Terrorist groups - foreign based:
al-Qa'ida (AQ): aim(s): drive the US and US influence out of Muslim countries, destablize the US economy and, ultimately, destroy the US area(s) of operation: maintains a limited presence; authorities continue to pursue operatives and supporters; on 11 September 2001, 19 operatives hijacked four commercial airliners in the US and took control of the cockpits; the hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City, one plane into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and the fourth hijacked plane is thought to have been intended to crash into either the White House or Capitol Building; passengers overpowered the hijackers on the fourth plane that crashed in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania; approximately 2,993 people died and over 8,900 more were injured; these coordinated hijackings marked the deadliest terrorist attack to date in the US; on 26 February 1993, operatives detonated a massive VBIED inside the World Trade Center's North Tower in New York City in the US, killing six people and injuring 1,000