Report: Al-Qaida planning more suicide hijackings
Al-Qaida suicide squads may try to hijack more airliners later this summer, it was reported today.
US intelligence officials told The Washington Post they had learned of credible threats to commercial flights.
The information came from interviews with senior al-Qaida captives and was corroborated separately by other means, including electronic intercepts, they said.
They described the possible scenarios as similar to the hijacking and crashing of four US airliners on September 11, 2001.
“The US intelligence community has received information related to al-Qaida’s continued interest in using commercial aviation in the United States and abroad to further their cause,” Department of Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told the newspaper.
Department officials said they have no immediate plans to raise the government’s threat index, but said the threat level is evaluated every day.
Law enforcement and security officials have been notified of the new information, as have the airlines, the officials said.
“Our aviation security has been dramatically strengthened since September 11 with the introduction of reinforced cockpit doors, federal air marshals and federal baggage screeners,” Johndroe said.
