Terrorism Guide - National Counterterrorism Center HOME GROUPS PROFILES METHOD & TACTICS TIMELINE TERRORISM HISTORY SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qa‘ida suicide attackers hijacked and crashed four US commercial jets—two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania—leaving nearly 3,000 people dead.

VIEW TIMELINE Ayman al-Zawahiri $25 Million Reward Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi $10 Million Reward Hafiz Mohammad Saeed $10 Million Reward Mullah Omar $10 Million Reward Yasin Al-Suri $10 Million Reward Abubakar Shekau $7 Million Reward Hamad el Khairy $5 Million Reward Abdelkarim Al-Nasser $5 Million Reward The US National Counterterrorism Center is pleased to present the Terrorism Guide Website. This site contains many features across the full range of issues pertaining to international terrorism: terrorist groups, wanted terrorists, technical pages on various threat-related topics, and a historic timeline that marks dates that terrorists may believe are important if planning attacks to commemorate particular events.

Under US law, NCTC focuses exclusively on international terrorism. There are other organized groups that engage in violent acts—some are criminal organizations with no political or social agenda, and some are domestic terrorist groups; however, this guide reflects NCTC’s international focus. Senior Intelligence Community officials assess the greatest international terrorist threats currently facing the United States come from violent extremists inspired by al-Qa‘ida, including its allies and affiliates, who are committed to conducting attacks inside the United States and abroad. These groups promote an ideology that presents a radical vision of Islam that is not followed or endorsed by the vast majority of Muslims.

Individuals portrayed in this calendar are all listed on the US Government’s Rewards for Justice site or on FBI sites devoted to terrorism. These individuals have been either indicted or are being sought for their involvement in international terrorism.

The Terrorism Guide is designed as a ready reference guide for law-enforcement, intelligence, military and security personnel, contingency planners, or citizens concerned about terrorist threats. The website is oriented primarily to readers in the United States, but we hope it will be useful for citizens of other countries as well.

In the conduct of intelligence activities, the Intelligence Community (IC) recognizes that it must protect fully the legal rights of all US persons, including freedoms, civil liberties, and privacy rights guaranteed by Federal law. The IC is not authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information about US persons solely based on Constitutionally protected activities such as First Amendment speech, and may not do so based solely on race, religion, or other protected classification. All individuals in this calendar are included only because of information linking them to international terrorism. Individuals identified as charged or indicted with criminal wrongdoing are entitled to a presumption of innocence in the US court system, unless and until such time as they are deemed guilty through the judicial process.

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× Calendar Content Notes Spelling of arabic names and terms While there is no universally accepted transliteration of Arabic names and terms, this Counterterrorism Guide Web site adheres to a transliteration system that is generally used throughout the US Government. In this system, the letters “u” and “a” are preferred over “o” and “e.” For example, the name of the al-Qa‘ida operative who was detained on 1 March 2003 is Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, not Sheikh Mohammed. We have retained, however, the name variants and spellings used on the Rewards for Justice and FBI Web pages; these are designed for easy recognition and therefore do not strictly conform to these rules.

Islamic calendar The Islamic calendar is based on the movement and observation of the moon. The Islamic year contains 12 months, none of which can exceed 30 days. Each month starts when the lunar crescent is first seen after a new moon. Because 12 lunar months multiplied by 29.53 days equals 354.36 days, the Islamic calendar will always be approximately 11 days shorter than the Western, or Gregorian, calendar. For example, 1 Muharram, the first day of Islamic year 1432 (known in the West by the Latin term Anno Hegirae, or A.H.), falls on 8 December 2010; in A.H. 1433, 1 Muharram falls on 27 November 2011. As explained in the footnotes of the printed edition of the Counterterrorism Calendar, holidays begin the sundown of the previous day. Because of lunar observation and differences in time zones, the observance of Islamic holidays may vary from region to region.

Map boundaries Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative.

The information in this website is valid as of 15 August 2014. This website contains only information in the public domain that has been verified and disseminated by US Government sources