WASHINGTON — According to the New York Times, the F.B.I. issued a warning this evening that Al Qaeda may be planning to attack passenger trains, “possibly using operatives who have a Western appearance.”
The public warning, the second from the government in the last two weeks, was based on interviews in mid-October of Qaeda followers in custody in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the bureau said.
The statement said the intelligence had not given details about the method, place or timing of a possible attack. As a result, the government has decided not to raise the national threat level, which remains “elevated,” or “yellow.”
Still, while the bureau has passed dozens of threat warnings to law enforcement agencies since Sept. 11, 2001, officials said, the government issued public warnings like this one only six times before today.
Officials said the decision was made to issue a public warning because the intelligence was specific — at least in terms of the possible target — and because they hoped that railroad workers and travelers would look out for suspicious people or activities.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation statement said: “Additional information suggests operatives may try a variety of other attack strategies, such as destroying key rail bridges and sections of track to cause derailments, or targeting hazardous material containers. Recently captured Al Qaeda photographs of U.S. railroad engines, cars and crossings heightens the intelligence community’s concern of this threat.”
There was no indication whether the threat involved commuter or long distance trains, or both.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House Office of Homeland Security, said the administration wanted to urge Americans to “continue to ride our nation’s rails.”