The following two warnings come as law enforcement prepares for the July 4th holiday, a period identified as high-risk for terrorist attacks. According to reports, there are no plans to raise the nation’s terror threat level, but law enforcement should be aware and stay vigilant.
Department of Homeland Security Issues Airport Security Alert
CBS News has reported that the Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert that warns U.S. Customs officers at six of America’s busiest airports to watch for travelers of Pakistani descent who show physical signs of preparing for terror attacks against the U.S. Law Enforcement officers should be aware of this information.
The bulletin says, “Officers should look for rope burns, unusual bruises, wounds, scars or other evidence that they engaged in paramilitary training ...”
The unusually specific internal warning covers customs checkpoints at three East Coast airports -- New York’s Kennedy, Newark, and Washington’s Dulles, as well as international airports in Detroit, Chicago (O’Hare), and Los Angeles (LAX).
Recent Pakistani military raids near the Afghan border, the warning says, "... documents the terrorist related threat posed by individuals traveling to train at terrorist camps in Pakistan.”
Intelligence officials describe them as general “Jihadist camps” -- less sophisticated than the training operations once run by al-Qaeda in neighboring Afghanistan.
Sources say there is no hard intelligence connecting the Pakistani camps to any imminent threat against the U.S. But the Customs bulletin concludes, "... it is reasonable to expect that many of the individuals trained ... (there) ... are destined to commit illegal activities in the United States.”
FBI Warns Law Enforcement That Terrorists May Use Homemade Floating Bombs, Mines
Homemade bombs and mines hidden in inner tubes or other harmless-looking flotsam may be bobbing in U.S. waters, a confidential FBI bulletin warned shortly before new anti-terror shipping laws take effect.
The warning is not a new one, but a reminder that the potential threat still exists, especially with the July 4th holiday weekend approaching, when many set sail with the summer weather.
The FBI report, issued Wednesday and titled “Potential Indicators of Floating Improvised Explosive Devices or Terrorist Improvised Mines,” said the agency knew of no specific planned attack, an FBI official said yesterday. But he said the bulletin sought to warn local, state and federal authorities that such attacks could occur.
“This is information that is disseminated on a weekly basis in order to provide law enforcement with current, relevant terrorism information,” the official said. “This particular one dealt with the potential indicators of floating improvised explosive devices.”
U.S. officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about possible seaborne attacks since the bombings of the USS Cole in 2000 and the French tanker Limburg in 2002, both off Yemen. Fears of militant activity in the United States have increased preceding elections in November.
The warning about possible homemade explosives in suspicious floating objects came about a week before a new United Nations security code designed to avert maritime terrorist attacks comes into force on Thursday.
The FBI official said he did not know if the bulletin was specifically timed to heighten awareness before the code takes effect.