UN report: Sayf al-’Adl widely seen as new al-Qaida leader
February 14, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say the predominant view among member nations is that the leadership of al-Qaida has passed to Sayf al-’Adl, who was responsible for Osama bin Laden's security and trained some of the hijackers involved in the 9/11 attack on the U.S.
Mystery Yemen drone strike renews questions over US campaign
February 10, 2023 GMTSANAA, Yemen (AP) — Onlookers gathered around a small, four-door car coated in dried mud, peering through its shattered windows and torn-away roof at three dead men inside.
Tribal leaders identified the three — killed in late January near Yemen's central city of Marib — as suspected members of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, long considered one of the extremist group’s most dangerous branches.
Group aiding kin of slain CIA officers comes out of shadows
December 4, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Calista Anderson was at a sleepover when the email from a friend arrived. She was 12 years old and had just experienced the worst moment of her life: Her mother had been killed while working overseas.
New Biden counterterror strategy puts limits on drone use
October 7, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday formally issued new guidance curtailing the use of armed drones outside of war zones as part of a new counterterrorism strategy that places a greater priority on protecting civilian lives.
CIA unveils model of al-Qaida leader al-Zawahri’s hideout
September 24, 2022 GMTMcLEAN, Virginia (AP) — The CIA has revealed a model of Ayman al-Zawahri’s safe house, used to brief President Joe Biden about the al-Qaida leader’s whereabouts before the agency killed him in a drone strike in Afghanistan.
US contractor freed by Taliban in swap for drug trafficker
September 19, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — An American contractor held hostage in Afghanistan for more than two years has been released in exchange for a convicted Taliban drug lord jailed in the United States, the White House said Monday, announcing a rare success in U.S.-Taliban talks since the militant group took power a little more than a year ago
Declassified report shows US predictions of IS group threat
September 15, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials predicted two years ago that the Islamic State group would likely regain much of its former strength and global influence, particularly if American and other Western forces reduced their role in countering the extremist movement, according to a newly declassified report.
9/11 terror attacks reverberate as US marks 21st anniversary
September 11, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Americans remembered 9/11 on Sunday with tear-choked tributes and pleas to “never forget," 21 years after the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.
The loss still felt immediate to Bonita Mentis, who wore a necklace with a photo of her slain sister, Shevonne Mentis.
Biden honors 9/11 victims, vows commitment to thwart terror
September 11, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept.
Today in History: September 11, U.S. comes under attack
September 11, 2022 GMTToday in History
Today is Sunday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2022. There are 111 days left in the year.
2 decades later, 9/11 self-professed mastermind awaits trial
September 9, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Hours before dawn on March 1, 2003, the U.S. scored its most thrilling victory yet against the plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks — the capture of a disheveled Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, hauled away by intelligence agents from a hideout in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Breathing room for Biden: Big summer wins ease 2024 doubts
August 18, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his allies hope big recent wins on climate, health care and more will at least temporarily tamp down questions among top Democrats about whether he will run for reelection.
EXPLAINER: Dueling views remain a year after Afghan pullout
August 17, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A year after America's tumultuous and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, assessments of its impact are divided — and largely along partisan lines.
Timeline of events in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover
August 12, 2022 GMTThe Taliban's capture of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021 brought the hardline movement back into power in Afghanistan nearly 20 years after they were toppled by the U.S. invasion following the 9/11 attacks. The year since has been disastrous for the country.
One year after Afghan war, Biden struggles to find footing
August 9, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The 12 months since the chaotic end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan haven't been easy for Joe Biden.
One year after Afghanistan, spy agencies pivot toward China
August 8, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — In a recent closed-door meeting with leaders of the agency’s counterterrorism center, the CIA’s No. 2 official made clear that fighting al-Qaida and other extremist groups would remain a priority — but that the agency’s money and resources would be increasingly shifted to focusing on China.
Still isolating, Biden signs anti-fraud pandemic bills
August 5, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, isolated in the White House residence with COVID-19, signed two measures Friday aimed at curbing fraud in pandemic relief programs.
The legislation, which passed Congress with bipartisan support, extends the statute of limitations to give prosecutors more time to file criminal charges.
Taliban say bomb kills 8 people in Shiite area of Kabul
August 5, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — A bomb hidden in a cart went off on Friday near a mosque in a minority Shiite neighborhood of the Afghan capital, killing at least eight people and wounding 18, a Taliban official said.
Taliban claim they unaware of al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan
August 4, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban said Thursday they are investigating what they described as “claims” that al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the Afghan capital.
However, the group insisted in a statement that it “has no knowledge of the arrival and residence” of al-Zawahri in Afghanistan.
EXPLAINER: A look at the missile that killed al-Qaida leader
August 3, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — For a year, U.S. officials have been saying that taking out a terrorist threat in Afghanistan with no American troops on the ground would be difficult but not impossible. Last weekend, the U.S.
The downside: US strike shows Afghanistan still terror base
August 2, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is holding out the CIA operation that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri as a monumental strike against the global terror network responsible for the Sept.
Taliban under scrutiny as US kills al-Qaida leader in Kabul
August 2, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. drone strike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri on the balcony of a Kabul safe house intensified global scrutiny Tuesday of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and further undermined their efforts to secure international recognition and desperately needed aid.
Watching al-Qaida chief’s ‘pattern of life’ key to his death
August 2, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — As the sun was rising in Kabul on Sunday, two Hellfire missiles fired by a U.S. drone ended Ayman al-Zawahri's decade-long reign as the leader of al-Qaida.
Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought ‘justice’
August 2, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S.
Al-Zawahri’s path went from Cairo clinic to top of al-Qaida
August 2, 2022 GMTCAIRO (AP) — The doors of jihad opened for Ayman al-Zawahri as a young doctor in a Cairo clinic, when a visitor arrived with a tempting offer: a chance to treat Islamic fighters battling Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
EXPLAINER: Who was al-Zawahri — and why did US kill him?
August 2, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan this weekend killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who helped Osama bin Laden plot the Sept.
Biden’s COVID sequel: back on the balcony, dog for company
August 2, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — It’s back to the White House balcony and the Treaty Room for President Joe Biden as he contends with a “rebound” case of COVID-19.
Trapped in the White House for the second time in as many weeks, the president knows the drill this time: He’s got an office in the residence and his dog Commander to keep him company while he governs by Zoom and FaceTime.
Al-Qaida chief blames US for Ukraine invasion in new video
May 7, 2022 GMTBAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri made an appearance in a pre-recorded video to mark the 11th anniversary of the death of his predecessor Osama bin Laden.
Al-Qaida leader circulates video, dispels rumor of his death
April 6, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — A rare video has appeared of al-Qaida's chief praising an Indian Muslim woman who in February defied a ban on wearing the traditional headscarf, or hijab. The footage is the first proof in months that the man who was once Osama bin Laden's No.
Al-Qaida chief appears in video marking 9/11 anniversary
September 12, 2021 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri appeared in a video marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, attacks, months after rumors spread that he was dead.
The SITE Intelligence Group that monitors jihadist websites said the video was released Saturday.
Al-Qaida chief in 9/11 speech calls for attacks on West
September 11, 2019 GMTCAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called Wednesday on Muslims to attack U.S., European, Israeli and Russian targets in a speech on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks...
Al-Qaida leader urges Muslims to fight US across the world
September 11, 2018 GMTCAIRO (AP) — Marking the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the leader of al-Qaida has called on Muslims to wage war against the United States throughout the world.
In a 30-minute speech released Tuesday, Ayman al-Zawahri went to great lengths to portray the United States as a religious enemy of Muslims, using Washington's transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as evidence of that enmity...
Al-Qaida No. 2 slams France’s push to ban veils
July 28, 2010 GMTCAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida's No. 2 has slammed France's push to ban the Islamic full-face veil and urged Muslim women to be "holy warriors" in the defense of their headdress against the "secular Western crusade" in a new audio message released Wednesday on militant websites.