In 1999-2001, al-Qaida expanded its training activities in Afghanistan. The main training sites were the al-Faruq camp outside Kandahar, a special facility at Kandahar Airport, and facilities in and near Kabul. The camps offered three types of courses: Basic training to prepare recruits for frontline fighting; specialized courses teaching a range of skills including urban terrorism; and a cadre course for building al-Qaida’s own organization. Al-Qaida’s primary aim in this period was organization-building, while at the same time functioning as a services office for incoming recruits. The strategic purpose of al-Qaida’s camps was to create a pool of skilled, reliable and battle-hardened cadre. By 2000, al-Qaida had developed into a semi-professional military organization. It had a system for receiving new recruits, formal entry procedures and a rigid training programme where only the most dedicated and talented recruits were offered to enter al-Qaida. Al-Qaida’s training activities in this period suggest they had ambitions that went far beyond international terrorism.