Eleven missing airplanes from Tripoli International Airport, after it was overtaken by an Islamic rebel group late last month.
U.S. officials are reportedly warning that the planes could be used to carry out terrorist attacks for the anniversary of September 11
U.S. officials fear Islamic militants have stolen nearly a dozen commercial planes in Libya which could be used to carry out 9/11-style terrorist attacks in the region.
Eleven commercial jets operated by two state-owned airlines went missing last month, after militant group Libyan Dawn overtook the international airport in the capital city of Tripoli.
In the past two weeks, the U.S. government has been issuing warnings about the deteriorating state in Libya, drawing attention to the fact that the planes could be used in attacks to mark the anniversary of 9/11 later this month, sources who read the briefs told the Washington Free-Beacon.
‘There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,’ one official told the Free-beacon. ‘We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.’
Fears: Nearly a dozen commercial planes are missing in Libya after a radical Islamic group overtook the international airport in the capital of Tripoli late last month.
Anniversary: U.S. officials are reportedly concerned the stolen airplanes will be used to carry out 9/11-style attacks in North Africa or the Middle East. The 11th also marks the second anniversary of the raid on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya which resulted in the deaths of four Americans. Above, a view of the World Trade Center Towers in New York, after they were hit by two commercial airplanes on September 11, 2001.
September 11 not only marks the anniversary of the al-Qaeda organized attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington, DC – but it will also be the second anniversary of the Islamic militant-led raid of the U.S. Ambassador’s compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Four Americans were killed in the attack, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Tripoli International Airport was being run by two anti-Islamist militias and had been closed since mid-July when it was taken over at the end of August by the group Libyan Dawn. Pictures show the aftermath of the firefight, with planes completely or partially blasted and several littered with bullet holes.
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