The new year has started on a disturbing note for Citibank and Bank of America (BoA), as Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters have started attacking them with a DDoS. The attack is not a surprise, as it was announced back in December last year. This is the second phase of their Operation Ababil, which started on 27 December, last year. The operation seems to have one agenda only — to get the controversial anti-Islamic video removed from YouTube and to stop the organized western offensive against Islam (if there is such a thing).

The first phase of Al-Qassam’s attack took place in October, after which they took a break for Eid al-Adha. The list of targets for this second phase includes US Bancorp, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America (BoA), PNC Financial Services Group and SunTrust. The hackers at Al-Qassam said,

In new phase, the wideness and the number of attacks will increase explicitly; and offenders and subsequently their governmental supporters will not be able to imagine and forecast the widespread and greatness of these attacks.

The hackers are extremely confident about their mission and have been able to cause temporary interruption of services in BoA and Citibank. While Bank of America has been attacked earlier in the first phase, Citibank is being attacked by Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters for the first time.

Citibank has announced about the disruption in service on its official Twitter account.

Currently we are aware & are working on technical issues with Citi websites. We will let you know when service is fully restored(1/2) — Citibank (@Citibank) December 27, 2012

This hacker collective does not have any affiliation with Anonymous, and is one of its kind as it has risen to defend Islam, unlike other hacker groups.