The international activities ofAl-Qaeda 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 inWestern Europe andRussia, including the2004 Madrid train bombings,[1]2010 Moscow Metro bombings,[2] 2011Domodedovo International Airport bombing,[3] and theJanuary 2015 Île-de-France attacks.[4]
Al-Qaeda linked militants organized around the Caucasus Emirate have been involved in theSecond Chechen War and the Insurgency in the North Caucasus. In August 2009 it was reported that during a raid theRussian police had killed anAlgerian-born militant inDagestan who according to theFederal Security Service, 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'[5][6]
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.[citation needed]
On 11 December 2010, a man linked to Al-Qaedaexploded 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.[7] He was later revealed to be Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi man,[8] who was born inBaghdad and was grantedSwedish citizenship in 1992.[9]
In 2003Tony Blair sent armoured vehicles and hundreds of troops toLondon Heathrow Airport because the UK security services claimed there was a planned Al-Qaeda attack.[10]MI5 said they received detailed intelligence in February 2003 about a plot to hijack planes flying from Eastern Europe and to fly them intoHeathrow, to punish the United Kingdom for supporting theIraq War.[10]
The men behind the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot reportedly had links to al-Qaeda.[11]MI5, Britain's secret service, accused the militant Islamic organisation of committing the attack.Osama bin Laden also made a video of the suicide bombing.[12]U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chertoff was clearly accusing al-Qaeda.[13] In September 2009,Tanvir Hussain, Assad Sarwar andAhmed Abdullah Ali were convicted of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks on aircraft leaving fromLondon and going toNorth America.[14][15][16] 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 inPakistan.[17][18][19][20][21]
During theBosnian War in the early 1990s, al-Qaeda is considered to have been involved with organising volunteers for the Bosnianmujahideen.[22][23] Al-Qaeda leaders includingOsama bin Laden andAyman al-Zawahiri are thought to have visited camps inBosnia during the war.[24] The volunteer mujahideen from all over the world flocked there, includingFrance,Indonesia,Iraq,Malaysia,Morocco,Russia,Saudi Arabia,Spain,Thailand, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States andYemen.[25]
In May 2009 two French nationals were detained byItalian 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 attackCharles de Gaulle airport inParis, France. Italian police stated that they are "two leading men for the communication of al-Qaeda in Europe".[26]
In 2012, apentito of theCamorra 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.[27]
In 2015, the Vatican was listed as a possible target for an attack by people associated with al-Qaeda.[28]
Islamist elements in theKosovo Liberation Army during theKosovo War from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organised by Islamic leaders in Western Europe allied toBin Laden andZawahiri.[29]
SHISH's head Fatos Klosi had said that Osama was running a terror network inAlbania to take part in the war under the disguise of ahumanitarian organisation reportedly started in 1994. Claude Kader who was a member testified its existence during his trial.[30] In 2001, the officialBelgradenews agency,Tanjug, reported that the "terrorist and fanatical Islamist"Osama bin Laden, had come fromAlbania to use his armer forces of 500 Islamic militants inKosovo aroundKorce andPogradec to "commit terrorist acts."[31]
The 11 March 2004 train bombings inMadrid killed 191 people and wounded more than 2,000. The terror cell had links to Al-Qaeda[32] and the affiliatedMoroccan Islamic Combatant Group (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.[33] It was the worst Islamist attack in European history.[34][35][36] On 2 August 2012 three members of Al-Qaeda were arrested inCiudad Real andCadiz, suspected of planning attacks inSpain and other European countries. There was an intended attempt at a mall inCadiz 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.[37]
A Europe-wideterror plot against the 1998 FIFA World Cup had the backing ofbin Laden and Al-Qaeda.[38][39][40] 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 theAlgerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA)[41] along with Al-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden. More than 100 people had been arrested in seven countries as a result of the investigation.[42]
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 deputyMohammed Bensakhria was rounded up by law enforcement.[43] The group had planned tobomb the Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve.[44][45]
In October 2009 a physicist ofAlgerian descent working forCERN was arrested due to his links with Al-Qaeda.[46] Officials said he had been in contact with people linked toAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and planned attacks.[46] He later admitted to corresponding with Al-Qaeda members located in North Africa over the Internet.[47]
In January 2015,Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was responsible forcoordinated attacks in Paris, including theCharlie Hebdo shooting, killing several people.[4][48]
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[49][50][51]Osama bin Laden stated:[52][53]
It is shameful to be part of an alliance whose leader does not care about spilling the blood of human beings by bombing villages intentionally.If you had seen [the mass killings] of your American allies and their helpers in northern Afghanistan ... then you would understand the bloodyevents in Madrid andLondon,[54]
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