Take a wild guess.
(CNN) — Any compilation of the world’s most dangerous terrorists is a hazardous undertaking, a shifting list that’s open to endless debate.
If you live in Moscow, Chechen Islamist leader Doku Umarov would feature prominently. Many Israelis would likely include Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on their list and people living in the southern Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf group.
Some terror figures who were among the most wanted several years ago, such as Abu Anas al Libi — who was captured last weekend in Libya — appear not to have been active for some time. Even some terrorists try to retire. The last list compiled by CNN included senior al Qaeda operative Saif al Adel. He has vanished from the radar and may have been under house arrest in Iran. […]
1. Ayman al-Zawahiri
Despite the whittling away by drone attacks of “al Qaeda central” in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the group’s leader remains vocal and active in trying to harness the disparate affiliates that claim the al Qaeda name…
2. Nasir al Wuhayshi
For someone thought to be about 36 years old,Wuhayshi’s terror resume is already extensive. Once bin Laden’s private secretary in Afghanistan, he returned to his native Yemen and ended up in jail. But not for long: He and several other al Qaeda operatives dug their way out in 2006. He went on to to help found al Qaeda in Yemen, and began launching attacks on Yemeni security services and foreign tourists, as well as directing an ambitious attack against the U.S. Embassy in Yemen…
3. Ibrahim al–Asiri
Not a household name, but one that provokes plenty of anxiety among Western intelligence agencies. Al-Asiri, a 31-year-old Saudi, is AQAP’s master bomb-maker, as expert as he is ruthless. He is widely thought to have designed the “underwear” bomb that nearly brought down a U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, as well as the ingenious printer bombs sent as freight from Sanaa, Yemen, and destined for the United States before being intercepted thanks to a Saudi tip-off. The bombs were so well hidden that at first British police were unable to find one device even after isolating the printer…
4. Ahmed Abdi Godane
Godane, aka Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, became the leader of the Somali group Al-Shabaab at the end of 2008. Traditionally, Al-Shabaab has been focused on bringing Islamic rule to Somalia, and as such has attracted dozens of ethnic Somalis (and a few Western coverts) from the United States and Europe. But Godane appears to be refocusing the group on terrorist attacks beyond Somalia, against the east African states that are supporting the Somali government — especially Uganda and Kenya — and against Western interests in east Africa…
5. Moktar Belmoktar
Belmoktar is Algerian but based in the endless expanse of desert known as the Sahel. Like many on this list, he has an uncanny knack for survival against the odds. A year ago, he probably would not have been counted among the world’s most dangerous terrorists. Then he announced the formation of an elite unit called “Those Who Sign With Blood,” which he said would be the shield against the “invading enemy.” A short time later, his fighters launched an attack on the In Amenas gas plant in southern Algeria. A three-day siege left nearly 40 foreign workers dead…
6. Abu Muhammad al–Julani
While Belmoktar might have been on the fringes of a “most dangerous terrorist list” a year ago, Abu Muhammad al-Julani would not have been anywhere near it. But as Syria has descended into a state of civil war, al-Julani’s group — the al-Nusra Front — has emerged as one of the most effective rebel factions. Formed in January 2012, it is a jihadist group with perhaps 10,000 fighters, many of them battle-hardened in Iraq. It has specialized in suicide bombings and IED attacks against regime forces, and its success has attracted hundreds of fighters from other rebel groups…
7. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
One factor that may influence the growth and potency of al-Nusra is its relationship with fellow jihadists in Iraq. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was publicly at odds with al Julani over the regional pecking order earlier this year, asserting that al-Nusra was part of his group, a claim swiftly rejected by al Julani. Western intelligence would like nothing more than dissent between these two groups. Close cooperation between them across the long Syrian-Iraqi border — the goal of al-Zawahiri — is the nightmare scenario…
8. Sirajuddin Haqqani
Shifting from the Middle East to the Afghan-Pakistan border regions, several groups are positioning themselves for the exit of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan next year. Among the most dangerous is the Haqqani Network, responsible for some of the deadly attacks in Kabul in recent years. A 2008 coordinated suicide bomb attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul left six dead. Another strike in June 2011 killed 12 at the InterContinental Hotel…
9. Abubakar Shekau
Shekau’s inclusion recognizes the growing tide of Islamist militancy in West Africa. For the last four years, he has led Boko Haram, a Salafist group in northern Nigeria that has begun cooperating with other groups as far away as Mali…
10. Doku Umarov
Doku Umarov leads the Caucasus Emirate (CE), a Chechen group dedicated to bringing Islamic rule to much of southern Russia.
The U.S. State Department named Umarov a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2010, and said subsequently he was “encouraging followers to commit violent acts against CE’s declared enemies, which include the United States as well as Israel, Russia, and the United Kingdom.”…