The US Department of State said in its latest Worldwide Caution advisory that in multiple regions around the world terrorists, guerrilla groups, and other criminals look to kidnap US citizens for extortion or political purposes.
"Terrorist groups including ISIS [Daesh]*, al-Qa'ida[Al-Qaeda]**, their associates, and those inspired by such organizations, are intent on attacking US citizens wherever they are," the advisory said on Tuesday.
The report also points out that terrorists have started using less sophisticated weapons, including pistols and vehicles, against crowds of people.
Moreover, extremists aim to attack soft targets such as high-profile public events, hotels, places of worship, schools, tourist sites, markets, airports, clubs and restaurants, the advisory noted.
According to various media reports, the Nusra Front, which stands for The Support Front for the People of Syria, was created in late 2011, becoming the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In mid-2013, Syrian jihadists split when several groups left the Nusra Front to join what was then called the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI, and its leader, Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
ISI was consequently renamed the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or Daesh in Arabic) and as it expanded further, the terrorist group started calling itself the Islamic State (IS).
Reports of al-Baghdadi’s death repeatedly appear in the world media. His death was reported in June and December 2016, April 2015 and November 2014. In April 2015, he was reported dead after an injury, and in October 2016, reports emerged that al-Baghdadi was poisoned. In January 2017, media reported that al-Baghdadi suffered heavy injuries in an airstrike.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 in a U.S. military operation with at least 44 U.S. SEALs sent in to capture Terrorist Number 1. More than seventeen years ago, on 11 September 2001, al-Qaeda suicide bombers hijacked four passenger planes in the United States, sending two to New York's World Trade Center towers and the other two to the Pentagon and, presumably, the White House or the Capitol.
Daesh-linked and al-Qaeda-linked terrorists and its associates have reportedly plotted and carried out numerous attacks on military objects and civilians around the world.
