in Afghanistan. The pair soon established the Services Bureau (Makhtab al-Khadamat)—an office, printing center, funds repository, and hostel for foreign mujahideen. Bin Laden also began to offer plane tickets, residences, and living expenses for the men, and by 1986 was believed to be paying $25,000 per month to subsidize the fighters.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 117-119.

In 1987, bin Laden met Ayman al-Zawahiri for the first time, in Pakistan.“Timeline of al-Zawahiri,” CNN, June 16, 2011, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/16/timeline-of-al-zawahiri/. At the time, Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, was a key leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ)—a jihadist group responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.“Timeline of al-Zawahiri,” CNN, June 16, 2011, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/16/timeline-of-al-zawahiri/. Bin Laden and Zawahiri quickly developed a close working relationship, and co-founded al-Qaeda (“the base”) in August 1988 alongside several other Islamist operatives, including Azzam.“Egyptian Islamic Jihad,” Mapping Militant Organizations, last modified October 26, 2015, http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/401;
“A history of terror: Al-Qaeda 1988-2008,” Guardian (London), July 12, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/13/history.alqaida;
“Tareekhosama/50/Tareekh Osama 122-123,” Intelwire.com, February 24, 2009, http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/1988-08-11-al-qaeda-founding.pdf;
Arabina Acharya, Ten Years After 9/11: Rethinking the Jihadist Threat, (London and New York: Routledge, 2013) 36. The secretary at the meeting noted that “al-Qaeda is basically an organized Islamic faction, its goal is to lift the word of God, to make His religion victorious.”Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 152;
Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror, (New York: Random House, 2002), 103;
“Origins of Al Qaeda,” Global Issues on Terrorism, accessed May 1, 2017, https://sites.stedwards.edu/craigc-culf331111fa2014/group-middle-east-and-north-africa/origins-of-al-qaeda/.

Within a year, however, disagreements arose between bin Laden and Azzam on al-Qaeda’s trajectory. While Azzam envisioned bringing the fight to Israel after Afghanistan, bin Laden preferred to prioritize targeting of the United States and Arab regimes such as the Saudi government.Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror, (New York: Random House, 2002), 103;
“Origins of Al Qaeda,” Global Issues on Terrorism, accessed May 1, 2017, https://sites.stedwards.edu/craigc-culf331111fa2014/group-middle-east-and-north-africa/origins-of-al-qaeda/. The disagreement ended when Azzam was killed in Peshawar on November 24, 1989.Aryn Baker, “Who Killed Abdullah Azzam?,” Time, June 18, 2009, http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1902809_1902810_1905173-1,00.html. Zawahiri continued to direct EIJ until it finally merged with al-Qaeda in 2001.“Country Reports on Terrorism 2008,” U.S. Department of State, April 2009, 305, https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/122599.pdf.

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989, bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia emboldened by the perceived triumph of the mujahideen over the Soviets. While working at his father’s construction firm in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden was approached about moving his nascent al-Qaeda to Sudan by Hassan al-Turabi—the then-secretary general of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 57, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf;
“Timeline: Al Qaeda’s Global Context,” PBS Frontline, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/etc/cron.html;
Lawrence Joffe, “Hassan al-Turabi obituary,” Guardian (London), March 11, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/11/hassan-al-turabi-obituary. Turabi proposed allowing bin Laden use Sudan as al-Qaeda’s base in exchange for the building of roads and support in the ongoing war against Christian separatists in Southern Sudan.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 57, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf. Bin Laden would not relocate to Sudan until late 1991.“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html.

In August 1990, as U.S. forces arrived in Saudi Arabia to prepare for the first Gulf War, bin Laden urged Saudi King Fahd to expel the Americans and instead allow the veterans of the Afghan war to defend the Arabian Peninsula. King Fahd declined bin Laden’s offer in favor of U.S. and allied forces.Andrew Wander, “A History of Terror: Al-Qaeda 1988-2008,” Guardian (London), July 12, 2008, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/13/history.alqaida. Enraged, bin Laden began to publicly rebuke the monarchy for its alliance with the United States, prompting Saudi Arabia to expel him in April 1991. Bin Laden fled to Afghanistan, and then accepted Sudanese leader Hassan al-Turabi’s offer—arriving in Sudan by 1992.“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html. There, he established legitimate businesses and began to build out the al-Qaeda network.“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html.

The first attack orchestrated by bin Laden and his associates occurred on December 19, 1992, when a bomb exploded in a hotel room in Aden, Yemen, killing two Australian tourists. Bin Laden had intended for the explosion to kill a unit of U.S. soldiers, but those troops had already left the premises.“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html. Attacks perpetrated by al-Qaeda operatives and like-minded jihadist increased in the following years. On February 26, 1993, Ramzi Yousef—a Pakistani terrorist not directly linked to al-Qaeda—carried out the Word Trade Center bombing, killing six people and injuring over 1,000 others. While bin Laden praised Yousef’s bombing, he is not believed to have played a role in the attack.Robert Windrem, “Al-Qaida timeline: Plots and attacks,” MSNBC Research and NBC News, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4677978/ns/world_news-hunt_for_al_qaida/t/al-qaida-timeline-plots-attacks/#.WN61y28rKpo.

In April 1994, the Saudi government revoked bin Laden’s citizenship and froze his assets. Undeterred, bin Laden continued to grow his operations, establishing training camps for foreign fighters in Yemen near the Saudi border, according to U.S. intelligence sources.“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html;
“TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN,” United States District Court, Southern District of New York, November 6, 1998, https://fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html. Meanwhile, the United States and Saudi Arabia began to pressure Sudan to expel bin Laden, citing his danger to the international community. In May 1996, Turabi reportedly gave bin Laden the choice to stay in Sudan and keep his operations quiet, or to leave the country altogether. Bin Laden opted to relocate his growing jihadist movement, and moved to Afghanistan shortly thereafter.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 252-253; “TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN,” United States District Court, Southern District of New York, November 6, 1998, https://fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html;
“Osama Bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS Frontline, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html.

The Taliban controlled much of Afghanistan by the time bin Laden arrived. The group’s leader, Mullah Omar, allowed bin Laden to settle his family and operatives in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Bin Laden would later pledge allegiance to Mullah Omar in late August or early September 1998, forming a bond between the groups that persists to this day.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, (New York: Random House, 2011), 254-255, 326.

Bin Laden issued his first fatwa soon after arriving in Afghanistan. The statement, titled “Declaration of War Against the Americans Who Occupy the Land of the Two Holy Mosques,” was published by London’s Al Quds al Arabi newspaper on August 23, 1996. In it, bin Laden called on Muslims to force the U.S. military out of the Arabian Peninsula; dethrone the Saudi government; punish the U.S. and its allies for their “Crusade” against Islam; and liberate Muslim holy sites.“Bin Laden’s Fatwa,” PBS Newshour, August 23, 1996, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/military-july-dec96-fatwa_1996/;
“Osama bin Laden v. the U.S.: Edits and Statements,” PBS Frontline, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/edicts.html;
“Timeline: Osama bin Laden, over the years,” CNN, May 2, 2011, http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/osama.timeline/. Soon after the fatwa’s publication, bin Laden was visited by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM)—the uncle of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef. KSM appealed to bin Laden for funds and material to carry out a largescale attack in the United States. Bin Laden agreed to front the funds and asked KSM to join al-Qaeda, though KSM politely declined, deciding to operate independently.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 147, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf.

Bin Laden would continue to issue fatwas and orchestrate largescale attacks against U.S. targets. In February 1998, he released his second fatwa—“Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders”—in which he declared it a duty for Muslims to carry out jihad against Islam’s enemies and to expel Americans from the Gulf region.“Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders,” Federation of American Scientists, February 23, 1998, https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm. That August, al-Qaeda carried out its then-largest attack when operatives targeted the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The explosions in Nairobi killed 213 people—nearly all Kenyans and 12 Americans—and injured approximately 5,000 others. In Dar es Salaam, the bombs killed 11 people, none of them Americans.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 70, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf. Three months later, in November 1998, bin Laden was indicted by a U.S. Federal Grand Jury in New York for engaging in a long-term conspiracy to attack U.S. facilities overseas and to kill American citizens.“TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN,” United States District Court, Southern District of New York, November 6, 1998, https://fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html;
Bill Mears, “Bin Laden charges formally dropped,” CNN, June 17, 2011, http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/17/bin.laden.charges/. At around the same time he was indicted in New York, bin Laden met with KSM in Pakistan and officially approved his plot to weaponize airplanes and crash them into buildings in the United States. The 9/11 plot had begun to take form.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 149; 167, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf.

In November 1999, bin Laden received four visitors—Mohamed Atta, Marwan al Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh. The men were members of an al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, and were eager to partake in a terrorist attack against the United States. After swearing fealty to bin Laden, the men were instructed to enroll in flight training schools in the West. Bin Laden selected Atta to lead the cell, and revealed to him al-Qaeda’s top targets in the United States: the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Capitol. Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah would become hijacker-pilots in the 9/11 attacks, whereas Shibh would serve as a key facilitator in the attacks.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 166; 242, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf. Shibh is currently held by the United States as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.“Ramzi Bin al Shibh: Guantanamo Docket,” New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/guantanamo/detainees/10013-ramzi-bin-al-shibh.

On October 12, 2000, in al-Qaeda’s last largescale attack before 9/11, two al-Qaeda suicide bombers steered a small boat laden with 400 to 700 pounds of explosives into the port side of the USS Cole while it refueled in Aden, Yemen. The explosion killed 17 U.S. sailors.“USS Cole Bombing Fast Facts,” CNN, October 6, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/world/meast/uss-cole-bombing-fast-facts/. The attack was masterminded by al-Qaeda operative Abd Rahim al-Nashiri upon instructions from bin Laden to target U.S. warships in Yemen’s southern port of Aden.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): [152], http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf.

On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked U.S. commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth hijacked airplane crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 civilians were killed and thousands more injured.“Timeline: Al-Qaeda,” BBC News, September 4, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3618762.stm. Within weeks, the U.S. launched military operations against al-Qaeda’s suspected safe havens in Afghanistan. That December, bin Laden is believed to have escaped U.S. bombing in Afghanistan’s Tora Bora Mountains and fled to Pakistan.Kate Zernike and Michael T. Kaufman, “The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism,” New York Times, May 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/02osama-bin-laden-obituary.html.

Bin Laden did not claim responsibility for the 9/11 attacks until October 2004, when he appeared in a video released by Al Jazeera.“Bin Laden: 'Your security is in your own hands,'” CNN, October 29, 2004, http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/29/bin.laden.transcript/. “We should destroy towers in America [because] we are a free people…and we want to regain the freedom of our nation,” bin Laden reasoned. The al-Qaeda leader further said that America might avoid another 9/11-style attack if it stopped compromising the “security” of Muslims, warning, “As you undermine our security we undermine yours.”“Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11,” CBC News, October 29, 2004, http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bin-laden-claims-responsibility-for-9-11-1.513654;
“Bin Laden Claims Responsibility for 9/11,” Fox News, October 30, 2004, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/10/30/bin-laden-claims-responsibility-for-11.html.

Bin Laden is believed to have settled in a compound in Abbottabad during the 2000s, though there is little publically available information on his whereabouts during this time. In 2009, the U.S. government announced that the al-Qaeda leader was most likely living on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, but conceded that it had a “lack of intelligence” regarding his exact location.“Osama bin Laden Fast Facts,” CNN, May 2, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/30/world/osama-bin-laden-fast-facts/. Living as an elusive fugitive, bin Laden was still able to release videos threatening the West and claim responsibility for al-Qaeda-linked attacks. In January 2010, bin Laden claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of a civilian airliner over Detroit, Michigan, on December 25, 2009. Perpetrated by “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the attack had been planned by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.Scott Shane and Eric Lipton, “Passengers’ Quick Action Halted Attack,” New York Times, December 26, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27plane.html.

In the early morning of May 2, 2011, a small team of U.S. Navy SEALS entered the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was living and killed the 54-year-old al-Qaeda leader in a shootout. His body was transported to the U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson and given an Islamic burial at sea within 24 hours.“Osama Bin Laden: What happened to his body?,” BBC News, May 2, 2011, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13261680. In a televised statement on the night of May 2, President Barack Obama referred to bin Laden as al-Qaeda’s “leader and symbol” and warned that bin Laden’s death did “not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.”Peter Baker, Helene Cooper, Mark Mazzetti, “Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says,” New York Times, May 1, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0;
“Osama bin Laden Fast Facts,” CNN, May 2, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/30/world/osama-bin-laden-fast-facts/.

Bin Laden’s burial at sea took place within 24 hours of his death with proper religious rites, in accordance with Islamic law. Some Islamic scholars have argued there was no reason to give bin Laden a burial at sea instead of turning the body over to family or even his supporters for a proper burial. Dubai’s grand mufti Mohammed al-Qubaisi said at the time a sea burial was inappropriate and Islamic law required digging a simple grave if nobody was available to take custody of the body. U.S. officials, however, said there was not enough time to negotiate with other countries to take custody of the body. They further said the burial at sea took place to avoid bin Laden’s grave becoming a shrine.“Osama Bin Laden: What happened to his body?,” BBC News, May 2, 2011, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13261680.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, previously al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, was elevated to leader of the international terror group six weeks after bin Laden’s death. Zawahiri vowed to continue waging jihad against “crusader America and its servant Israel, and whoever supports them.”“Al-Qaeda’s remaining leaders,” BBC news, June 16, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11489337. Bin Laden’s son Hamza bin laden was a key al-Qaeda operative being groomed for a senior leadership role prior to his own death in a 2019 U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd, “Latest al Qaeda propaganda highlights bin Laden’s son,” CNN, May 15, 2017,  http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/middleeast/al-qaeda-bin-laden-son/index.html; Alex Horton, “Osama bin Laden’s son, once the probable heir to al-Qaeda leadership, killed in U.S. operation, Trump confirms,” Washington Post, September 14, 2019, https://beta.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/09/14/hamza-bin-laden-once-possible-heir-al-qaeda-was-killed-us-operation-trump-says/. Zawahiri reportedly died in November 2020 from asthma, but his death remains unconfirmed by al-Qaeda.Baker Atyani and Sayed Salahuddin, “Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri has died in Afghanistan — sources,” Arab News, November 20, 2020, https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1765746/world; Tim Stickings, “Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has died, reports claim terror chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has died in Afghanistan from ‘asthma-related breathing issues,’” Daily Mail (London), November 20, 2020, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8970231/Al-Qaedas-leader-Ayman-al-Zawahiri-died-reports-claim.html.