Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) was a Saudi Arabian-born militant who was the founder and leader of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. He was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, as well as numerous other acts of terrorism. He was
Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden, also transliterated as Usama Bin Ladin, was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. A Salafi jihadist and designated terrorist, bin Laden worked to establish a pan-Islamist caliphate by using al-Qaeda to organize and fund jihadist militants and terrorists worldwide. Al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001 directly killed 2,977 victims, and caused the global war on terror.