U.S. anxious over terror attacks during holidays

Published 17 December 2010

Counterterrorism officials are tracking threats to the United States and Europe from al Qaeda and affiliated groups during the holiday season; the FBI and DHS have alerted state and local law enforcers to be wary of suspicious behavior and to change security measures regularly to interfere with any terrorist plans; the warning was sent in a bulletin Wednesday; there is specific intelligence of other attacks being planned against Europe during the holiday season, according to U.S. officials say

Officials fear attacks like the Portland, Oregon Christmas tree bombing plot of this past November // Source: allvoices.com

Counterterrorism officials are tracking threats to the United States and Europe from al Qaeda and affiliated groups during the holiday season, authorities said. They have not yet seen evidence of specific plots aimed at U.S. targets.

The FBI and DHS have alerted state and local law enforcers to be wary of suspicious behavior and to change security measures regularly to interfere with any terrorist plans. The warning was sent in a bulletin Wednesday, obtained by the AP. It did not include information about specific plots or intelligence.

Fox News reports that on Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a pedestrian street in Stockholm, Sweden, killing himself and injuring two other people. Iraqi officials say that captured insurgents said this week that the suicide bombing was part of attacks being planned by al Qaeda against the United States and Europe during the Christmas season.

Even before the revelations from the captured Iraqi insurgents, U.S. counterterrorism officials were tracking threat streams from al Qaeda operatives hiding in Pakistan and Yemen.

There is specific intelligence of other attacks being planned against Europe during the holiday season, according to U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters. While intelligence officials have not uncovered specific details of threats aimed at the United States, they cannot be ruled out, the officials said.

The BBC reports that Interpol has confirmed it has received information about possible attacks by al-Qaeda cells in the United States and Europe.

Still, the spate of attempted attacks against U.S. targets in the past year — particularly the Nigerian man charged with trying to take down an airplane last Christmas — has U.S. officials on high alert.

We are concerned these terrorists may seek to exploit the likely significant psychological impact of an attack targeting mass gatherings in large metropolitan areas during the 2010 holiday season, which has symbolic importance to many in the United States,” the joint FBI and Homeland Security bulletin said.

DHS would not comment on specific intelligence, but the U.S. government has been warning Americans since October to be vigilant when they travel to and within Europe because of terror threats directed at the region.

Early this month a man from Portland, Oregon, was caught in an FBI sting operation as he allegedly planned to set off a bomb at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony. In October, al Qaeda’s Yemeni offshoot — which also claimed responsibility for the Christmas airliner attack — apparently tried to take down two cargo planes over the United States. That plot was foiled after officials received a tip, including the packages’ tracking numbers, from Saudi Arabian intelligence.

Counterterrorism officials said they could not discount potential threats from other terror groups, such as al Qaeda’s offshoots in Iraq and the Maghreb along Africa’s Mediterranean coast, Pakistan and Somalia.

Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups continue to seek innovative ways to conduct attacks and circumvent security procedures, and we remain concerned that the holiday season provides attractive opportunities for terrorists to target the homeland,” the intelligence bulletin said.