Editor’s Note: This piece by Marisa Herman features quotes from CSP Director and Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Kyle Shideler.
A new video from a key al-Qaida faction teaches would-be terrorists to build homemade bombs and prods them to attack Western and Jewish targets – particularly airlines – showing that the Islamist group “remains a real threat” more than two decades after it orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, experts say.
The nearly 1-hour video, which was released during the holiday season by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, reportedly threatened an “open-source Jihad” and detailed bomb construction, how to fool airport security, and ways to carry out plane attacks.
The video swiftly attracted the attention of the Transportation Security Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies who were already preparing for a record-setting rush of travelers.
…
Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst of Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, said the AQAP video should not be overlooked.
“It is never a good idea to underestimate al-Qaida, and such threats must always be taken seriously,” he said.
Shideler notes that the organization has operated “relatively untouched in multiple locations around the globe, especially in Afghanistan and in West Africa.”
He said he believes the recent video release is “certainly intended to help them garner attention at a time when other jihadist groups, most especially Hamas, but also Islamic State, are getting the lion’s share of the press.”
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