The Maktab al Khidimat il Mujahideen al Arab (MAK), also known as the Afghan Bureau, is reliably thought to have been founded by Dr Abdullah Azzam, who was a teacher of Osama bin Laden, and an influential member of the Muslim Brotherhood. MAK was used as a conduit for funneling funds from several Western sources to finance the jihad in Afghanistan. MAK also actively recruited fighters from around the world.

MAK also liaised closely with the then Pakistani government, particularly the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).