Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden (c. 1957/1958 – 2 May 2011) was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda, a Salafi jihadist militant organization, from 1988 until his killing in 2011. He was one of the most significant supporters of Islamic terrorism and jihadist militant movements around the world, aiming to found a pan-Islamic caliphate and end Western nations' interventionism in the Middle East. Most notably, he helped orchestrate al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001, which directly killed 2,977 victims and caused the U.S.-led global war on terror. He also led al-Qaeda and its allies in numerous wars, including the Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996), Bosnian War (1992–1995), and Algerian Civil War (1992–2002), the latter of which he helped instigate.

Born into the wealthy bin Laden family in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden used his personal fortune to build a network that trained militants in Europe, West Asia, and Africa. He moved from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) to help Afghan Muslims resist the Soviet Union's occupation of the country. In 1984, he co-founded Maktab al-Khidamat to recruit foreigners into the Afghan mujahideen resistance. In 1988, he founded al-Qaeda. Following the Soviet withdrawal, he commanded a mujahideen force during the First Afghan Civil War (1989–1992).

Upon returning to Saudi Arabia, bin Laden publicly promoted anti-Western causes and opposed the Saudi royal family, leading to his expulsion from the country in 1991. He went back to Afghanistan, then moved to Sudan later that year. In 1993, al-Qaeda bombed the World Trade Center complex in New York City. In 1996, bin Laden returned to Afghanistan after being expelled from Sudan; Afghanistan came under Taliban control later that year. Al-Qaeda allied with the Taliban, and they collaborated in the Third Afghan Civil War (1996–2001). In 1996 and 1998, bin Laden declared holy war on all Americans. Al-Qaeda bombed U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, and the U.S. and United Nations officially declared bin Laden a terrorist. That year, al-Qaeda also began an ongoing insurgency in Yemen.