NEW YORK – Details emerged about an alleged plot to attack the city’s subways with bombs hidden in bags and possibly baby strollers as local and federal officials jostled over the credibility of the threat.
A Department of Homeland Security memo said the attack was reportedly scheduled to take place on or around today, with terrorists using timed or remote-controlled explosives hidden in briefcases, suitcases or in or under strollers.
The memo said that the department had received information indicating the attack might be carried out by “a team of terrorist operatives, some of whom may travel or who may be in the New York City area.”
The memo, issued Wednesday to state and local officials, said that homeland security and FBI agents doubted the credibility of the information, but it provided four pages of advice about averting a possible attack.
In Iraq, authorities detained a third suspect in the plot and investigated whether a fourth had traveled to New York as part of the scheme, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the case.
A federal official said one of the suspects arrested in Iraq apparently told interrogators that more than a dozen people were involved in the plot.
An estimated 4.5 million passengers ride the New York subway on an average weekday. The system has more than 468 subway stations. In July, the city began random subway searches in the wake of the train bombings in London.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
