Al Qaeda urges copycat attacks on US citizens aboard planes, hails Dubai flight hijacker

Al Qaeda supporters have called for Americans on airplanes to be targeted, referencing the 9/11 attacks while praising the Dubai flight hijacker, New York Post reports. The threat appeared Friday in the latest edition of al-Bayan, a weekly publication launched in July by pro-Al Qaeda supporters, and it pictured a plane hitting the Twin Towers beside Wednesday’s hijacking of a flydubai aircraft carrying 174 people.

“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 September 11th and 30th,” it threatened. Terror expert Evan Kohlmann told The Post: “This really feels like Al Qaeda is trying to capitalize on this event.”

Hamam al-Hammami, a flydubai copilot, used a crash ax to stab the pilot before passengers restrained him; the plane landed in Saudi Arabia. Posts on his LinkedIn and Instagram, later deleted, ended with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri.