SUMMARY

On US territory, al-Qaida launched its first devastating one-sided attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001, simultaneously attacking government targets in Washington D.C. These assaults marked the beginning of an intrastate conflict against al-Qaida, which was, however, mostly been fought outside the USA (see United States of America: Government. In 2003 and 2004, al-Qaida carried out a number of attacks in Saudi Arabia which targeted foreigners living there, mainly Americans.

The head of al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden, has clearly expressed and motivated his focus on US civilian and military targets. In February 1998 he stated in what he termed a fatwa - normally an interpretation of Islamic law by a respected Islamic authority - that America had declared war against God and his messenger. He called for the murder of any American as the "individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it". Some months later he declared: "We believe that the worst thieves in the world today and the worst terrorists are the Americans. Nothing could stop you except perhaps retaliation in kind. We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets." He also described attacks on US civilians as a means of retaliation: "We will do as they do. If they kill our women and our innocent people, we will kill their women and their innocent people until they stop."

As researchers argue, the group's one-sided attacks in the USA appear to be a means of warfare in its intrastate conflict against the US government. By selecting high prestige, symbolic targets for its attack, the group aimed to denigrate the USA and expose its vulnerability.

In the sphere of tactics, al-Qaida has promoted a culture of martyrdom; all perpetrators of the "9/11" attacks, committed suicide by directing hijacked planes towards the World Trade Center buildings. Usama bin Laden has claimed that Allah guaranteed a martyr's privileges after death.

al-Qaida first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2001, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. Both the 25 and 1000 deaths thresholds were reached on 11 September that year when the group intentionally crashed two hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York, killing 2753 civilians.