Al Qaeda leaders reportedly released a book over the weekend detailing the timeline leading up to the 9/11 terror attacks, coinciding with the 21st anniversary of the attacks that left almost 3,000 people dead in three locations.
The book was written by one of the group’s senior leaders, Abu Muhammad al Masri, who was killed in Iran in 2020, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. The book details the timeline of the attack, noting that al Qaeda began planning attacks on the United States in 1996 with the intention to drag the U.S. military into a long-term war, the outlet reported.
An Egyptian pilot initially suggested flying a civilian plane into “an important and symbolic American building” while carrying thousands of gallons of flammable materials, according to the book. Group members were then chosen in 1998 to enlist in further combat training and enroll in aviation schools, the outlet reported.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked three U.S. planes and crashed two into the Twin Towers in New York City and another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
