Al qaeda Isis

International Responses Attacks Background AQIM Afghanistan AQAP Boko Haram Al Qaeda Breakaway Groups Al Nusra Al Shabaab Who are they? ISIS Who is the leader? Where do they get money? How do they attack? Iraq How do they control an area? Syria International Responses

Learning Intentions Find out key facts about the history of Al Qaeda Find out how the group Al Qaeda inspired other terrorist groups Find out where ISIS came from Find out key facts about ISIS Find out how the world is responding to ISIS

Activity Take notes from the following slides – you will need them to be able to complete a project

Background – Al Qaeda Al Qaeda was formed by Osama Bin Laden in an area on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan had just fought a war against Russia, and the Afghan soldiers who were called the Mujahedeen then became the government of Afghanistan – they named themselves “The Taliban”, and put in place a very strict religious regime. Osama Bin Laden had been a member of the Mujahedeen, and so the Taliban allowed him to set up training camps for his new group in the massive mountainous regions of the country, near the border with Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden pledged to fight a “Jihad” (struggle) against the “far enemy” of the USA. He declared a “fatwa” (order to kill) on the USA.

Al Qaeda after 9/11

War in Afghanistan Because the Taliban had allowed Osama Bin Laden to have his training camps in Afghanistan, the USA declared war on Afghanistan – blaming the Taliban for 9/11. The USA and its allies (including Britain) easily won the initial battles, and forced the Taliban out of government. However Al Qaeda disappeared into the hills and Osama Bin Laden went into hiding. The USA found it difficult to put a democratic government in place in Afghanistan, and has had to keep soldiers there ever since. The Taliban became a terrorist group which has carried out attacks on US soldiers and the new government ever since

Attacks against the “Far Enemy” Al Qaeda continued to inspire attacks in Europe and America, as young men living in these countries were radicalised by hate preachers and the internet. Madrid Bombings 2003 Bali bombings London Bombings 2005 Trans-Atlantic Plot 2006 Boston Marathon Attack 2013 Woolwich Attack 2013

New Leader After Osama Bin Laden was killed by the Americans in 2011, Ayman Al- Zawahiri, his deputy, takes over. Zawahiri is an Egyptian surgeon He had been running Al Qaeda on a day-to-day basis for most of the 2000’s, while Bin Laden was in hiding.

AQAP In 2003, the main Al Qaeda leadership was still hiding away, this gave an opportunity for some other groups to set up and carry out attacks in Al Qaeda’s name. The first of these groups was Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It operates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen It is led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi They didn’t stick to the same idea as Al Qaeda though – Al Qaeda wanted to attack the “far enemy” – the USA. These new groups all focused on “near enemies”, governments in their own countries. It has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in Saudi Arabia It tried to carry out the “pants bomb” in 2009

Iraq The USA and UK declared war on Iraq in 2003 – they said that Iraq was a threat because it had WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) – this turned out to be untrue. Although the USA and UK easily defeated the government of Saddam Hussein, again they found it difficult to control the country after the war. The country descended into a religious war between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Al Qaeda set up in Iraq (AQI) in order to fight on the side of Sunni Muslims – they were led by Abu Musab al Zarqawi Shia Muslims were led by Moqtada al-Sadr AQI fought Shia Muslims and carried out brutal attacks The Al Qaeda leadership were furious with AQI for the brutality of the attacks. AQI began using the tactic of beheading foreign hostages to gain attention In 2004 there was a terrorist attack every day in Iraq

AQIM IN 2006 the Al Qaeda leadership announced that it was allowing another Jihadi group to join it – this was a group in Northern Africa. This group became known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (the Sahara desert). This group is led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar Attacks are carried out in Algeria, Mali, and Niger. The most notable attack was the one on the Algerian Gas Plant in January 2013

Boko Haram Founded in The name means “Western Education is forbidden” Its leader is Abubakar Shekau It carries out attacks in Nigeria It often uses suicide bombing techniques Its most famous recent attack is the kidnap of 200 girls from a school in 2014 – however it has been carrying out attacks like this for years – we just haven’t been hearing about it. Many girls in Nigeria are afraid to go to school The people feel anger towards the government as they feel they are not doing enough to stop the group

Al Shabaab In 2012 Al Qaeda announced that it was going to allow the Somalian group Al Shabaab to join the organisation. Al Shabaab has been responsible for many attacks in Eastern Africa – possibly its most famous was the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in September 2013. It is led by Abu Mansuur It funds itself through piracy in the Gulf of Aden

Syria The war in Syria began in 2011 People were trying to overthrow the dictator – Bashar Al Assad He fought back and a brutal civil war began. The Syrians asked for help, but nobody would give them military help. Al Qaeda arrived to support Sunni Muslims. President Assad is Shia. A religious war started.

Al Nusra/ISIS Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) crossed the border into Syria to join the fight. AQI split into 2 groups – one called itself the Al-Nusra front and stayed true to the Al Qaeda central leadership of Ayman Al-Zawahiri The leader of AL Nusra is Abu Muhammad al-Julani The other became ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It began a series of brutal attacks, killing many, and focusing especially on the Al-Nusra Front – so ISIS was kicked out of Al Qaeda for being disloyal

ISIS So ISIS was born. It used to be Al Qaeda in Iraq It already had a history of brutality in Iraq. Although it was supposed to be fighting President Assad, it initially focused its attack on Al Qaeda, as it wanted to take Al Qaeda’s place as the leader of Global Jihad

Who is the leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi An Iraqi, born in 1971 Sometimes known as “the invisible Sheikh” it is said he remains mysterious, and some even say he wears a mask when meeting his fighters

Where does ISIS control? Large sections in the North of Iraq and Syria

How does ISIS attack? They use a tactic that they call “snake amongst rocks”. A small number of fighters mount a fast and very brutal attack, where they use tactics like beheading enemy soldiers and putting their heads on spikes. They use lightning attacks – fast and brutal, then withdraw and attack from a different point. They use terror tactics to psychologically destroy their enemy. They managed to take the city of Mosul in Iraq with only 3000 fighters against the Iraqi army of 130,000.

What do ISIS do after they take control of a city? They take control of food, water and oil distribution in a city, so that the people rely on them to survive. They set up law courts and try “criminals” They put in place taxation systems – charging less than President Assad did, and open up schools (only for boys) and other public services. They want to be seen by the people as a new government

How do ISIS make money? They take hostages and demand ransoms – although Britain and America never pay, some European countries do, and they have made millions of dollars from this. They have taken over oil refineries, and are making $2 million a day in oil that they sell on the black market. They collect taxes They get donations from rich supporters in Qatar and Saudi Arabia who simply take bags of cash over the border between Syria and Turkey

How does ISIS use the media? ISIS have released videos of hostages that they have killed brutally – to scare the people and to try and persuade out government to stop supporting the USA’s air strikes They have promoted themselves in the media as a well organised group in order to encourage more donations from rich businessmen in the Middle East They have released YouTube videos in a dozen different languages to encourage young men from all over the world to join them. They have tried to present themselves in their most recent videos as a government

What is the world doing to stop ISIS? The USA began a campaign of Air Strikes on ISIS targets in Iraq in August 2014 This campaign seems to have some success in driving ISIS back, and protects the Yazidi community who had been driven up into the hills. The USA uses political influence in the region to try and build a Middle Eastern coalition against ISIS. ISIS try to say that this is the USA joining the Shias to kill Sunnis – USA keen to show that Sunni countries Saudi Arabia and UAE are joining too.

Criticisms of Air Strikes Some argue that air strikes are of no use in this conflict – they didn’t work before, tend to just kill, a show of force. This might be what ISIS want, to draw Western countries into a battle, again make it seem like a foreign invasion Some argue that this is a problem for the Middle East, and we should not be intervening, especially as some of the governments that we are working with are pretty dubious themselves.

Arguments in favour of air strikes They are tactical and will not lead to “boots on the ground” They are supporting the Iraqi troops and moderate Syrian fighters The human rights abuses carried out by ISIS are so horrific that we have a moral duty to act.

Do you think we should use air strikes?