Afghanistan: Osama bin Laden (1957-2011), founder of Al-Qaeda and prominent jihadi (left) with his deputy...

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (March 10, 1957 - May 2, 2011) was the founder of al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama. Shortly after his death, bin Laden's body was buried at sea. Al-Qaeda acknowledged his death on May 6, 2011. Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahirii, born June 19, 1951, is an Egyptian and the current leader of al-Qaeda and a current or former member and senior official of Islamist organizations which have orchestrated and carried out attacks in North America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2012, he called on Muslims to kidnap Western tourists in Muslim countries.