ISIS and other terrorist groups are planning to target aircraft as they aim to carry out another major attack on the scale of 9/11, a top US security official said.
Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Elaine Duke, said the groups were using smaller attacks to raise money and “keep their members engaged”.
"The threat is still severe," she said in London after meeting Home Secretary Amber Rudd. "The terrorist organisations, be it Isis or al-Qaeda or others, want to have the big explosion like they did on 9/11. They want to take down aircraft, the intelligence is clear on that".
“In the interim they need to keep their finances flowing and they need to keep their visibility high and they need to keep their members engaged, so they are using small plots and they are happy to have small plots,” Ms Duke said.
"Creating terror is their goal. A bladed weapon attack causes terror and continues to disrupt the world but that does not mean they have given up on a major aviation plot," the Telegraph cited her as saying.
