Editing Al-Qaeda (section)

== War on terror ==
{{Main|War on terror|List of wars and battles involving al-Qaeda}}
[[File:US 10th Mountain Division soldiers in Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|US troops in Afghanistan]]

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US government [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists|responded]], and began to prepare its [[Military of the United States|armed forces]] to overthrow the Taliban, which it believed was harboring al-Qaeda. The US offered Taliban leader [[Mullah Omar]] a chance to surrender bin Laden and his top associates. The first forces to be inserted into Afghanistan were paramilitary officers from the CIA's elite [[Special Activities Division]] (SAD).

The [[Taliban]] offered to turn over bin Laden to a [[neutral country]] for trial if the US would provide evidence of bin Laden's complicity in the attacks. US President [[George W. Bush]] responded by saying: "We know he's guilty. Turn him over",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20011015-NEWS-310159983|title=US Jets Pound Targets Around Kabul|work=[[The Portsmouth Herald]]|date=October 15, 2001|access-date=July 25, 2012|archive-date=May 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515161128/http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20011015-NEWS-310159983|url-status=live}}</ref> and British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] warned the Taliban regime: "Surrender bin Laden, or surrender power."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/blair-to-taliban-surrender-bin-laden-or-surrender-power-1.295241|title=Blair to Taliban: Surrender bin Laden or surrender power|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=October 3, 2001|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=January 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128192016/http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2001/10/02/blair_war011002.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Soon thereafter the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan, and together with the [[Northern Alliance|Afghan Northern Alliance]] removed the Taliban government as part of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|war in Afghanistan]]. As a result of the US [[special forces]] and [[close air support|air support]] for the Northern Alliance ground forces, a number of Taliban and [[Derunta training camp|al-Qaeda training camps]] were destroyed, and much of the operating structure of al-Qaeda is believed to have been disrupted. After being driven from their key positions in the [[Tora Bora]] area of Afghanistan, many al-Qaeda fighters tried to regroup in the rugged [[Gardez]] region of the nation.

[[File:Khalid Shaikh Mohammed after capture.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] after his arrest in [[Rawalpindi]], Pakistan, in March 2003]]

By early 2002, al-Qaeda had been dealt a serious blow to its operational capacity, and the Afghan invasion appeared to be a success. Nevertheless, a significant [[Taliban insurgency]] remained in Afghanistan.

Debate continued regarding the nature of al-Qaeda's role in the 9/11 attacks. The [[United States State Department|US State Department]] released a [[Videos of Osama bin Laden#December 13, 2001|videotape]] showing bin Laden speaking with a small group of associates somewhere in Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban was removed from power.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html|title=U.S. Releases Videotape of Osama Bin Laden|access-date=July 4, 2006|date=December 13, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625223529/http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2001/b12132001_bt630-01.html|archive-date=June 25, 2006}}</ref> Although its authenticity has been questioned by a couple of people,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/september11/story/0,11209,619188,00.html|author=Morris, Steven|title=US urged to detail origin of tape|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=July 11, 2006|date=December 15, 2001}}</ref> the tape definitively implicates bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks. The tape was aired on many [[television channels]], with an accompanying English translation provided by the [[US Defense Department]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202084109/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/|archive-date=February 2, 2007|title=Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape}}</ref>

In September 2004, the [[9/11 Commission]] officially concluded that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/|title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States|access-date=April 27, 2006|date=September 20, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427220632/http://www.9-11commission.gov/|archive-date=April 27, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2004, bin Laden appeared to claim responsibility for the attacks in a [[2004 Osama bin Laden video|videotape]] released through Al Jazeera, saying he was inspired by Israeli attacks on high-rises in the 1982 [[1982 Lebanon War|invasion of Lebanon]]: "As I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm|title=Full transcript of bin Ladin's speech|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=July 12, 2006|date=November 1, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711055450/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm|archive-date=July 11, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By the end of 2004, the US government proclaimed that two-thirds of the most senior al-Qaeda figures from 2001 had been captured and interrogated by the CIA: [[Abu Zubaydah]], [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] and [[Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri]] in 2002;<ref name="martinez interrogations">{{Cite news|last1=Shane|first1=Scott|title=Inside the interrogation of a 9/11 mastermind|work=The New York Times|date=June 22, 2008|pages=A1, A12–A13|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html|access-date=September 5, 2009|archive-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402075657/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] in 2003;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article209722184.html|title=Lawyers: Scan suggests alleged 9/11 plotter suffered head injury in CIA custody|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Carol|date=April 30, 2018|newspaper=[[Miami Herald]]|access-date=February 2, 2019|archive-date=February 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202095528/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article209722184.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Saif al Islam el Masry]] in 2004.{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|p=147|ps=: "The Al Qaeda team included Abu Talha al-Sudani, Saif al-Islam el-Masry, Salem el-Masry, Saif al-Adel and other trainers, including Abu Jaffer el-Masry, the explosives expert who ran the Jihad Wal camp Afghanistan. In addition to developing this capability with Iranian assistance, Al Qaeda also received a large amount of explosives from Iran that were used in the bombing of the East African targets. The training team brought Hezbollah training and propaganda videos with the intention of passing on their knowledge to other Al Qaeda members and Islamist groups."}} [[Mohammed Atef]] and several others were killed.<!--Despite this, the US government continues to warn that the organization is not yet defeated and battles between US forces and al-Qaeda-related groups continue.

By the end of 2008, the Taliban had severed any remaining ties with al-Qaeda.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/06/afghan.saudi.talks/?iref=mpstoryview|title=Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace|publisher=CNN}}</ref> According to senior US military intelligence officials, there are fewer than 100 members of al-Qaeda remaining in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111019644.html|title=In Afghanistan, Taliban leaving al-Qaeda behind|first=Joshua|last=Partlow|date=November 11, 2009|work=The Washington Post}}</ref>

WP article "FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect"--> The West was criticized for not being able to handle al-Qaeda despite a decade of the war.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Paul|last1=Rogers|url=http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/articles_multimedia/al_qaida_multiform_idea|title=Al-Qaida – A Multiform Idea|publisher=Oxford Research Group|date=August 8, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110090613/http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/articles_multimedia/al_qaida_multiform_idea|archive-date=November 10, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>