AQ doesn't exist. As it is today, "AQ" is a term used by African and Middle Eastern "gangs" that earns them street cred in the criminal underworld. The label was invented by the CIA and has never existed as a "network" or "operation" anywhere in the World. Watch the BBC documentary "Power of Nightmares", it explains how this non-sense got started.
There is no "they", it's a complete fabrication. Think of AQ like other thought-terminating words like "communist", "liberal", "fascist", "regime", "insurgent", "rebel", etc. During the cold war our enemies were called "red" today they are "AQ"