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US embassy put on terror alert
NEW DELHI: The next few days are likely to be very tense for the US embassy here. For a top IB official has sent a letter to security agencies with a chilling message the American embassy is expected to be targetted any time between now and July 30 by terrorists owing allegiance to an Iranian terror group.This intelligence input has already sent security agencies scampering to plug real or imagined weaknesses in the security ring around the mission. Sources revealed on Monday that the input was received early last week and has been circulated among all security agencies in Delhi, including the police and paramilitary forces. "The US embassy has been on an extremely high state of alert and things will remain the same for the next few days. The input has even identified one of the men likely to participate in the attack and efforts are on to establish his presence," said a source. According to the report, the attack is likely to be carried out by a group of 20 terrorists, some of whom have been part of terror attacks in other parts of the world. This group is headed by a terrorist named Jawad Shah Shanas. The report also says that these 20 men are of Iranian, Afghan and Kashmiri descent and have been in Delhi since June. They are armed with sophisticated weapons and could cause major damage. "The threat is that they would launch an all-out assault in the nature of a 'fidayeen' attack. The security review was done in keeping with this possibility," said the official. According to the input, the Iranians in the group of 20 are associated with a Iran terror group comprising terrorists who earlier backed Saddam Hussein. The alert has also left many wondering if international terrorist groups are trying to join hands with Kashmir terror groups. The letter specifically mentions that people of Kashmiri descent are expected to help the Iranians and Afghans carry out the attack. This is the first real threat input for the US embassy since the closure of some of embassy offices in August last year because of security concerns. It was then said that some al-Qaida militants arrested in Pakistan had revealed that the US embassy in India was likely to be targeted soon. Posted by: john 2006-07-24 |
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