American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden
originally aired on Netflix
Osama bin Laden was a Saudi-born militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union. He declared war on the United States in 1996 and advocated attacks targeting U.S. assets in various countries. Bin Laden organized the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, mostly civilians.