--- title: Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on Americans description: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslim men to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries canonical: https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-14T12:37:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:54:27.924Z article:section: Politics og:title: Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on Americans og:description: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslim men to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries og:url: https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d94a85f693de645/698863758e0601782446253a/ayman-al-zawahri.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ayman al-Zawahri og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on Americans twitter:description: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslim men to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d94a85f693de645/698863758e0601782446253a/ayman-al-zawahri.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on American Homes by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 14, 2015 12:37 PM UTC  Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks from an unknown location, in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media website June 8, 2011. Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks from an unknown location, in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media website June 8, 2011.Reuters by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 14, 2015 12:37 PM UTC Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslim men to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries, according to a video circulating on the internt in recent days, suggesting Muslim youth follow the example set by the Tsnarnaev brothers. “I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hesitate. We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusader West and specifically America,” Zawahri said in an audio recording that could have been produced several months ago, referring to nations making up the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria. Zawahri cited the Tsnarnaev brothers, who were responsible for the Boston bomings, and the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo shootings as examples for such attacks, the Independent reports. He also denounced ISIS as “illegitimate,” saying “We have endured a lot of harm from \[ISIS leader\] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his brothers.” \[[_The Independent_](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/alqaeda-leader-ayman-alzawahri-urges-young-muslim-men-to-launch-lonewolf-attacks-on-american-homes-10498615.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/"},"headline":"Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on American Homes","datePublished":"2015-09-14T12:37:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:54:27.924Z","description":"Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslim men to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries","url":"https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/","keywords":["al-Qaeda","Terrorism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d94a85f693de645/698863758e0601782446253a/ayman-al-zawahri.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d94a85f693de645/698863758e0601782446253a/ayman-al-zawahri.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ayman al-Zawahri","caption":"Ayman al-Zawahri","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4033210/al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-on-american-homes/","name":"Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Lone-Wolf Attacks on American Homes"}}]}] ```