Abdullah Azzam Brigades
The organization takes its name from Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden's mentor during the resistance to Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Groups using the AAB name claimed responsibility for attacks as early as 2004, when militants bombed hotels and tourist sites in the Sinai Peninsula. A formal group did not emerge until Saleh al-Qarawi, the purported leader of Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, formed the AAB as an offshoot of Al-Qaida in Iraq in 2009. Al-Qarawi reportedly fought...