the war on terror , also known as the global war on terrorism , is an international military campaign launched by the united states government after the september 11 unk < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > the targets of the campaign are primarily sunni islamist fundamentalist armed groups located throughout the muslim world , with the most prominent groups being al-qaeda , the islamic state , the taliban , tehrik-i-taliban pakistan , and the various franchise groups of the former two organizations .