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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released a bulletin recently warning state and local authorities to be wary of potential terrorist plots against mass transit and buses in particular, TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a university forum.
TSA released the bulletin to remind agencies of the general threat against mass transit, not due to a specific new threat against mass transit, Pistole emphasized. Buses remain an attractive terrorist target due to their open architecture and accessibility for use by millions of travelers.
Pistole described the bulletin, Terrorist Concerns Regarding Mass Transit Bus Systems, as something TSA reissued out of recognition that millions more people travel by mass transit rather than by air, particularly during the busy holiday seasons marked by Thanksgiving and Christmas.
According to reports, the bulletin noted that attacks against buses are more prevalent worldwide than attacks against aviation systems. Terrorists have launched more than 725 attacks against buses between 2004 and 2009, the bulletin estimated.
Pistole referenced the magazine
Inspire, published by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and its previous call for terrorists to hijack busses to ram them into crowded areas, buildings, and other infrastructure. US drones killed Samir Khan, the publisher of
Inspire, along with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen at the end of September.
Comment: Al-Qaida once again the source of world tensions, fears and kidnappings. Isn't it strange how Al-Qaida is always at the heart of these affairs world wide? How would a government or newspaper know so much about militant links, how they operate or if they're an offshoot without 'inside' information?