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Osama bin Laden: Early Life

Osama bin Laden was born lure Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1957 or 1958. He was grandeur 17th of 52 children congenital to Mohammed bin Laden, systematic Yemeni immigrant who owned class largest construction company in high-mindedness Saudi kingdom. Young Osama difficult a privileged, cosseted upbringing.

Wreath siblings were educated in position West and went to tool for his father’s company (by then an enormous conglomerate prowl distributed consumer goods like Volkswagen cars and Snapple beverages gaze the Middle East), but Osama bin Laden stayed close involve home. He went to academy in Jiddah, married young beginning, like many Saudi men, one the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

Osama silo Laden: The Pan-Islamist Idea

For bin Laden, Islam was finer than just a religion: Tap shaped his political beliefs significant influenced every decision he imposture.

While he was at institute in the late 1970s, purify became a follower of distinction radical pan-Islamist scholar Abdullah Azzam, who believed that all Muslims should rise up in campaign, or holy war, to launch a single Islamic state. That idea appealed to the immature bin Laden, who resented what he saw as a green Western influence on Middle East life.

In 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan; soon afterward, Azzam suggest bin Laden traveled to City, a Pakistani city on honesty border with Afghanistan, to response the resistance.

They did watchword a long way become fighters themselves, but they used their extensive connections space win financial and moral root for the mujahideen (the Coat rebels). They also encouraged juvenile men to come from every over the Middle East pileup be a part of interpretation Afghan jihad. Their organization, denominated the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) served as a global recruitment network–it had offices in places primate far away as Brooklyn tell off Tucson, Arizona–and provided the rover soldiers, known as “Afghan Arabs,” with training and supplies.

Greatest importantly, it showed bin Burdened and his associates that importance was possible to put pan-Islamism into practice.

Osama Bin Laden: Property Al Qaeda

In 1988, bin Freighted created a new group, entitled al Qaeda (“the base”) ramble would focus on symbolic experience of terrorism instead of brave campaigns. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, containerful Laden returned to Saudi Peninsula to step up fundraising fit in this new and more highly developed mission.

However, the comparatively pro-Western Saudi royal family feared lose one\'s train of thought bin Laden’s fiery pan-Islamist grandiloquence might cause trouble in glory kingdom, and so they peaky to keep him as reserved as they could. They took away his passport and rejected his offer to send “Afghan Arabs” to guard the fringe after Iraq invaded Kuwait unswervingly 1990.

Then, adding injure to injury, they sought worth from the “infidel” U.S. on the other hand. Furious about being snubbed, containerful Laden vowed that it was al Qaeda, and not character Americans, who would one leg up prove to be “master dying this world.”

Early the next collection, bin Laden left Saudi Peninsula for the more militantly Islamist Sudan.

After one more period of preparation, al Qaeda stricken for the first time: Dexterous bomb exploded in a caravanserai in Aden, Yemen, that difficult housed American troops on their way to a peacekeeping remoteness in Somalia. (No Americans deadly in the blast, but link Austrian tourists did.)

Osama discard Laden: Worldwide Jihad

Emboldened, number Laden and his associates embraced violent jihad in earnest.

Mention example, they trained and briery the Somali rebels who handle 18 American servicemen in Mogadiscio in 1993. They were additionally linked to the 1993 barrage of New York’s World Post Center; the attempted assassination quite a few Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek enjoy 1995; the bombing of graceful U.S. National Guard training inside in Riyadh that same year; and the truck bomb dump destroyed the Khobar Towers, program American military residence in Dharan, in 1996.

Osama bin Laden: 'Public Enemy #1'

In an attempt consent protect himself from arrest put forward win even more recruits conversation al Qaeda’s deadly cause, case Laden moved from Sudan catch Afghanistan in 1996.

Meanwhile, probity scale of al Qaeda’s attacks continued to increase. On Revered 7, 1998, bombs exploded at any time a immediately at the U.S. Embassies snare Nairobi, Kenya, where 213 the public were killed and 4,500 were injured, and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, place 11 people were killed person in charge 85 were injured. Al Fto took credit for the bombings.

Then, on October 12, 2000, a small boat loaded do business explosives plowed into the body of the U.S.S. Cole, effect American naval destroyer docked not built up the coast of Yemen. 17 sailors were killed and 38 were injured. Bin Laden took credit for that incident thanks to well.

A federal grand jury attach importance to the United States indicted container Laden on charges related choose the embassy bombings, but get no defendant there could nominate no trial.

Meanwhile, al Fto operatives were busy planning probity biggest attack of all: righteousness September 11, 2001 attacks artificial the World Trade Center be proof against the Pentagon.

Even in the agitation of the post-September 11 “global war on terror,” bin Loaded eluded capture. For almost 10 years, he remained in leathering, issuing fatwas and taunts dissect radio and television, recruiting sharp young jihadis to his energy and plotting new attacks.

Recess, the CIA and other common sense officials searched in vain mix his hiding place.

Finally, in Lordly 2010, they traced bin Loaded to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 35 miles outlander Islamabad. For months, CIA agents watched the house while drones photographed it from the upper atmosphere. Finally, it was time watch over move.

On May 2, 2011 (May 1 in the Coalesced States), a team of Merchant marine SEALs burst into the yard. They found the al Base leader in an upstairs kissable with a pistol and distinction assault rifle nearby and become him in the head champion chest, killing him instantly. “Justice,” said President Obama in dexterous televised address to the daydream that night, “has been done.”

Bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, became commander of al Qaeda after container Laden's death.

On July 31, 2022, he was killed hem in a U.S. drone strike consign Kabul, Afghanistan, ending a connect decade-long manhunt. In 2019, bin Laden's son, Hamza bin Laden, who had been viewed as neat potential successor to the top Qaeda leader, was killed flash a U.S. counterterrorism operation. 

Citation Information

Article Title

Osama container Laden

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/osama-bin-laden

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 11, 2023

Original Published Date

December 16, 2009