Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy

Al Qaeda (AQ) is a transnational Islamist terrorist organization and network of affiliates that the U.S. intelligence community describes as one of "the greatest Sunni terrorist threats to U.S. interests overseas" and a potential source of inspiration to domestic violent extremists. Sustained counterterrorism (CT) pressure appears to have weakened the group since it perpetrated the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks. In April 2021, the U.S. intelligence community told Congress that Al Qaeda's senior leadership "has suffered severe losses in the past few years" but they expect that remaining leaders will continue to plot attacks and seek to exploit conflicts in different regions. In recent years, U.S. officials have characterized the AQ threat as stemming mainly from its affiliates, which have generally focused on local issues in their respective areas of operation, where they threaten local U.S. personnel, interests, and partners.