Report: Iraqi security forces foil Al-Qaeda plot to crash airliner into mosque
April 15th, 2010 - 12:13 am ICT by BNO NewsBAGHDAD (BNO NEWS) — Iraqi security forces have foiled an attempt by al-Qaeda to hijack a passenger plane and crash it into the Imam Ali Mosque, according to a news report on Wednesday.
Al Arabiya Television reported, citing a newspaper, that terrorists had planned to hijack a civilian aircraft after it took off from Al Najaf International Airport in southern Iraq. It would then have been crashed into the dome of the Imam Ali Mosque, the third holiest site for the estimated 200 million followers of the Shia branch of the Islam.
Official confirmation from Iraqi officials was not immediately available.
The alleged plot would have been similar to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Suspected al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked a total of four airliners, crashing two of them in the World Trade Center in New York City and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth airliner crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack.
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