US: Al-Qaeda, Taliban resilient terrorist threats

Al-Qaeda's core leadership in Pakistan remains the most formidable terrorist threat to the US homeland and al-Qaeda's growing presence across Africa challenges many states, the US State Department said on Thursday.

Terrorist attacks worldwide and their death toll in 2009 were at their lowest levels in some four years, according to the US State Department's annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" publication. Terrorists carried out 10,999 attacks worldwide in 2009, the lowest number in five years and down from a recent high of 14,443 in 2006. (AP)