Obl

ObL is an abbreviation commonly used in intelligence, journalism, and popular discourse for Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian-born militant known for founding the transnational extremist network al-Qaeda. In official and media usage, ObL refers to the individual who directed a global campaign of Islamist militancy through the late 1990s and early 2000s, including attacks against Western targets.

Osama bin Laden was born in 1957 in Riyadh to a wealthy Saudi family. He grew up in Saudi Arabia and became involved in religious and political activism as a young adult. During the 1980s, he supported the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet occupation, later using this experience to establish al-Qaeda in 1988 with the aim of uniting Muslims under a global jihad and expelling Western influence from Muslim lands.

Al-Qaeda under ObL advocated a militant interpretation of Sunni Islam and aimed to wage jihad against what it characterized as apostate regimes and foreign occupiers. The organization carried out or inspired a number of high-profile attacks, including the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and led to extended U.S. and allied military campaigns in Afghanistan and beyond.

After years as a fugitive, ObL was located in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and was killed by United States Navy SEALs in a raid on May 2, 2011. The operation ended his leadership of al-Qaeda, though th