Al Qaeda terror trial this week

NEARLY NINE years ago, two trucks loaded with explosives barreled toward the front gate of a U.S. military base in Afghanistan — speeding bombs bent on maximum carnage.

The first truck blew up at the gate, but the plot failed when the second vehicle — meant to explode inside the base — fell into the bomb crater and failed to detonate.

On Tuesday, a reputed Al Qaeda member linked to the attack is set to stand trial in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh is accused of acts such as supporting the terrorist organization, using explosives and plotting to kill Americans.

The 31-year-old — born in Houston and raised in Dubai — faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Prosecutors say that from 2007 to 2014, Farekh climbed the terrorist organization’s ranks to a role that included collecting money to fund mayhem.

Pakistani forces nabbed Farekh in 2014 and turned him over to American authorities.

Prosecutors said Farekh turned radical over the years. He attended Canada’s University of Manitoba from 2005 to 2007, where his idea of a good time was watching jihadist sermons and propaganda.

One of his alleged college buddies was Ferid Imam — who’d later be accused of training three Queens high school friends who unsuccessfully plotted suicide attacks on the New York City subway system.

In 2007, Imam and another man allegedly traveled with Farekh to Pakistan’s tribal areas and connected with Al Qaeda.

Two years after Farekh’s trek, prosecutors said he helped build the bombs in the attack on Forward Operating Base Chapman.

Several Afghans were hurt in the failed January 2009 attack, including a pregnant woman.

Farekh’s trial is expected to last about two weeks.