Al Qaeda chief calls for more ‘lone wolf’ attacks in U.S. as concern rises among counterterrorism officials

(NationalSecurity.news) The leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks, has called for Muslim supporters to launch “lone wolf” attacks in the U.S. and against Western allies, even as his organization loses members to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hesitate. We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusader West and specifically America,” Ayman al-Zawahri said in an audio recording posted online recently, referring to nations making up the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

Reuters further reported that al-Zawahiri suggested Muslim youth in the West mimic attacks launched by the Tsarnaev and Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings and the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, respectively.

It was not clear when the audio recording was made but al-Zawahiri’s references to former Taliban leader Mullah Mohamad Omar as still being alive suggest it is at least two months old. Omar’s death was confirmed by the Afghanistan government in late July.

Al-Zawahri reiterated his position on Islamic State, repeating what he said in a separate recording – namely, that he viewed the group’s claim to be a caliphate was illegitimate but he would nonetheless join ISIS in fighting Western and secular forces in Iraq and Syria.

Al-Zawahri, a former Egyptian doctor, also urged unity between Islamist militant factions in Syria and Iraq, where a Western-led coalition is bombing Islamic State targets.

The Hill reported that some U.S. intelligence officials believe organizations like al Qaeda remain more of a threat to national security than ISIS.

“Despite that significant threat from ISIS, it is not the most significant threat to the homeland today,” former CIA deputy and acting Director Michael Morell said recently during remarks at the National Press Club. “The most significant threat to the homeland today still comes from al Qaeda and three al Qaeda groups in particular.”

“The last three attempted attacks to the United States were by al Qaeda in Yemen,” Morell added, referring to the failed 2009 “underwear bomber” plot on Christmas Day, as well as a scuttled 2010 plan to insert bombs into printer ink cartridges and the 2012 discovery of a plan to destroy a plane with a non-metallic suicide vest.

“They have the ability to bring down an airliner in the United States of America tomorrow,” Morell said.

But other experts have noted that al Qaeda is shedding members, most of whom are eagerly joining ISIS.

“Two of al-Qaida’s most important spiritual leaders have told the Guardian that the terror group is no longer a functioning organization after being ripped apart by Isis,” The Guardian reported in June.

“In a wide-ranging interview, Abu Qatada, a Jordanian preacher who was based in London before being deported in 2013, and Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, regarded as the most influential jihadi scholar alive, say the al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is cut off from his commanders and keeping the group afloat through little more than appeals to loyalty,” the report continued.

Still, there remains concern about lone wolf attacks on U.S. soil among security experts. As CNN reported in February, Michael Steinbach, head of the FBI’s counterterrorist division, worries that ISIS and other groups are recruiting inside the U.S.

“I’m worried about individuals that we don’t know about that have training,” Steinbach said. “We know what we know. But there is a number that’s greater than that that we don’t know.”

Follow NationalSecurity.news editor Jon E. Dougherty on Twitter and Google+.

Sources:

TheHill.com

Reuters.com

TheGuardian.com

Newsweek.com