| Species | Asian elephant |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Died | December 2006 Behali, near Tezpur, Assam, India |
| Years active | 2004–2006 |
| Height | 2.7 to 3.0 m (9 to 10 ft) |
| Appearance | No tusks |
| Named after | Osama bin Laden |
Osama bin Laden was a rogue bull elephant named after the notorious terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. He was responsible for at least 27 deaths and the destruction of property in the jungled Sonitpur district of the Indian state of Assam. After a two-year rampage from 2004 to 2006, the elephant was eventually shot, though some were doubtful that the correct animal had been killed. Two other now-deceased killer elephants active following 2006 were also given the name "Osama bin Laden" or "Laden". [1]
Osama bin Laden was a rogue bull elephant active in the Indian state of Assam, in the vicinity of Behali, near Tezpur. The state capital, Guwahati, is 240 kilometres (150 mi) southwest of Behali. [2] The province has an estimated population of 5,300 Asiatic elephants. [2]
Named after the terrorist Osama bin Laden, [3] [4] at the time of the attacks, the elephant was thought to be between 45 and 50 years old. [5] He measured between 2.7 and 3.0 metres (9 and 10 ft) tall. [5] [6] He was given the status of a "rogue" elephant in the summer of 2006 after his death toll reached double-digit figures. [3] He was said not to fear fire or firecrackers. [6] During his attacks, he killed 27 people in the state of Assam, [5] including 14 during the six months preceding his death. [upper-alpha 1] [3] [7]
Expansion of human activities and destruction of elephants' natural habitat has resulted in elephants foraging for food where humans are situated. [upper-alpha 2] From 2001 to 2006 in Assam, more than 250 people were killed by elephants; villagers killed 268 elephants, mainly by poisoning. [2]
Indian officials issued a "shoot to kill" directive for Osama bin Laden in mid-December 2006, [upper-alpha 3] with a deadline of the end of the month. On 18 December, it was announced that the elephant had been tracked to a tea plantation near Behali, a town 140 kilometres (90 mi) north-west of Guwahati. [6] Local villagers used drums and fire to trap the elephant in the corner of the plantation. [3] He was approached by hunter Dipen Phukan; however, once the elephant realised what was about to happen he charged the hunter, who killed him as he rapidly approached. Phukan said, "It was charging towards me and I kept firing. Another few yards and it would have run over me." [3] It had been identified as Osama bin Laden as it had no tusks. [6]
However officials were concerned that it was not the right elephant, with the death taking place a considerable distance –80 kilometres (50 mi)– from where he had been seen previously. [upper-alpha 4] Forestry officials were accused of killing an innocent elephant, while conservation groups were concerned about the possibility of revenge attacks by other elephants of the same herd. [6] [upper-alpha 5]
Post 9/11, villagers in Assam started calling elephants which damaged their crops or homes Osama bin Laden, viewing them as terrorists. [upper-alpha 6] In 2008, another elephant also named "Osama bin Laden" – that caused more than 11 fatalities and dozens of injuries – was shot dead in Jharkhand. [upper-alpha 7] [upper-alpha 8] [11] Another, known as "Laden", killed 5 people before being caught and dying in captivity in 2019. [1]
Al-Qaeda is a pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic state known as the Caliphate. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the US and its allies; such as the 1998 US embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing and the September 11 attacks. The organization is designated as a terrorist group by NATO, UN Security Council, the European Union, and various countries around the world.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi-born Islamic dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his organization is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various other countries. He is most widely known as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Sulaiman Jassem Sulaiman Ali Abu Ghaith is a Kuwaiti regarded as one of al-Qaeda's spokesmen. He is married to one of Osama bin Laden's daughters. In 2013, Gaith was arrested in Jordan and extradited to the United States. In 2014, he was convicted in a U.S. federal court in New York for "conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists" and sentenced to life imprisonment He is serving his sentence at the federal ADX Florence prison in Colorado.
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri, was an Egyptian-born militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until his death in July 2022.
The bin Laden family, also spelled bin Ladin, is a wealthy family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of Saudi Binladin Group, a multinational construction firm. Following the September 11 attacks, the family became the subject of media attention and scrutiny through the activities of Osama bin Laden, the former head of al-Qaeda.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was a high-ranking Egyptian member of al-Qaeda. He has been described as al-Qaeda's most experienced operational planner and was said to be the second-in-command in the organization at the time of his death.
On 13 January 2006 the Central Intelligence Agency fired missiles into the Pakistani village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal area, near the Afghan border, killing at least 18 people. United States officials later admitted that no al-Qaeda leaders perished in the strike and that only local villagers were killed. The attack purportedly targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, second-in-command of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden, who was thought to be in the village.
Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States and/or its allies for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is a British Pakistani terrorist. He became a member of the Islamist jihadist group Harkat-ul-Ansar or Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the 1990s, and later of Jaish-e-Mohammed and was closely associated with Al-Qaeda.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad by United States Navy SEALs of SEAL Team Six. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a CIA-led mission, with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid. In addition to SEAL Team Six, participating units under JSOC included the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), also known as the "Night Stalkers," and the CIA's Special Activities Division, which heavily recruits from former JSOC Special Mission Units. The success of the operation ended a nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden, who was accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The following is a list of attacks which have been carried out by Al-Qaeda.
Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a Saudi Arabian-born member of Al-Qaeda. He was a son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and, following his father's death in 2011, he was described as an emerging leader of the Al-Qaeda organization.
Osama bin Laden has been depicted or parodied in a variety of media. Notable examples include:
This is a list of activities ostensibly carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) within Pakistan. It has been alleged by such authors as Ahmed Rashid that the CIA and ISI have been waging a clandestine war. The Afghan Taliban—with whom the United States was officially in conflict—was headquartered in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas during the war and according to some reports is largely funded by the ISI. The Pakistani government denies this.
The international activities of Al-Qaeda includes involvements in Europe, where members of the group have been involved in militant and terrorist activities in several countries. Al-Qaeda has been responsible for or involved in attacks in Western Europe and Russia, including the 2004 Madrid train bombings, 2010 Moscow Metro bombings, 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks.
Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism refers to the involvement of Pakistan in terrorism through the backing of various designated terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been frequently accused by various countries, including its neighbours Afghanistan, Iran, and India, as well as by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, of involvement in a variety of terrorist activities in both its local region of South Asia and beyond. Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border have been described as an effective safe haven for terrorists by Western media and the United States Secretary of Defense, while India has accused Pakistan of perpetuating the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir by providing financial support and armaments to militant groups, as well as by sending state-trained terrorists across the Line of Control and de jure India–Pakistan border to launch attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir and India proper, respectively. According to an analysis published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in 2008, Pakistan was reportedly, "with the possible exception of Iran, perhaps the world's most active sponsor of terrorist groups... aiding these groups that pose a direct threat to the United States. Pakistan's active participation has caused thousands of deaths in the region; all these years Pakistan has been supportive to several terrorist groups despite several stern warnings from the international community." Daniel Byman, a professor and senior analyst of terrorism and security at the Center For Middle East Policy, also wrote that, "Pakistan is probably 2008's most active sponsor of terrorism". In 2018, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, suggested that the Pakistani government played a role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group. In July 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to the United States, acknowledged the presence of some 30,000–40,000 armed terrorists operating on Pakistani soil. He further stated that previous administrations were hiding this truth, particularly from the United States, for the last 15 years during the War on Terror.
Events in the year 2011 in Pakistan.
On May 2, 2011, United States President Barack Obama confirmed that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in his compound in Abbottabad, northeastern Pakistan. Bin Laden's death was welcomed by many as a positive and significant turning point in the fight against al-Qaeda and related groups. Those who welcomed it included the United Nations, European Union, NATO, and some nations in Asia, Africa, Oceania, South America, and the Middle East, including Yemen, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India, Israel, Indonesia, Somalia, the Philippines, Turkey, Iraq, Australia, Argentina, and the rebel Libyan Republic.
The death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, gave rise to various conspiracy theories, hoaxes and rumors. These include the ideas that he had died earlier, or that he lived beyond the reported date. Doubts about Bin Laden's death were fueled by the U.S. military's supposed disposal of his body at sea, the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of Bin Laden's death to the public, the contradicting accounts of the incident, and the 25-minute blackout during the raid on Bin Laden's compound during which a live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the U.S. special forces was cut off.
