While al-Qaeda offshoots remain active and the group will continue to inspire future jihadis, it no longer holds the same “global appeal” it once did, experts say.
Dr Peter Neumann, the Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, told The Sun Online it has been eclipsed by ISIS.
He said: “Al-Qaeda is locally strong (in Yemen, Syria) but has lost its global appeal to young radicalised Muslims in Western countries.
“Over the past three years, al-Qaeda has been eclipsed by Islamic State (ISIS).
“Al-Qaeda fifteen years ago was a global and undisputed leader of jihadist movement – that is no longer true.”
US President Barack Obama has waged a controversial drone war against the group – and has periodically killed off high ranking members operating in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Dr Neumann said these drone strikes had been “effective in taking out the leadership” and destroying al-Qaeda “as an organisation”, but “not the jihadist movement from which it arose”.
“The jihadist movement is much broader than al-Qaeda, and managed to regroup and revitalise as a result of the Syrian conflict.”
A June US Department of State report described al-Qaeda as having been “severely degraded” by the arrest or deaths of dozens of “mid and senior-level operatives”.
Most famously, founder Osama Bin Laden was killed in May 2011 in a daring Navy SEALs raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The CIA-led nighttime operation saw a team of elite troops storm his compound and gun him down in his bedroom.
The report stated: “The death or arrest of dozens of mid- and senior-level AQ operatives, including bin Laden in May 2011, have disrupted communication, financial support, facilitation nodes, and a number of terrorist plots.”
Dr Michael Kenney, a leading US terror expert from the University of Pittsburgh, told The Sun Online al-Qaeda had been “greatly weakened by the counter-terror” campaign that followed 9/11.
He said: “It was forced into hiding and many of its original leaders were hunted down and killed. To the extent that al-Qaeda central still exists, it is but a faint shadow of its former self.”
However, he warned that the group as a “movement” remained powerful, with current leader Ayman al-Zawahiri still engaging with offshoots and affiliates.
“It is possible to argue that this was al-Qaeda’s intent all along, to act as a source of inspiration and loose direction for other groups in the movement scattered throughout the world.
“However, it’s also true that al-Qaeda’s ability to finance and coordinate terrorist attacks has been greatly diminished.”
He added that drone strikes had been an important tool in the war against al-Qaeda, but failed to totally wipe out its original leadership.
“This ‘leadership decapitation’ approach to counter-terrorism disrupted the organisation’s bureaucracy and removed many of its leaders and mid-level managers.
“This clearly hurt the original organisation and hindered its ability to engage in terrorist attacks.”
Among those killed in drone strikes last year were Ustad Ahmad Farooq, the deputy emir for the group’s Indian subcontinent, and Ahmad Farouq, a member of the group’s executive council in Afghanistan.
American-born Adam Yahiye Gadahn was also killed in January last year. The 36-year-old converted to Islam at a mosque in California before taking up jihad and acting as al-Qaeda’s media and cultural adviser.
Most of the jihadis assassinated were operating in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region, a mountainous area on the border with Afghanistan.
Other members killed include commanders, trainers, publicists, intelligence operatives and even the head of its US attack operations team.
Current offshoots of the group still active include Al-Nusra Front in Syria, and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen.
