International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 16

Why Salafi-Jihadist Terrorist Groups
Pledge Allegiance to Al Qaeda or Isis
By Mahmut Cengiz, Ph.D. and Kutluer Karademir, Ph.D.
Abstract
No one predicted that Salafi-jihadist groups would mushroom after
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York or that they
would pose the biggest threat to global security. Today, no country
is immune from attacks by these jihadist groups. These groups are
not only active in conflict zones but also have the capacity to plot
attacks in the Western world through self-radicalized individuals
or homegrown extremists. In recent years, the trend has been for jihadist
groups to align themselves with large terrorist organizations,
usually Al Qaeda (AQ) or ISIS, because these organizations have
been able to survive destructive military campaigns against them
by the world’s superpowers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze
when and why jihadist groups declare loyalty to AQ or ISIS and to
show that when jihadist groups undergo organizational fragmentation,
restructuring, or dissolution following disruptive events, they
tend to pledge allegiance to one of these two organizations as a
survival strategy.
Keywords: Al Qaeda, ISIS, pledge of allegiance, affiliation among
jihadist groups, resilience strategies of terrorist organizations
Por qué grupos terroristas Salafi-Yihadistas
prometien lealtad a Al Qaeda o ISIS
Resumen
Nadie predijo que los grupos salafistas yihadistas se multiplicarían
después de los ataques terroristas del 11 de septiembre de 2001 en
Nueva York o que representarían la mayor amenaza para la seguridad
global. Hoy, ningún país es inmune a los ataques de estos
grupos yihadistas. Estos grupos no solo son activos en zonas de
conflicto, sino que también tienen la capacidad de planear ataques
en el mundo occidental a través de individuos auto radicalizados o
extremistas locales. En los últimos años, la tendencia ha sido que
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