On the eve of the millennium, an operative linked to Osama bin Laden, Ahmed Ressam, tried to sneak into the United States to bomb Los Angeles International Airport.
One of the prisoners who was questioned during that period was Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaida operative linked to the Sept. 11 plot who was the first detainee taken into custody by the CIA in the aftermath of the attacks.
Here are a few recent ones: "U.S. drone strike kills a senior Islamic State militant in Syria," "Drone kills ISIL operative linked to Benghazi," "Drone kills four Qaeda suspects in Yemen," "U.S. drone strike kills Yemen al-Qaida leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi," "U.S. drone strikes target Islamic State fighters along Afghanistan-Pakistan border".
Analysts were quick to point out that numerous small militant groups unearthed by security forces in Jordan in recent years, including operatives linked to Al Qaeda, harbored virulently anti-American and anti-Western sentiments.
Gulen supporters argue that the Ergenekon trials are a long-overdue historical reckoning aimed at bringing to account a murky group of ultranationalist operatives, linked to the military, that has fought against perceived enemies of the state, including pro-Islamists.
Together, the trial and Parliament's findings set off a wave of outrage over the spy agency's actions and feverish speculation over the existence of rogue operatives linked to a cold war NATO program known as Stay Behind.
Turkish analysts and officials have long talked of a "deep state" in Turkey, a group of operatives, linked to the military, who are thought to have battled their perceived enemies since the end of the cold war.
The 24-year-old Tunisian blamed for the attack on an ancient synagogue in Tunisia this spring, an assault considered the deadliest by operatives linked to Osama bin Laden since Sept. 11, was a surprising convert to Islamic militancy, intelligence officials have concluded.
4 Trail of the Tunisian Bomber The 24-year-old Tunisian who is determined to have carried out the attack on a synagogue in Tunisia this spring, in what is considered the deadliest assault by operatives linked to Osama bin Laden since Sept. 11, was a surprising convert to Islamic militancy, intelligence officials have concluded.
Theretofore, Pakistan had been reluctant to appear to give in to Indian pressure over Lashkar-e-Taiba's activities, but the solidity of the evidence, combined with pressure from the United States and the United Nations, spurred the country to raid Lashkar-e-Taiba camps and arrest several operatives linked to the Mumbai siege.
Kamphuis' disappearance has triggered a slew of conspiracy theories on Twitter, particularly given his connections to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, who published Democratic Party emails hacked by operatives linked to the Kremlin. .
