‘Evil America will end’: Al Qaeda praises flydubai incident; calls for similar attacks on US, Israeli airliners
Al Qaeda has called for copycat attacks targeting American and Israeli airliners, invoking the September 11, 2001 attacks and praising an alleged hijacking attempt aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, the New York Post reported.
According to the report, the call appeared in the latest edition of al-Bayan, a weekly publication launched in July by pro-Al Qaeda supporters. The publication was reportedly circulated on the group’s Telegram channels before being taken down.
The article reportedly referenced both the 9/11 attacks and the September 30 attempted takeover of flydubai Flight FZ1073, which was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, mostly Israelis, from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The New York Post reported that the Arabic-language article urged attacks on aircraft carrying Americans and Israelis.
‘Evil America will end’:
“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,” the Arabic-language article said.
“America and the Zionists have far more enemies today than before,” the article said.Â
“Perhaps a man who does not believe in God will target them and his operation will ultimately benefit Islam.”
It added: “The day will come when the empire of evil America will end.”
 The publication reportedly featured an image of an aircraft crashing into the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, alongside another image referencing the attempted takeover of the flydubai flight.Â
The New York Post reported that the material was circulated through Al Qaeda-linked Telegram channels on Saturday before being removed.
What happened on flydubai FZ1073?
Flydubai flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when Al-Hammami allegedly attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with an emergency axe kept inside the cockpit for use during emergencies. There were 174 people aboard the aircraft. During the incident, the aircraft sent an emergency message and rapidly lost altitude, falling from around 34,000 feet to more than 17,000 feet.
Machchhar was lying injured on the cockpit floor when he realised that the aircraft was descending. He also realised that the co-pilot was preventing him from opening the cockpit door. After Machchhar managed to open the door, passengers overpowered the alleged attacker. Two reserve pilots who were travelling on the aircraft then entered the cockpit and took control of the plane.
The aircraft was eventually brought safely to the ground at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Al-Hammami was taken into custody.
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