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Al-Qaida Cultivates Range of Relationships With Affiliated Groups

Coordinator Daniel Benjamin Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism today said that Al-Qa'ida has cultivated a range of relationships with affiliated groups in disparate places.

Mr. Benjamin stressed that Al-Qa'ida, its allies, affiliates, and adherents are playing overall a more menacing role today than they have in quite a while.

Mr. Benjamin outlined the global threat environment and suggested what the trend lines are.

I. The AQ Threat

The AQ core leadership is in Pakistan, the group responsible for 9/11. U.S. and Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation has put considerable pressure on AQ, and Pakistani military operations aimed at eliminating militant strongholds in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have degraded much of the group's abilities.

The AQ core has had significant leadership losses and is finding it more difficult to raise money, train recruits, and plan attacks outside of the region. But although AQ core is clearly weaker, it retains the capability to conduct regional and transnational attacks. In addition, AQ has forged closer ties with some of the other militant groups in the region - for example Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani Network - and this has provided the group with additional capabilities to draw on.

"While the AQ core has weakened operationally, the affiliates have become stronger. Consequently, the broader AQ threat has become more geographically and ethnically diversified."-Mr. Benjamin

At the top of the affiliates list is al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It continues to demonstrate its growing ambitions and strong desire to carry out attacks outside of its region. AQAP has established itself as the first of the AQ affiliates to make attacks against the United States at home a central goal.

Mr. Benjamin said that AQ affiliates are also taking on a greater share of the propaganda work. Moving to Northwest Africa, no group has made a bigger name for itself in the kidnapping for ransom business than al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM.

AQIM has raised tens of millions of Euros in the past several years through kidnap for ransom operations. AQIM released a Frenchwoman and two Africans in February but retain four Frenchmen abducted from the AREVA uranium company compound in September in Niger.

Al-Shabaab is a somewhat different kind of organization, composed of a range of groups with varying motivations and interests. Some of al-Shabaab's senior leaders have links to al-Qa'ida and are interested in waging a global struggle, while other members have a purely Somali agenda or simply are in it for the money.

Al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI) has continued to suffer leadership losses and its constituency dwindled further. Though AQI remained capable of carrying out occasional signature attacks, it is believed to be responsible for the February attack on Iraq's largest oil refinery in Baiji and the late March attack on the Salah Ad-Din Provincial Council Headquarters.

II. What the United States is doing to address this changing threat?

The United States is working with various interagency partners, such as homeland security, the military, and the intelligence community to keep Americans and our interests safe.

"In Pakistan, we are focusing on shared threats, as well as addressing Pakistan's political and economic challenges. Since 2009, we have worked with the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people, including through our enhanced Strategic Dialogue, which met twice last year at the Ministerial level."-Mr. Benjamin

The United States is working closely with the Government of Pakistan on a range of counterterrorism-related capacity building projects, including numerous training courses for Pakistani police, which are administered by the State Department's Diplomatic Security bureau.

Source: U.S. Department of State