But even in its weakened state, the al-Qaeda still poses a danger to the West, West Asia and the wider Muslim world. Before the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden had relied on recruits trained at Afghan camps, and many had personally pledged allegiance to him. But bin Laden was found and killed in a Pakistani city about an hour’s drive north of Islamabad, the capital. He spent time in Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he first met bin Laden in 1987. Today, five years after bin Laden’s death, the Islamic State (IS) has, in many ways, overshadowed al-Qaeda as the world’s most serious terrorist threat.

Source: The Hindu June 14, 2016 19:41 UTC