Editing Al-Qaeda (section)

=== Europe ===
{{Main|Al-Qaeda activities in Europe}}

Before the 9/11 attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan, westerners who had been recruits at al-Qaeda training camps were sought after by al-Qaeda's military wing. Language skills and knowledge of Western culture were generally found among recruits from Europe, such was the case with [[Mohamed Atta]], an Egyptian national studying in Germany at the time of his training, and other members of the [[Hamburg Cell]]. [[Osama bin Laden]] and [[Mohammed Atef]] would later designate Atta as the ringleader of the [[9/11 hijackers]]. Following the attacks, Western intelligence agencies determined that al-Qaeda cells operating in Europe had aided the hijackers with financing and communications with the central leadership based in Afghanistan.<ref name="9-11commission.gov" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/30/terrorism.september113|title=Last words of a terrorist &#124; The Observer|work=The Guardian|date=September 30, 2001|access-date=November 10, 2013|archive-date=August 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825155640/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/30/terrorism.september113|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, Islamists carried out a series of bombings in [[Istanbul]] killing fifty-seven people and injuring seven hundred. Seventy-four people were charged by the Turkish authorities. Some had previously met bin Laden, and though they specifically declined to pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda they asked for its blessing and help.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201715_pf.html|title=al-Qaeda's Hand in Istanbul Plot|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010145110/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201715_pf.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3735645|title=Msn News – Bin Laden allegedly planned attack in Turkey – Stymied by tight security at U.S. bases, militants switched targets|publisher=NBC News|date=December 17, 2003|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=December 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206130743/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3735645|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009, three Londoners, Tanvir Hussain, Assad Sarwar and Ahmed Abdullah Ali, were convicted of [[2006 transatlantic aircraft plot|conspiring to detonate bombs disguised as soft drinks on seven airplanes bound for Canada and the US]]. The [[MI5]] investigation regarding the plot involved more than a year of surveillance work conducted by over two hundred officers.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gardham|first1=Duncan|title=Gang is brought to justice by most complex operation since the war|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=September 8, 2009|page=2|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6152185/Airline-bomb-plot-investigation-one-of-biggest-since-WW2.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6152185/Airline-bomb-plot-investigation-one-of-biggest-since-WW2.html|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gardham|first1=Duncan|title=Complex operation brings gang to justice|work=The Weekly Telegraph|edition=Australian|issue=947|date=September 16, 2009|page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Milmo|first1=Cahal|title=Police watched the plot unfold, then pounced|work=The Independent|location=London|date=September 8, 2009|pages=2–4|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-watched-the-plot-unfold-then-pounced-1783388.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910200749/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-watched-the-plot-unfold-then-pounced-1783388.html|archive-date=September 10, 2009|url-access=limited|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2009}}</ref> British and US officials said the plot{{snd}}unlike many similar homegrown European Islamic militant plots{{snd}}was directly linked to al-Qaeda and guided by senior al-Qaeda members in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|agency=Associated Press|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804512098&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512043550/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804512098&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 12, 2011|title=UK court convicts 3 of plot to blow up airliners|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=September 7, 2009|access-date=May 8, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sandford|first1=Daniel|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8221375.stm|title=UK &#124; Airline plot: Al-Qaeda connection|publisher=BBC News|date=September 7, 2009|access-date=March 22, 2010|archive-date=March 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320035501/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8221375.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2012, Russian Intelligence indicated that al-Qaeda had given a call for "forest jihad" and has been starting massive forest fires as part of a strategy of "thousand cuts".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elder|first1=Miriam|title=Russia accuses al-Qaida of 'forest jihad' in Europe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/russia-al-qaida-forest-jihad|access-date=November 6, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 3, 2012|location=London|archive-date=January 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107063338/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/russia-al-qaida-forest-jihad|url-status=live}}</ref>