Al-Qaeda releases book on planning for September 11 attacks

In the nearly 250-page volume, he said that al-Qaeda had been preparing for an attack targeting U.S. interests since it set foot in Afghanistan in 1996, with the goal of dragging the U.S. into a long-term war of attrition.

The initial idea came up when an Egyptian pilot suggested flying a civilian plane carrying thousands of gallons of flammable material into “an important and symbolic American building,” according to the book shared online by al-Qaeda’s media arm, As-Sahab.

Some militants were chosen for further combat training in 1998 and then enrolled in aviation schools in different parts of the world.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in Afghanistan in a targeted US airstrike more than a month ago.

Al-Zawahiri took over in 2011 after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces at his hideout in Pakistan.

The terrorist group has not named a new leader yet.

On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them into several locations in the U.S.

The attacks sparked the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan.