New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has busted the Al-Qaeda module in Murshidabad in West Bengal and Ernakulam in Kerala. The agency has also arrested 9 Al-Qaeda operatives after the raids conducted in Murshidabad and Kerala.NIA had learned about an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India including West-Bengal and Kerala. The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital places in India.

Many might remember the terrorist group as those responsible for the shocking attack on America on September 11, 2001. The series of four coordinated terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Centre and partially damaged the Pentagon.

ALSO READ|NIA Arrests 9 Al-Qaeda Module Operatives In West Bengal's Murshidabad And Kerala's Ernakulam; Explosives & Jihadi Literature Seized

Here are 10 things to know about to the militant group Al-Qaeda

  • The Al Qaeda which means "The Base", "The Foundation" is a militant organisation that was founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Abdullah Azzam, and a few others during the Soviet-Afgan war.

  • The group is responsible for the terror attacks like the 1988 U.S. embassy bombings, the infamous 9/11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings.

  • After the 9/11 attacks the United States government responded by launching the "War on Terror", which sought to undermine al-Qaeda and its allies.

  • Al-Qaeda members believe that a Christian–Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam. They oppose what they call “man-made laws” and want to impose Sharia laws.

  • Al-Qaeda has also attacked people they considered ‘kafir’ or non-believers. This resulted in the Yazidi community bombings, the Sadr City bombings, the Ashoura massacre, and the April 2007 Baghdad bombings.

  • In 2010 Al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid claimed responsibility for the bombing of a German bakery in Pune. In a posthumous audiotape released on June 15, 2010, he claimed to be responsible for the bombing that occurred on 13 February 2010. The blast killed 17 people and injured at least 60 more.

  • In September 2014 al-Zawahiri announced al-Qaeda was establishing a front in India to "wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty, and to revive its Caliphate." They formed a new wing called "Qaedat al-Jihad fi'shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya" or al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

  • Ayman al-Zawahiri took over after Osama bin Laden was killed by the U.S. military. He is currently the most wanted and there’s currently a $25 million bounty offered for his head, higher than the reward for any other terrorist in the world.

  • The chief of Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent Asim Umar was reportedly killed on September 23, 2019, by a US-Afghan joint operation.

  • According to a report by India today, the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Pulwama terror attack case also shows that leaders from militant Jaish-e-Mohammed had a connection with al-Qaeda.