Islamic State plans subway attacks in U.S. and Paris, Iraqi PM says


Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Sep25, 2014

Iraq's prime minister said on Thursday,his country has received "credible" intelligence that Islamic State militants plan to attack subway systems in Paris and the United States

The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said at the United Nations in New York that his country’s intelligence agents had received word of a plot by Isis to attack the Paris Metro system and the New York subway.

Asked if the attacks were imminent, he said, “I’m not sure.” Asked if the attacks had been thwarted, he said, “No.”

"Today, while I'm here I'm receiving accurate reports from Baghdad that there were arrests of a few elements and there were networks from inside Iraq to have attacks ... on metros of Paris and U.S.," al-Abadi said, speaking in English. "They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq."

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the White House had not confirmed any plan to attack the U.S. and French subway systems. "We have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations," she said.

Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Chris Christie of New Jersey had said Wednesday there will be a surge of law enforcement, as well as the military, at major transit hubs due to heightened Middle East tensions.

But they did not mention any specific threats by terror groups.

On Thursday, Cuomo said that they were aware of the report, and are coordinating with the local, state, and federal government.

An Algerian extremist group linked to the Islamic State has decapitated a French hostage in retaliation for France’s airstrikes against militants , according to a video obtained Wednesday by a U.S.-based terrorism watchdog.

France has joined the US in carrying out air strikes against the IS group, which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria. On September 19, French fighter jets bombed a fuel and weapons depot outside the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Meanwhile, U.S. warplanes hit Islamic State strongholds and near frontline positions inside Syria on Wednesday targeting eight Kurdish villages that the militants had seized in recent days in northern Syria near the Turkish border, residents reported.

The airstrikes come a day after the U.S. and five Arab allies opened their military operation against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group with more than 200 strikes on some two dozen targets in Syria.

The countries whose air forces carried out strikes were all Sunni-led states run by hereditary monarchs with longstanding ties to the American military: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Bahrain. Another Gulf monarchy, Qatar, played a supporting role, according to the Pentagon

Barack Obama has said that the participation of five Arab nations in air raids against ISIL in Syria "makes it clear to the world this is not America's fight alone".

"Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people," he said

The US president on Tuesday promised to continue the fight, which he said was vital to the security of his country, the Middle East and the world.

Sources

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/25/us-iraq-crisis-attack-idUSKCN0HK20I20140925
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/isis-planned-attacks-subways-nyc-paris-article-1.1952521
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/islamic-state-iraq-warns-of-isis-plots-to-hit-paris-metro-and-ny-subway-9756433.html

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