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QDe.012
MAKHTAB AL-KHIDAMAT
Date on which the narrative summary became available on the Committee's website
07 September 2010 - 12:00pm
Date(s) on which the narrative summary was updated
15 June 2015 - 12:00pm
14 November 2023 - 12:00pm
Reason for listing

Makhtab al-Khidamat was listed on 6 October 2001 pursuant to paragraph 8(c) of resolution 1333 (2000) as being associated with Al-Qaida (QDe.004), Usama bin Laden (deceased) or the Taliban for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Al-Qaida (QDe.004) and Usama bin Laden.

Additional information

Makhtab al-Khidamat, also known as the Afghan Service Bureau, is the pre-cursor organization to Al-Qaida (QDe.004) and provided the basis for its infrastructure. It was created in the 1980s by Abdullah Azzam (deceased) and Usama bin Laden (deceased) to establish guest houses near the Afghan border and paramilitary camps to prepare militants for the Afghan conflict.

Makhtab al-Khidamat helped channel fighters and money to Afghanistan, and established offices worldwide under the alias Al Kifah.

Disagreements between Azzam and Bin Laden in the late 1980s resulted in the creation of Al-Qaida by Bin Laden. After Azzam was killed in 1989, Bin Laden continued to utilize Makhtab al-Khidamat and the Al Kifah branches before absorbing them into Al-Qaida.