Al Qaeda's Response To Terrorism

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Al Qaeda affiliate groups gaining strength, terror report says By Jamie Crawford and Elise Labott, CNN updated 3:56 PM EDT, Wed April 30, 2014 (CNN) -- Al Qaeda's central leadership and its ability to direct operations from beyond its base in Pakistan has diminished, but its affiliate organizations, along with other terror groups, have grown more dangerous, according to a new report from the State Department. "The terrorist threat continued to evolve rapidly in 2013, with an increasing number of groups around the world - including both AQ affiliates and other terrorist organizations - posing a threat to the United States, our allies, and our interests," the annual report on global terrrorism trends found. In the report, the State Department…show more content…
counterterror efforts and was the focus of several military operations against its leadership following the release of a video that showed a large gathering of the group and its senior leadership. Terror attacks on the rise The report cited 9,707 terrorist attacks in 2013, a 43% increase from 2012, according to statistics compiled by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Attacks resulted in more than 17,800 deaths and more than 32,500 injuries. The majority took place in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, Thailand and Yemen. Last year's most lethal incidents were carried out by the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Nigeria's Boko Haram, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and ISIL, according to the report. Snowden's impact Tina Kaidanow, the State Department's top counterterrorism official, said the revelations by Edward Snowden of classified National Security Agency surveillance programs has degraded America's ability to monitor and prevent…show more content…
"It has done damage to our intelligence efforts and it's done damage to our ability to ensure that these groups don't have eyesight on the way that we try and gain intelligence with respect to what they're doing," she said. "So overall, know, it's incredibly damaging when we have these kinds of leaks because, at the end of the day, these groups are better able to assess and judge how we obtain our information." Syria, Iraq and

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