Al-Qaeda's Twitter account has been suspended, five days after it appeared on the social networking site, attracting over 1,500 followers.
Al Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who played a central role in the 9/11 terror attacks and later created the group's regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent, was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan's Kabul, in the biggest blow to the global terror network since killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan.
Seeking 'utter destruction' of Al Qaeda, the United States has chalked out a strategy to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat the terror network and its core leadership in the Afghanistan-Pak region, where they have found a safe haven.
Al Qaeda 'had been preparing to spread its ideology to India', says Bruce Hoffman, Director Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.
US officials warn of attacks on 'multiple targets in multiple venues.'
He also told interrogators that Abu Omar al Baghdadi, who is identified as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, is a fictional role created by al Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Internet.
Al-Qaeda prepared the ground for the announcement earlier Thursday in an online message.
A London-based Arabic daily says it has received a statement from the terrorist outfit claiming responsibilty for the attacks.
Less than a year after the Central Intelligence Agengy warned of renewed threats from a resurgent Al Qaeda, its director Michael Hayden portrayed the terrorist movement as largely defeated in Saudi Arabia and Iraq and on the backfoot throughout the world, including in its stronghold along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Some officials believe that he could have been a replacement for Hamza Rabia, Al Qaeda's operational commander, who was killed in a similar missile attack in Asory village in North Waziristan on December 2.
The original Al Qaeda, based out of the tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, is a shadow of its past in terms of its capabilities to strike against the United States, but many of its affiliates across the globe, in particular the Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, have gained strength and now pose more threat to America, officials said.
Close on the heels of the Barack Obama administration approving reconciliation efforts with the moderate elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the United States has categorically ruled out any similar settlement with the al Qaeda. "We have no interest in any kind of reconciliation or any rapprochement by anyone with al Qaeda," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "Only the Taliban, we never said al Qaeda," she said.
Al Qaeda's centre of gravity is Pakistan, not Afghanistan, a former top official of the United States Armed forces has told lawmakers.
It was the first document to emerge from what the military described as a ''treasure trove'' of information when Zarqawi was killed, the newspaper reported.
Zawahiri like Osama will continue to focus his resources on the United States. However, the lurking danger is that he would want to carry out something spectacular in a bid to announce his arrival.
The officials also said the peace deal with tribal leaders in Waziristan has not proved successful in combating extremism and fighting terrorists.
A top terrorist expert on Thursday said that the militants behind the high-profile attacks in Mumbai that killed at least 125 people followed a 'blueprint' created by the Al Qaeda."Al Qaeda set the blueprint for terrorist operations and now we see different people, different groups in different parts of the world, copying it," said George Kassimeris, an expert in conflict and terrorism.
Of the '10 serious al Qaeda terrorist plots' that Bush said have been disrupted since the September 11, 2001, attacks, three involved 'al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States'.
"Clearly, Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan does not just comprise Arabs and Uzbeks and Tajiks. It also comprises Pakistanis; and among such Pakistanis it comprises Pathans and Punjabis and possibly Urdu speakers who constitute the Pakistani Taliban," the Daily Times said in an article.
Wanted in connection with the two attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf, Abu Faraj al-Libbi is said to be number three in Al Qaeda heiarchy after Osama Bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri.
Al Qaeda is stronger than it was earlier thanks to President Pervez Musharraf's decision in 2006 to cut a ceasefire deal with Islamic militants in the region bordering Afghanistan, US intelligence agencies said. With the Pakistani security forces staying out of the region, Al Qaeda militants were able to resettle and even re-establish some training camps in the area, says Michael Leiter, acting director of the National Counter Terrorism Center.
Al Qaeda has first secured its base in northwestern Pakistan, and is now expanding its network through affiliations and even corporate-style takeovers of smaller Islamic groups.
Al-Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri is cut off from his top commanders and keeping the outfit afloat only through loyalty as the once world's most feared terror group is steadily losing recruits and funding sources to its splinter faction -- the Islamic State.
Bush said the US is in constant communications with the Pakistan government over the issue.
In a key revelation, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer John Kiriakou has said that Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, who was the most wanted terrorist for the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had escaped from the Tora Bora hills in Afghanistan in the guise of a woman.
Sherpao said the breakthrough in the case came after the mobile phone sets attached to the shells were "decoded" and the contact numbers of the "culprits" were obtained and the owners traced.
Al Qaeda and its former protectors, the Taliban, have virtually taken over parts of Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, especially in Waziristan Province.
Crocker said he did not know whether al Zawahiri was leading al-Qaeda now.
The New York Times said US officials were concerned that Al Qaeda has enough information to conduct strikes in New York City, Washington, DC and Newark.
The Rand study suggested that al Qaeda cannot be defeated by force, but only by reaching out to its roots in religion and promoting convergence of Christianity and Islam.\n
It said a "sudden rise" in terrorist-financing investigations was seen in 2023 and this was attributed to events arising out of incidents in Manipur that led to such probes in more than 50 cases.
Al Qaeda's claim came two days after seven blasts ripped through Mumbai's suburban train systems.\n\n
A leading Al Qaeda organiser, held in custody, is understood to have told his captors that a woman was thought more likely to evade airport security.
Militants from groups affiliated with once feared Al Qaeda network are abandoning their outfits to join the dreaded Islamist State that has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and been targeted in American airstrikes, according to a report.
Hambali said an initial Al Qaeda outlay of $ 30,000 was used to fund the Bali bombings that left 202 dead, media reports quoted American intelligence officials as saying.
Zawahri's long balcony visits gave the CIA an opportunity for a clear missile shot that could avoid collateral damage.
125 Indians on watch-list, Intelligence Bureau agents tell Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
Al Qaeda will use women to carry out deadly attacks across the country, warns Intelligence Bureau.
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