Federal authorities confirmed Thursday they have come across what may be a credible threat to the US homeland surrounding the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the threat against the city is credible but not corroborated.
Bloomberg says the New York Police Department is deploying additional resources around city to keep residents safe.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says he’s increasing patrols and the towing of illegally parked cars. He says there will be more bomb-sniffing dogs on the streets and an increased focus on bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure.
The threat, said to involve potential car bombs, would target New York City or Washington, D.C., sources told FOX News Channel. Authorities have obtained what they believe is information on possible suspects tied to terror group al Qaeda, but they have not necessarily determined names of possible suspects.
“As we know from the intelligence gathered from the OBL [Osama bin Laden] raid, AQ [al Qaeda] has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries, such as 9/11,” Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said in a written statement. “In this instance, it’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information.”
According to a senior US official with knowledge of the threat, “people are aggressively pursuing leads,” and it is “specific enough to elicit worry.”
Sources told FOX that authorities were on the lookout for two or three possible suspects related to the latest threat information. Authorities had received a “general description” of who to look for.
Leads suggested the potential operatives may be US citizens or already in the US.
Another senior US official stressed the threat was still “unconfirmed” so was being chased down and investigated. It was identified in intelligence received from overseas — apparently picked up in monitoring of “chatter” from the tribal areas of Pakistan.
A White House official said Obama was briefed Thursday morning and has been updated throughout the day. And, the official said, “the president directed the counterterrorism community to redouble its efforts in response to this credible but unconfirmed information.”
“It feels more than aspirational,” one official said about the threat.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security were drafting a bulletin Thursday night to send to local law enforcement across the country.
“We have a duty to warn,” a senior US official said.
Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said, “As I have stated, we have been planning for the 9/11 anniversary and other large events in the city this week for some time. This is just part of our plan. Maintaining a certain sense of unpredictability is essential to the success of any security plan.”
US officials have been saying for days that there is no known credible threat related to the anniversary. But when asked Thursday by reporters whether that was still the case, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seemed to at first hesitate.
Then she said, “It is still the case that we don’t have something that would reach that standard, but we still have lots of chatter out there. And we take every bit of that seriously and track it down. … The date is important because it’s 9/11. But as I said, in the intel world there’s lots of chatter and we’re taking it all seriously. Should there be something that rises to the level where I have to issue a threat advisory, we will issue a threat advisory.”
Documents found inside bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the wake of his death mentioned aspirations to strike the US on the tenth anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
With AP
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