Osama Bin Laden (OBL), an arch-terrorist and founder of the Al-Qaeda, was assassinated on May, 2011 in a covert US operation (Kitfield, 2013). By the time of his death, Osama had been linked to several terrorist activities including the September, 11 attacks that killed nearly 3000 people (Michaels, 2012). It was hoped that his death would dismantle or cripple the Al-Qaeda, a terrorist network formed and led by OBL. Three years down the line it is still not clear whether OBL’s death crippled, dismantled or strengthened the terror network. This essay intends to discuss the discourse and assessments that have evolved three years after his death to explain its impact on Al-Qaeda.
Even before his death, experts had predicted one of three outcomes for Al-Qaeda in the event of his death; one was that, his death would have no
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Ideology unlike people is hard to kill, and for as long as this jihad ideologies continue to live on, the fight against terrorism is far from over. This is because; more terror networks will emerge, probably under different names but subscribing to the same ideology. A case in point is the Al-Shaabab and the Boko Haram.
The death of Osama bin Laden is believed to have crippled Al-Qaeda activities, which have reduced in scope, focus and intensity over the past three years. As a result, the groups’ strategies and alliances have shifted and changed as they moved their operation base from Afghanistan/Pakistan to Somali/Yemen and they have also elected a new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. However, although the group has been subjugated, jihad ideologies continue to thrive. With this ideologies doing rounds, it may only be a matter of time before another generation of Al-Qaeda’s’ emerges with fuller forces. Only time will