Skip to main content

Iraqi PM unveils ‘ISIS plots’ to attack Paris and American subways, US says no clear evidence



Subway system in New York, December 19, 2012. (Reuters/Andrew Burton)


Islamic State militants plan to launch terrorist attacks in US and Paris subways, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, citing "credible" sources. US officials dismissed the Iraqi claim, stating they have no evidence of terror plots.

 Abadi made the remarks at a meeting with reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

"Today, while I am here, I am receiving accurate reports from Baghdad where there was the arrest of a few elements and there are networks planning from inside Iraq to have attacks," he said.

"They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the US," he added. "From the details I have received, yes, it looks credible."

Abadi added that it is not clear whether the attack was imminent, adding that the intelligence was gleaned from arrests of IS militants in Iraq.

An Iraqi official at the UN also told the BBC that several IS fighters had been captured and told Iraqi intelligence that French and American recruits had "an imminent plot" to hit the metro in Paris, and then hit the US, though not saying where in the US.




Iraq's new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi speaks to Iraqi lawmakers before submitting his government in Baghdad September 8, 2014. (Reuters/Hadi Mizban)



A senior Iraqi official told Reuters that Baghdad has passed information on threats to "appropriate security authorities of our partners," while security forces are still assessing its veracity.

Following the Iraqi PM’s remarks US law enforcement and security officials initially said they would investigate the claims of a terror plot. However, shortly after, various officials reported that they have no evidence of a current threat in the US or France.

The White House’s National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said that the US government has no information regarding the Iraqi claim.

“We have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations. We take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information we receive from our partners,” she said.

New York City administration and the NYPD said they were "aware" of the warning and were assessing the threat.

"We are in close contact with the FBI and other federal partners as we assess this particular threat stream," said John Miller, deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism at the NYPD. "New York City normally operates at a heightened level of security and we adjust that posture daily based on our evaluation of information as we receive it."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo added that security forces had already begun to beef up precautions at New York City mass transit sites.

There is no specific or credible threat against Washington's area rail or bus systems, a spokesman for the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority Dan Stessel said in a statement.

In the wake of the rise of the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning extremism and sectarian violence. Under the resolution all member states are obliged to make it a serious criminal offense for their citizens to travel abroad to fight with extremists or support them.

 In the fight against the extremists, the US and its allies have formed an anti-IS coalition, launching aerial attacks on Syria on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Washington launched a military campaign against the jihadists in Iraq which was later on supported by Paris.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re
Post a Comment
Read more

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has
Post a Comment
Read more

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif
1 comment
Read more