Background
Al-Qaeda's origins date back to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Soon after the invasion, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahadeen. Together with Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian-Jordanian who influenced bin Laden, they formed Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) in 1984, to provide support for Arab mujahadeen who came to join the jihad in Afghanistan.
Towards the end of the 1980s, the Soviets were retreating in defeat. Bin Laden and Azzam had discussions about the future of MAK and what to do with the mujahadeen force that had built up. Bin Laden and Azzam both wanted to use the force as a "rapid reaction force" to defend oppressed Muslims around the world. Bin Laden wanted to train the mujahadeen in terrorist tactics, while Azzam strongly disagreed with this approach, issuing a fatwa saying that it would violate Islamic law. Azzam reiterated the hadith that orders Muslims not to kill any women or children.
In November 1989, soon after bin Laden and Azzam split, Azzam was killed in Peshawar, Pakistan. Azzam and his two sons were travelling to Jummah (Friday prayer) when a remote-control activated bomb detonated and killed them. It is not known for certain if bin Laden was behind this, but thought unlikely. Nonetheless, bin Laden was free to take full control of MAK, laying groundwork for Al-Qaeda. Under guidance of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical.
In 1991, bin Laden moved to the Sudan, where he led operations in East Africa, including the 1993 assault on American troops at Mogadishu in Somalia. Under international pressure, the Sudanese forced bin Laden out of Sudan in 1996, and he returned to Afghanistan.
Read more about this topic: Planning Of The September 11 Attacks
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