Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Satya Nadella on targets of al-Qaeda’s pro-Hamas open-source jihad

Terrorist outfit al-Qaeda’s propaganda machinery has threatened to assassinate US business magnates Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Satya Nadella, and target the American economy over Washington’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

According to messages posted in al-Qaeda-affiliated chat rooms reviewed by India Today’s Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team, the pan-Islamic terrorist organisation has also urged its sympathisers to attack flights operated by the US, the UK, and French companies. Those on the list include American Airlines, Continental, Delta, British Airways, Air France and Air France-KLM.

The group’s media arm al-Malahem said the US and its allies are on the target because of their support to Israel’s continuing war which has killed more than 20,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

In a video clip, the group called for “open-source jihad” in support of Palestine and provided an elaborate guide on making “simple yet advanced” hidden bombs using “kitchen materials” for “aspiring mujahideen globally”.

Musk, Gates, and former US Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke – a Jew – are on the terrorists’ target because of their influence in the US economy and stock market, it said, adding that they supported Jews.

The video featured an old short speech by Gates during his time at Microsoft to encourage al-Qaeda sympathisers to target Indian-origin Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft Corporation, along with former CEO Steve Ballmer.

The video was published by al-Qaeda’s media arm al Malahem Media on December 31 as a way to “restore the State of Palestine”. It accused the “American war machine” of unleashing devastation in the Islamic world and called upon American, British, French, and European Muslims to avenge it.

Al-Qaeda’s “open source jihad” campaign is designed to lure Muslims through extremist literature and encourage them to act as lone-wolf attackers by providing them with the necessary basic training for manufacturing explosives.

The term ‘open source jihad” is believed to have been coined by al Malahem in its English magazine for the first time in July 2010.

The propaganda video also featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, and went on to accuse the collective West of collusion in the “war on Islam”.

In the past, terror outfits like the Islamic State have provided online training and tutorials to their operatives with a motive to avoid hurdles associated with acquiring explosive materials – a strategy that resulted in some high-profile lone-wolf attacks.

Al-Qaeda’s video cited the example of its suicide bomber, Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri, who targeted Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of the Interior, Muhammad bin Nayef. It also mentioned another attempted attack on a Delta aircraft by Umar Al Faruq, also known as the “Underwear Bomber”.

India Today closely tracked the activities of the terror group for several weeks within a chat room operating on the online platform Matrix and found images threatening the US and its economy.