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US issues warning of attacks using cargo aircraft

The US Homeland Security Department is warning law enforcement officers that al-Qaeda may be plotting to fly cargo planes from another country into crucial targets in the US such as nuclear plants, bridges or dams, an agency official said.

The US also warned that Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan may attempt to kidnap US journalists working in that country.

"The US intelligence community remains concerned about al-Qaeda's interest in carrying out attacks on us overseas," said Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

A department official said the information about the cargo planes, first reported on Friday by NBC News, came from a single source overseas.

"It has not yet been corroborated," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're in the process of trying to corroborate this information."

"We also remain concerned about threats to the aviation industry and the use of cargo planes to carry out attacks on critical infrastructure," the official said.

Both the Homeland Security Department and the FBI posted advisories on Friday night alerting state and local authorities to the threat, Roehrkasse said. The advisory also was being directed to officials responsible for security at infrastructure facilities such as nuclear plants, bridges and dams, he said.

Roehrkasse said the color-coded terror alert will remain at yellow, the middle level on the five-color scale, which indicates an elevated risk of terrorist attack.

He noted that cargo companies already have security measures in place.

Critics have said the Transportation Security Administration, the agency responsible for aviation security, hadn't done enough to make cargo planes safe.

The government is considering regulations to plug holes in air cargo security, which has received less attention than airline passenger security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Only a small percentage of cargo is checked before being shipped in cargo or passenger planes. Neither air marshals nor armed pilots are aboard cargo planes, and areas where cargo is handled at airports are not as secure as passenger terminals.

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