S. naval, usa. Terrorist Group Profiles: Index of Groups
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Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. United States Department of State, June 2004. Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State 
Description Originated among militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s. Committed to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel through holy war. Also opposes moderate Arab governments that it believes have been tainted by Western secularism. First designated in October 1997. Activities PIJ activists have conducted many attacks including large-scale suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets. The group decreased its operational activity in 2003 but still claimed numerous attacks against Israeli interests. The group has not yet targeted US interests and continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the territories. US citizens have died in attacks mounted by the PIJ. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Primarily Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. The group’s leadership resides in Syria and Lebanon, as well as other parts of the Middle East. External Aid Receives financial assistance from Iran and limited logistic assistance from Syria. 28. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. United States Department of State, June 2004. Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description Broke away from the PFLP-GC in the late 1970’s. Later, split again into pro-PLO, pro- Syrian, and pro-Libyan factions. Pro-PLO faction led by Muhammad Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Abbas) had been based in Baghdad. Abbas himself was detained by Coalition Forces in April 2003 and subsequently died in custody of natural causes in March 2004. First designated in October 1997. Activities The Abu Abbas–led faction is known for aerial attacks against Israel. Abbas’s group also was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and the murder of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Has become more active since the start of the al-Aqsa intifadah, and several PLF members have been arrested by Israeli authorities for planning attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Based in Iraq since 1990; has a presence in Lebanon and the West Bank. External Aid Receives support mainly from Iraq. Has received support from Libya in the past. 29. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. United States Department of State, June 2004. Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description Marxist-Leninist group founded in 1967 by George Habash—as a member of the PLO—when it broke away from the Arab Nationalist Movement. The PFLP does not view the Palestinian struggle as a religious one, seeing it instead as a broader revolution against Western imperialism. The group earned a reputation for spectacular international attacks, including airline hijackings that have killed at least 20 US citizens. The PFLP is opposed to the Oslo process. First designated in October 1997. Activities Committed numerous international terrorist attacks during the 1970s. Since 1978 has conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, including killing a settler and her son in December 1996. The PFLP has stepped up its operational activity since the start of the current intifadh highlighted by its assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minster in October 2001 to avenge Israel’s killing of the PFLP Secretary General earlier that year. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Syria, Lebanon, Israel, West Bank, and Gaza. External Aid Receives safehaven and some logistic assistance from Syria. 30. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. United States Department of State, June 2004. Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description Split from the PFLP in 1968, claiming it wanted to focus more on fighting and less on politics. Violently opposed to Arafat’s PLO. Led by Ahmad Jabril, a former captain in the Syrian Army. Jabril’s son, Jihad, was killed by a car bomb in May 2002. Closely tied to both Syria and Iran. First designated in October 1997. Activities Carried out dozens of attacks in Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for cross-border terrorist attacks into Israel using unusual means, such as hot air balloons and motorized hang gliders. Primary focus now on guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon and small-scale attacks in Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip. Strength Several hundred. Location/Area of Operation Headquartered in Damascus with bases in Lebanon. External Aid Receives logistic and military support from Syria and financial support from Iran. 31. Al-QaidaFrom: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. United States Department of State, June 2004. Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description Established by Usama Bin Ladin in the late 1980s to bring together Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Current goal is to establish a pan- Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems “non-Islamic” and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries—particularly Saudi Arabia. Issued statement under banner of “the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders” in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens—civilian or military—and their allies everywhere. Merged with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (Al-Jihad) in June 2001. First designated in October 1999. Activities In 2003, carried out the assault and bombing on 12 May of three expatriate housing complexes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 20 and injured 139. Assisted in carrying out the bombings on 16 May in Casablanca, Morocco, of a Jewish center, restaurant, nightclub, and hotel that killed 41 and injured 101. Probably supported the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 5 August that killed 17 and injured 137. Responsible for the assault and bombing on 9 November of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 17 and injured 100. Conducted the bombings of two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15 November that killed 23 and injured 200 and the bombings in Istanbul of the British Consulate and HSBC Bank on 20 November that resulted in 27 dead and 455 injured. Has been involved in some attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2002, carried out bombing on 28 November of hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killing 15 and injuring 40. Probably supported a nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, on 12 October that killed about 180. Responsible for an attack on US military personnel in Kuwait, on 8 October, that killed one US soldier and injured another. Directed a suicide attack on the MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen, on 6 October that killed one and injured four. Carried out a firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia on 11 April that killed 19 and injured 22. On 11 September 2001, 19 al-Qaida suicide attackers hijacked and crashed four US commercial jets—two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon near Washington, DC, and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, leaving about 3,000 individuals dead or missing. Directed the attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, on 12 October 2000 killing 17 US Navy members and injuring another 39. Conducted the bombings in August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed at least 301 individuals and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992. Al-Qaida is linked to the following plans that were disrupted or not carried out: to assassinate Pope John Paul II during his visit to Manila in late 1994, to kill President Clinton during a visit to the Philippines in early 1995, to bomb in midair a dozen US transpacific flights in 1995, and to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport in 1999. Also plotted to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations in late 1999. (Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial.) In December 2001, suspected al-Qaida associate Richard Colvin Reid attempted to ignite a shoe bomb on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Miami. Attempted to shoot down an Israeli chartered plane with a surface-to-air missile as it departed the Mombasa airport in November 2002. Strength Al-Qaida probably has several thousand members and associates. The arrests of senior-level al-Qaida operatives have interrupted some terrorist plots. Also serves as a focal point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, some members of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin. Location/Area of Operation Al-Qaida has cells worldwide and is reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. Was based in Afghanistan until Coalition forces removed the Taliban from power in late 2001. Al-Qaida has dispersed in small groups across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and probably will attempt to carry out future attacks against US interests. External Aid Al-Qaida maintains moneymaking front businesses, solicits donations from likeminded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations. US and international efforts to block al-Qaida funding has hampered the group’s ability to obtain money. 32. |