Al-Qaeda Is as Strong as Ever After Rebuilding Itself, U.S. Says
- Group responsible for Sept. 11 attacks described as ‘patient’
- State Department counterterrorism official discusses al-Qaeda
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Al-Qaeda and its affiliates remain as much of a threat to the U.S. as “it has ever been” after the terrorist group rebuilt itself while the U.S. and other nations focused on destroying Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a State Department official said.
“Al-Qaeda has been strategic and patient over the past several years,” Nathan Sales, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, said on Thursday at a briefing in Washington. “It’s let ISIS absorb the brunt of the world’s counterterrorism efforts while patiently reconstituting itself. What we see today is an al-Qaeda that is as strong as it has ever been.”