“They want to be able to say, ‘We’re not the kind of guys that sit around and talk. But, he added, both of them want to generate more attention for themselves. “Which group can launch the kind of major attack that will differentiate themselves remains to be seen,” Clarke told USA TODAY. While al-Qaida remains a mostly hierarchical top-down organization, ISIS-K is instructing its followers to return to their home countries and launch whatever kind of attacks they want. Like some other experts, Clarke also believes an intensifying rivalry between al-Qaida and ISIS-K is causing both groups to look for ways to launch high-profile attacks in order to recruit and raise money off of them. interests at home and abroad.Ĭolin Clarke, a South Asia terror expert and research director at the Soufan Group, believes that al-Qaida, and to a lesser extent ISIS-K, will spend the next year trying to develop the capability to strike Western targets, including train stations and other "soft" civilian facilities. and allied counterterrorism officials, many of whom believe the group once led by Osama bin Laden presents the most lethal threat to U.S. A resurgent al-Qaida?Īs part of the Trump administration's deal to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban pledged to cut ties with al-Qaida and to keep the country from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups.īut Taliban leaders have reneged on that promise, instead solidifying their longstanding relationship with al-Qaida. A recent United Nations report concluded that key al-Qaida allies have consolidated power in Afghanistan – with help from the Taliban – providing the terror network with a platform from which to mount a comeback and plot attacks. "There simply isn't sufficient collection assets – human and technical – to maintain adequate situational awareness."Įven the Pentagon acknowledges that without pressure, terrorists in Afghanistan may have the ability to attack the United States by next spring – a possibility that critics of the U.S.
"I remain very skeptical," said Mark Quantock, a retired two-star Army general who oversaw intelligence collection for U.S. military and intelligence capabilities, as sophisticated as they are, can detect and destroy terrorist plots thousands of miles away. Biden was briefed on the proposed operation and shown a model of the safe house where Al-Zawahri was hiding.Ĭritics say it's foolish to believe that the U.S.
This photo released by the White House shows President Biden meeting with his national security team July 1 to discuss the operation to take out Ayman al-Zawahri.