Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden, born on March 10, 1957, was a prominent figure in the world of jihadism and terrorism, known as the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Raised in a wealthy Sunni Muslim family in Saudi Arabia, he was deeply influenced by his upbringing and later became a pan-Islamist and Islamic extremist. His journey into militant activities began when he left Saudi Arabia to support the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War, where he co-founded Maktab al-Khidamat in 1984 to recruit foreign fighters.

In 1988, bin Laden established al-Qaeda, aiming to promote violent jihad on a global scale. Following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, he returned to Saudi Arabia, but his vocal opposition to the Saudi royal family led to his expulsion in 1991. He subsequently relocated to Sudan, where he continued to lead al-Qaeda and engage in various conflicts, including the Afghan Civil War and the Algerian Civil War.

In 1996, after being expelled from Sudan, bin Laden returned to Afghanistan, where he allied with the Taliban. He issued fatwas in 1996 and 1998, declaring holy war against Americans, which set the stage for al-Qaeda's infamous attacks, including the bombings of the World Trade Center in 1993 and U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998. The culmination of his efforts was the September 11 attacks in 2001, which resulted in the deaths of two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven individuals and triggered a global war on terror.

Following the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden became the target of an extensive international manhunt. He evaded capture for years, moving to Pakistan as al-Qaeda continued its insurgency against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. His life came to an end in 2011 when U.S. Navy SEALs located and killed him in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Despite his controversial legacy, bin Laden remains a polarizing figure, viewed as a symbol of terrorism and mass murder by many, while some extremists regard him as a heroic figure.