Photo Courtesy AP/Kathy Willen
Reports surfaced yesterday about a new terrorist plan to attack the New York City transit system using suicide bombers. The FBI called the plot "uncorroborated, but plausible" that was allegedly triggered by information obtained from a Pakistani citizen arrested overseas last week. Despite the unsubstantiated nature of the threat, it drew extra attention due to its involvement of top aides to Osama Bin Laden.
Newsday reports that "sources said the target would have been trains arriving at Penn Station." While there has been no adjustment to the terror threat level for the city or the transit system specifically (which remains at the national level of yellow), the NYPD has beefed up its presence at major transit hubs.
While the Times says that the timing of the threat going public was purely coincidental with the Thanksgiving holiday, the News reports that officials told them the terrorists involved were targeting New York "during the holiday season to create an opportunity for maximum carnage."
Long Island Congressman Peter King, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told the press, "(The threat is) serious, significant and plausible. It is probably still aspirational, being discussed and possibly planned."
