Al-Qaeda threatens to attack US, Israeli planes after flydubai incident

Al Qaeda has reportedly called for copycat attacks targeting Americans and Israeli airliners, invoking the 11 September attacks while praising the alleged hijacker of a Dubai-bound flydubai flight over “crash attempt”.

The call, according to the New York Post, appeared in the latest edition of al-Bayan, a weekly publication launched in July by supporters of Al Qaeda, Hindustan Times reports.

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“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 11th and 30th September,” the Arabic-language publication's article threatened.

“America and the Zionists have far more enemies today than before,” it said. “Perhaps a man who does not believe in God will target them and his operation will ultimately benefit Islam,” the NYP report quoted the latest edition of al-Bayan as saying.

The publication added: “The day will come when the empire of evil America will end.”

The post was being circulated on Al Qaeda-linked Telegram channels on Saturday before it was apparently taken down.

The development comes after a series of posts reportedly linked to al-Qaeda leaders appeared on the social media accounts of Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot accused of attempting to take over flydubai Flight FZ1073, around nine hours after the incident.

Al Qaeda-link in Omani co-pilot's post

One of the posts, according to CNN, featured clips from inside the cockpit, with footage appearing to zoom in on nearby Israeli aircraft. It then showed photographs of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al Qaeda chief who succeeded Osama bin Laden and was killed in 2022.

The video also featured Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who was responsible for a 2009 suicide bombing that killed nine people, including seven American CIA officers and contractors. Al-Balawi was loyal to Al Qaeda, the report added.

A second LinkedIn post reportedly showed an AI-generated image of Islam’s three holiest sites — Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem — connected by a continuous glowing trail.

The posts appeared on the alleged hijacker's LinkedIn and Instagram accounts while al-Hammami was already in custody. It remains unclear who published the posts or whether they had been scheduled in advance.

Both accounts were subsequently deleted, CNN reported.