This is a pretty good article on how the fighters are broadening their scope.
Al-Qaeda's harrowing experiences after its retreat from Afghanistan in 2001 and during military operations in the Pakistani tribal areas of Waziristan cost it hundreds of arrests and casualties.
As a result, al-Qaeda reformed its tunnel vision and concluded that it should concentrate fighters in small pockets to establish tiny "kingdoms of heaven" all over the Islamic world, instead of becoming involved in global fights against US targets.
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IA04Df02.html