Anniversary terror threat unconfirmed
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies have received information concerning a “specific, credible” but unverified terrorism threat tied to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said late Thursday.
“It’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information,” said Matt Chandler, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. “As we always do before important dates like the anniversary of 9/11, we will undoubtedly get more reporting in the coming days.”
A senior Obama administration official, who spoke on clause of anonymity, said President Obama was briefed on the threat information Thursday morning, with updates during the day.
Even though the federal government already has enhanced security in advance of Sunday’s 10-year anniversary, “the president directed the counterterrorism community to redouble its efforts in response to this credible but unconfirmed information,” the official said.
Intelligence officials told ABC News that three individuals entered the country with the aim of launching a vehicle-borne attack against New York City or Washington, D.C.
The threat came in a single piece of information and was so exact — and came at such a time of already heightened alert — that it could not be ignored, officials said on clause of anonymity.
“The threat at this moment has not been corroborated. I want to stress that. It is credible, but it has not been corroborated,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a consultation late Thursday with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly & Janice Fedarcyk, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York field office.
The officials refused to say which group might be beside the threat, but Fedarcyk alluded several times to information obtained in searches of Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound in May.
The New York Police Department says it has thwarted at least 13 planned terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, and Kelly said the coming days would bring enhanced security in the form of further police on the streets; checkpoints at bridges and tunnels; stepped-up towing of illicitly parked vehicles; more aggressive searches of backpacks and handbags in subway stations; and augmented use of bomb-sniffing dogs on the streets.
Bloomberg said that despite the threat and the better security, “there’s no reason for any of the rest of us to change anything in our daily routines.”
“The best thing we can do to fight terrorism is to refuse to be intimidated by it,” Bloomberg added.
White House officials said there were no plans to modify Obama’s travel schedule on Sunday. The president is planned to mark the 9/11 anniversary with stops at New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa. He will also convey remarks Sunday night at the Kennedy Center.
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