(Newswire.net — September 3, 2014) — While counterterrorism officials are reportedly concerned that the missing jetliners could be used by terrorists to carry out deadly attacks, the timing of the theft is also setting off alarms. The concern is that radical Islamist groups will use the planes to mark the anniversary of the deadly 9/11 attacks, according to alleged intelligence reports disseminated within the US government.
“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” said one official. “We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”
The aircraft were reportedly stolen in August after Islamists took control of the Tripoli International Airport. It was later reported that 11 commercial jetliners were missing.
The official said the aircraft are a serious counterterrorism concern because reports of terrorist control over the Libyan airliners come three weeks before the 13th anniversary of 9/11 attacks and the second anniversary of the Libyan terrorist attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, when four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed.
Meanwhile, officials said, Egyptian military forces appear to be preparing to intervene in Libya to prevent the country from becoming a failed state run by terrorists, many with ties to al Qaeda.
Egypt’s military-backed government acquire more significant role in regional security after the Obama administration helped engineer the ousting of Libyan president Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. Since then the Obama administration, through its announced policy of “leading from behind,” has stood by, while Libya gradually has spiraled into chaos.
Counterterrorism expert Sebastian Gorka said that if the theft is confirmed, the stolen aircraft could be used in at least two ways:
“The first would be how commercial airliners were used on Sept. 11, 2001, literally turning an innocent mode of mass transit into a super-high precision guided missile of immense potency,” said Gorka, who holds the Maj. Gen. Charles Horner chair at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va.
“The second tactic could be to use the airframe with its civilian markings as a tool of deception to insert a full payload of armed terrorists into a locale that otherwise is always open to commercial carriers,” he said.
“Who needs ballistic missiles when you have passenger planes? Even empty, but loaded up with fuel they can be as devastating,” said Michael Rubin, a counterterrorism specialist with the American Enterprise Institute.
The state-owned Libyan Airlines fleet until this summer included 14 passenger and cargo jetliners, including seven Airbus 320s, one Airbus 330, two French ATR-42 turboprop aircraft, and four Bombardier CJR-900s. Libyan state-owned Afriqiyah Airways fleet is made up of 13 aircraft, including three Airbus 319s, seven Airbus 320s, two Airbus 330s, and one Airbus 340.
The aircraft were reportedly taken by terrorist fraction Libyan Dawn in late August, following the takeover of Tripoli International Airport, located about 20 miles south of the capital.