The terror alert that shut down American embassies is now a domestic alert according to ABC News.
As the Inquisitr reported earlier this week, fear surrounding a potential terrorist attack from al Qaeda forced the US to pull non-essential personnel out of Yemen.
The report continued on to say as a result of these threats, the US had shutdown at least 19 diplomatic posts around the Middle East.
The ABC News report stated that homeland security officials and the FBI have sent a new warning to local law enforcement officials in the US.
This new warning shifts concerns to an array of potential targets from building and infrastructure to tourist attractions.
The report continued on to say that on Thursday night, federal counter-terror officials have sent a warning to local police to be on guard for pre-operational surveillance and attack planning by terror cells here in the US.
The warning included the following:
“Especially attempts to gain sensitive information about security measures of personnel, entry points, peak days, access controls, alarms or locks
“Unusual interest in speaking with building maintenance personnel
“Discreet use of cameras or video recorders sketching, or note-taking; especially at building barriers, restricted areas, cameras and intrusion detection systems
“And authorities warn of al-Qaeda’s interest in attacking significant infrastructure, economic, and symbolic targets.”
Earlier today, The Inquisitr reported that American diplomats have been evacuated from Pakistan today, after the State Department received what it believes is credible information regarding a possible threat.
“The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan.”
The unnamed official explained that intelligence is still being sorted regarding the warnings:
“We are still digging and trying to trace whether it is related… I’m not willing to say it’s related, but can’t say it is unrelated. We just don’t have that level of granularity yet.”
According to the ABC News report, authorities said Thursday there are no specific known plots against American targets here in the US, but are still warning officials to exercise extreme caution now that they have issues this new domestic terror alert.
