On 9/11, Al Qa’ida Chief Calls for Terror Attacks Across Globe

Elusive Al Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to attack US, European, Russian and Israeli targets in a speech marking the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. He emphasized that, “if you want Jihad to be focused solely on military targets, the American military has presence all over the world, from the East to the West. Your countries are littered with American bases, with all the infidels therein and the corruption they spread,” al-Zawahiri said. The coordinated attacks on September 11, 2001 killed nearly 3,000 people, when hijacked passenger planes were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while another crashed in Pennsylvania. In his address, al-Zawahiri referenced US President Donald Trump’s decision in March to recognize Israeli sovereignty over parts of the Golan Heights captured from Syria during the 1967 war. He subsequently called on Palestinians to pursue “martyrdom” by attacking Israelis using suicide vests.