Al-Qaeda involvement in Europe
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The international activities of
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
includes involvements in Europe, where members of the group have been involved in militant and terrorist activities in several countries. Al-Qaeda has been responsible for or involved in attacks in Western Europe and Russia, including the
2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías Madrid, Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days ...
,
2010 Moscow Metro bombings The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two Islamic female terrorists during the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro ( Lubyanka and Park Kultury), with roughly 40 minutes in betw ...
, 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks.


Eastern Europe


North Caucasus

Al-Qaeda linked militants organized around the Caucasus Emirate have been involved in the Second Chechen War and the Insurgency in the North Caucasus. In August 2009 it was reported that during a raid the Russian police had killed an Algerian-born militant in
Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
who according to the
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
, was ''"the Al-Qaeda co-ordinator in Dagestan"''. The militant was an Algerian national known as "Doctor Mohammed" and was thought to be a member of the ' Jamaat Shariat of Dagestan' In 2010, Russian police shot and killed a militant in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The man was later determined to be one of the co-founders of the North Caucasus branch of al-Qaeda. The man's name was Mohamed Shaaban.


Northern Europe


Sweden

On 11 December 2010, a man linked to Al-Qaeda exploded a car bomb and a suicide bomb in Stockholm, killing only himself and injuring two others. Firefighters reported that the car had a gas cylinder, resulting in further explosions. He was later revealed to be Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi man, who was born in Baghdad and was granted
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
citizenship in 1992. Before the attacks, he sent an email threat to TT referring to Sweden's involvement in the War in Afghanistan and Swedish artist Lars Vilks' drawings of Muhammad as a roundabout dog.


United Kingdom

In 2003 Tony Blair sent armoured vehicles and hundreds of troops to London Heathrow Airport because the UK security services claimed there was a planned Al-Qaeda attack. MI5 said they received detailed intelligence in February 2003 about a plot to hijack planes flying from Eastern Europe and to fly them into Heathrow, to punish the United Kingdom for supporting the Iraq War. The men behind the
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British M ...
reportedly had links to al-Qaeda. MI5, Britain's secret service, accused the militant Islamic organisation of committing the attack.
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
also made a video of the suicide bombing. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chertoff was clearly accusing al-Qaeda. In September 2009,
Tanvir Hussain The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British M ...
, Assad Sarwar and
Ahmed Abdullah Ali The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British M ...
were convicted of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks on aircraft leaving from London and going to
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. British and US security officials said the plan – unlike many recent homegrown European terrorist plots – was directly linked to al-Qaeda and guided by senior Islamist militants in Pakistan.


Southern Europe


Bosnian War

During the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
in the early 1990s, al-Qaeda is considered to have been involved with organising volunteers for the Bosnian
mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
. Al-Qaeda leaders including
Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
and
Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (June 19, 1951 – July 31, 2022) was an Egyptian-born terrorist and physician who served as the second emir of al-Qaeda from June 16, 2011, until his death. Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University with ...
are thought to have visited camps in
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
during the war. The volunteer mujahideen from all over the world flocked there, including France, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yemen.


Italy

In May 2009 two French nationals were detained by Italian police due to suspected immigration offences however they are now suspected of being key Al-Qaeda figures. It is thought that they had planned to attack Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France. Italian police stated that they are "two leading men for the communication of al-Qaeda in Europe". In 2012, a pentito of the
Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...
stated that, the criminal organisation was in contact with members of Al-Qaeda and aware of incoming terrorist attacks. The organisation was informed that "something involving airplanes would have happened" and that Al-Qaeda was planning a train bombing in Spain. In 2015, the Vatican was listed as a possible target for an attack by people associated with al-Qaeda.


Kosovo War

Islamist elements in the
Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the ...
during the Kosovo War from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organised by Islamic leaders in Western Europe allied to Bin Laden and Zawahiri. SHISH's head Fatos Klosi had said that Osama was running a terror network in Albania to take part in the war under the disguise of a
humanitarian organisation An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organization ...
reportedly started in 1994. Claude Kader who was a member testified its existence during his trial. In 2001, the official
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
news agency, Tanjug, reported that the "terrorist and fanatical Islamist"
Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
, had come from Albania to use his armer forces of 500 Islamic militants in Kosovo around Korce and Pogradec to "commit terrorist acts."


Spain

The 11 March 2004 train bombings in Madrid killed 191 people and wounded more than 2,000. The terror cell had links to Al-Qaeda and the affiliated
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, known by the French acronym GICM (''Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain''), is a Salafi jihadist terrorist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The GICM is one of several North African terrorist franchise ...
(GICM). It was the violent start of the new Al-Qaeda. The new Islamic terrorist organization was already made up of jihadist organisations dependent on Osama Bin Laden, who made their own decisions. It was the worst Islamist attack in European history. On 2 August 2012 three members of Al-Qaeda were arrested in
Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...
and Cadiz, suspected of planning attacks in Spain and other European countries. There was an intended attempt at a mall in Cadiz with teleridigidas aircraft loaded with explosives. At the time of the arrest of one of the jihadists who opposed a "huge resistance, using their military training" were eliminated by the police.


Western Europe

A Europe-wide terror plot against the 1998 FIFA World Cup had the backing of bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Preparations for an act of terrorism against the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France were completed by European law enforcement agencies between March and May 1998. The assassination was orchestrated by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) along with Al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
. More than 100 people had been arrested in seven countries as a result of the investigation. In December 2000, the "Frankfurt Group", an Al-Qaeda cell consisting of more than ten terrorists from Germany, France and the United Kingdom led by bin Laden deputy Mohammed Bensakhria was rounded up by law enforcement. The group had planned to bomb the Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve.


France

In October 2009 a physicist of
Algerian Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...
descent working for
CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
was arrested due to his links with Al-Qaeda. Officials said he had been in contact with people linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and planned attacks. He later admitted to corresponding with Al-Qaeda members located in North Africa over the Internet. In January 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was responsible for coordinated attacks in Paris, including the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting, killing several people.


Germany

In September 2009 security measures were heightened in response to a direct threat against Germany, through an Al-Qaeda video, the threat came about due to German participation in the Afghanistan war
Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
stated:


External links


Foiled Plot Offers Clues to Recent Absence of Major Terror Attacks on West, Wednesday, 9 Sept. 2009

Al-Qaida's jihad in Europe: the Afghan-Bosnian network
By
Evan Kohlmann Evan F. Kohlmann (born 1979) is an American terrorism consultant who has worked for the FBI and other governmental organizations.Steven Emerson (Foreword), Lorenzo Vidino (Author). . * Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network, by Evan F. Kohlmann. .


References

{{Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda activities Islamic terrorism in Europe