Supporters of Al-Qaeda have issued explicit calls for fresh aviation attacks targeting American and Israeli airliners, drawing direct comparisons to the Sept 11 terror attacks while praising a recent attempt to take control of a flydubai flight.
The threat was published in the latest edition of al-Bayan, a weekly propaganda publication launched in July by Al-Qaeda sympathisers. The article urged extremist followers to carry out copycat strikes on commercial passenger jets operating in international airspace.
“The war isn’t over yet – planes carrying Zionists, Americans and all the other infidels fighting against Islam are still hovering in the skies and can be targeted, as happened on Sept 11th and 30th,” the Arabic-language publication declared, according to a report by the New York Post.
The publication went on to claim that the Western alliance faces growing opposition globally, adding: “America and the Zionists have far more enemies today than before. Perhaps a man who does not believe in God will target them and his operation will ultimately benefit Islam.”
The threat was widely shared across Al-Qaeda-linked Telegram channels before the post was taken down.
Social Media Posts Linked to Omani Co-Pilot
The call to violence follows a high-profile incident involving Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani co-pilot accused of attempting to hijack and crash flydubai Flight FZ1073 bound for Dubai.
Around nine hours after the incident—and while al-Hammami was already in custody—a series of suspicious posts appeared on social media accounts associated with him. According to sources, one video posted online featured footage recorded inside an airliner cockpit, with the camera zooming in on nearby Israeli aircraft.
The video included imagery of former Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2022, alongside photos of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the Al-Qaeda-linked operative behind the 2009 suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan, which killed seven CIA officers.
A secondary post on al-Hammami’s LinkedIn profile displayed an AI-generated graphic illustrating Islam’s three holiest sites—Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem—connected by a glowing energy trail.
It remains unclear whether the social media posts were published remotely by accomplices or scheduled in advance using automated posting tools. Both the LinkedIn and Instagram accounts associated with al-Hammami have since been deleted by the respective platforms.
Global security agencies continue to monitor extremist networks for potential follow-up threats as aviation authorities review cockpit security measures in response to the incident.
