On ABC News’ This Week with George Stephanopoulos, guest host Martha Raddatz reported that 20 U.S. embassies and/or consulates are being closed around the world and “increased security measures” have been put in place “here at home,” in an anticipation of an Yemen-born terror attack.
Raddatz says the U.S. has intercepted communications that indicate “the terrorists are planning an attack” that is “going to be big” and could be carried out against anything “strategically significant.”
Raddatz reported that the White House held a meeting with top national security officials on August 3, trying to ascertain the best responses to this particular threat. These officials “believe there are Al Qaeda operatives already in place for this attack in Yemen and possibly in other countries as well.”
One intelligence official told ABC News that most alarming part of the intercepted communications is the “confidence” shown by the leadership of the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen: “The part that is alarming is the confidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty.”
This Week reported that the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen has “developed techniques to evade Western security measures,” including “surgically implanted bombs.” This makes the threats of attack in the intercepted communications even more chilling.
Al Qaeda affiliate leaders in Yemen are so certain of their success that they have even “talked about their media plan” for after the attacks take place.
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