Salafi Jihadism emerged out during the 80s when the Soviet invaded Afghanistan . Local mujahideen had extracted financial , logistical and military support from Saudi Arabia , Pakistan and the United States . Later , Osama bin Laden established al-Qaeda as a transnational Salafi Jihadi organization in 1988 to capitalize this financial , logistical and military network and to expand their operation . The ideology had seen its rise during the 90s when the Muslim world experienced numerous geopolitical crisis , notably the Algerian Civil War ( 1991 – 2002 ) , Bosnian War ( 1992 – 1995 ) , and the First Chechen War ( 1994 – 1996 ) . Within these conflicts , political Islam often acted as a mobilizing factor for the local belligerents , who demanded financial , logistical and military support from al-Qaeda , in the exchange for active proliferation of the ideology . After the 1998 bombings of US embassies , September 11 attacks ( 2001 ) , the US-led invasion of Afghanistan ( 2001 ) and Iraq ( 2003 ) , Salafi Jihadism had seen its momentum . However , it got devastated by the US counterterrorism operations , culminated in bin Laden 's death in 2011 . After the Arab Spring ( 2011 ) and subsequent Syrian Civil War ( 2011 – present ) , the remnants of al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq had restored their capacity , which rapidly developed into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , spreading its influence throughout the conflict zones of MENA region and the globe
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Islamism