Al-Qaeda requires ‘extra terror assaults’ on US and Israeli flights after FlyDubai hijacking
A newsletter from a pro-al-Qaeda publisher reportedly praised the September 30 Flydubai incident and urged further attacks on US and Israeli nationals aboard planes
Hamam al-Hammami is being investigated following the suspect terror attack(Image: LINKEDIN)
Al-Qaeda has issued calls for further attacks on Israeli and US citizens aboard passenger planes, while celebrating the September 30 assault on a FlyDubai flight. Copilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, who tried to bring down a plane packed with Israelis this week, remains under investigation in the United Arab Emirates.
The pilot had been dismissed from his previous role with Oman’s national carrier last year due to worries over his extremist beliefs, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
Reuters reported that the UAE prosecutor general had officially classified the September 30 Flydubai incident as an attempted terrorist attack.
(Image: Times Now/Youtube)
Hamam al-Hammami attacked his Indian co-pilot Captain Smit Machchhar on a flight from Dubai to Tel-Aviv on Wednesday (September 30) with a ‘crash axe’.
Even as he lay on the floor of cockpit with severe stab wounds, Captain Smit unlocked the door, allowing passengers to subdue al-Hammami.
Two off-duty pilots then rushed into the cockpit to save the plane which had hurtled into a terrifying descent, losing 14,000ft of altitude in 30 seconds, data shows.
It took around 10 minutes to ‘stabilise’ the plane, but the plane ultimately landed safely in Saudi Arabia. Miraculously, none of the 182 passengers were seriously injured. The majority were Israeli citizens.
The Times of Israel reported that Israeli investigators suspected the co-pilot had been radicalised with ” al-Qaeda’s ideology”.
The report stated that investigators were probing whether he operated independently while searching for potential imitators, reports the Express.
Passengers were finally able to disembark the FlyDubai plane at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
An online publication connected to al-Qaeda now seems to have commended the assault while urging attacks on Israeli and US citizens travelling by air.
The content features in what’s described as the 11th edition of Al-Bayan, a weekly propaganda magazine published by the pro-al-Qaeda media organisation Al-Yaqin.
Telegram channels linked to the publication seemed to be distributing the latest edition on Friday and Saturday. Al-Bayan is a relatively recent publication.
Expert terrorism-monitoring organisation Terrogence has characterised it as an al-Qaeda-linked magazine, noting it is chiefly circulated via Al-Yaqin-associated networks.
Jihadism expert Daniele Garofalo has likewise identified Al-Bayan as a weekly periodical created by the pro-al-Qaeda media platform Al-Yaqin. Earlier editions have featured assault briefings, religious content and pieces advancing al-Qaeda’s ideology.
The allegations have not been independently verified and the complete contents of the 11th issue were not accessible through an independently indexed website at the time of publication.
Now, a second country has launched an investigation into al-Hammami. Australian officials have confirmed two police forces and a security agency have opened a probe into the co-pilot.
A spokesperson for the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (VIC JCTT), which includes Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation — its version of MI5 — said: “Vic JCTT can confirm it is investigating the man’s links to Australia.”
They added a ‘further update’ will be issued ‘at the appropriate time’. The spokesperson has not clarified the nature of the investigation, or the alleged links to Australia.
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