Al-Qaida threat to US rail revealed

Information found at scene shows ‘aspiration’ to attack American trains, says Department for Homeland Security The first intelligence from the treasure trove of computers and hard drives found during the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hideaway has prompted a warning that al-Qaida wanted to attack the US rail network. The Department of Homeland Security sent a warning on Thursday to American law enforcement officials that material dating back to February 2010 had detailed an al-Qaida aspiration to derail trains in the US by damaging the rails at a valley or bridge so they would crash, the Associated Press and NBC news reported. Other material suggested a desire to attack mass transit hubs; a fact long known by terror experts. The idea was apparently at the “aspirational” stage and had not developed into anything concrete. The information appears to be the first widely circulated intelligence pulled from the 1 May raid on Bin Laden’s secret compound. After killing Bin Laden, Navy Seals took computers, DVDs and documents from his house. Intelligence experts are combing through the material searching for any signs of current or future al-Qaida activity. Security officials in the Obama administration have repeatedly warned of the ongoing threat posed by al-Qaida in the wake of the death of its leader as well as the prospect that it could be plotting revenge attacks for his demise. One of the reasons behind the decision not to publish a photo of Bin Laden’s body was the idea that it could provoke retaliation from Islamist militant sympathisers. But officials have also stressed that they have no knowledge of any specific imminent plot or threat. “We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the US rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting. It is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year,” said Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. Osama bin Laden Global terrorism al-Qaida United States Paul Harris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.