By IANS
Washington : The next terror assault on the United States is likely to come through relatively unsophisticated, near-simultaneous attacks – similar to those attempted in Britain over the weekend, the Washington Post said Tuesday.
Such plots are designed more to provoke widespread fear and panic than to cause a major loss of life, US intelligence and counter-terrorism officials told the newspaper.
Attacks of such kind require minimal expertise and training and are difficult to prevent, they said.
Although British investigators have not claimed Al Qaeda involvement in the latest incidents, officials here said they may constitute a "hybrid" phenomenon, in which Al Qaeda inspires and guides local groups from afar but establishes no visible operational or logistical links.
The connection, they said, is made through a growing network of Al Qaeda intermediaries and affiliates who are far removed from the organization's leadership.
The incidents in England and Scotland also coincided with recent US intelligence indicating stepped-up movement of money and people from Al Qaeda camps in the ungoverned tribal areas of Pakistan, near the Afghan border.
At present, US authorities are trying to strike a balance between insisting that, "we do not currently have any specific threat information that is credible about a particular attack in the United States," and asking Americans to keep a careful watch on their surroundings.