- Al-Qaeda was a militant Sunni Islamic organization founded by bin Laden in 1988.
- The group's goal was to establish a global caliphate, or Islamic state, and enforce Sharia law worldwide.
- Al-Qaeda carried out a number of terrorist attacks, including the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 2000 USS Cole bombing, the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings.
- Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.