As the United States marked the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, al-Qaida and Islamic State sympathizers on social media traded congratulatory messages and promised more attacks against the U.S. homeland.
The jihadists used social platforms such as Telegram, Twitter and Google Plus to exchange their celebratory messages and share the anti-Western propaganda on this day. They circulated decorated images of the burning World Trade Center in New York, calling the anniversary an “Eid of happiness.”
“On September 11, 2001, Mohamed Atta and Ziyad Jarah pilots, may God accept their offer, destroyed the World Trade Center,” Qaida al-Jihad page posted on Google Plus. “The holly mission caused the death of nearly 5,000 crusaders,” the page wrote. “We destroyed America by a civilian plane. Trade Tower became a dirt pile the next day,” an IS sympathizer tweeted.
Another jihadist on Telegram asked Jihadi groups to use the occasion to avoid their differences and join arms against the West. “If so many different opinions confuse us and the will of Devil deceives us during these bad times, the memory of September 11th should unite us; #Islamic_State, #Al-Nusra_Front, #Al-Qaida.”
The jihadists hailed the mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, whom they call a “martyr.” They asked fellow supporters to pray for him and continue on his path of global jihad. “On this day on September 11th, the American prestige was destroyed. God bless Osama bin Laden,” an IS sympathizer tweeted. “September 11th is a great memory in the minds of crusaders. The hero of that memory is the great jihadist Osama bin Laden, may God bless him,” another jihadist tweeted.
The pro-jihad accounts on social media also expressed concern about the great majority of Muslims who sympathize with Americans on this day. “We are proud of September 11th events. Strange how some people still sympathize with Americans on this day,” a Jihadi posted on Google Plus.
The jihadists threatened to conduct similar attacks on the U.S. homeland, which, according to them, will destroy American standing in the world. They reiterated support for al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiti, who called on Muslims to join the terror group’s fight against the U.S.
In a video released Friday on the Internet titled "The Defiers of Injustice," Zawahiri said the 9/11 attacks "returned the balance" between Islam and what it called its materialistic crusader enemies, and promised similar attacks on U.S. soil.
