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US Warns Al-Qaida 'as Strong as It Has Ever Been'

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - Despite the reported death of the son and heir apparent of
   al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials warn the global terror
   group remains a significant threat to the United States.

   The officials refused to confirm the death of Hamza bin Laden, said to
   have been killed in a U.S.-involved operation sometime in the past two
   years. But they warned Thursday that regardless of his status, al-Qaida
   should not be underestimated.

   "What we see today is an al-Qaida that is as strong as it has ever
   been," State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Ambassador Nathan
   Sales told reporters during a briefing intended to focus on the terror
   group's main rival, Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIS.

   "Al-Qaida has been strategic and patient over the last several years,"
   Sales said. "It's let ISIS absorb the brunt of the world's
   counterterrorism efforts while patiently reconstituting itself."

   "They're very much in this fight and we need to continue to take the
   fight to them," he added.

   The U.S. assessment of al-Qaida is in line with a [1]recent United
   Nationsreport, which described the terror group as "resilient."

   "Groups aligned with al-Qaida are stronger than their ISIL counterparts
   in Idlib, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Somalia and much of West
   Africa," the report said, using another acronym for Islamic State.

   Like the U.N. report, Sales focused U.S. concern on a series of "active
   and deadly" al-Qaida affiliates, including al-Shabab, which has been
   operating in Somalia and Kenya, as wellas al-Qaida in the Islamic
   Maghreb (AQIM) and the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula
   (AQAP).

   AQAP, in particular, has repeatedly been cited as perhaps the most
   threatening of all al-Qaida affiliates by U.S. officials for its
   advanced bomb-making capabilities and its desire to strike the U.S.

   "No one should mistake the period of relative silence from al-Qaida as
   an indication that they've gotten out of the [terror] business," Sales
   said.

References

   1. https://undocs.org/S/2019/570

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