The number of attempted attacks against the US in the past nine months has “surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous one year period,” according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo, CNN said.
The DHS assessment, dated last Friday and reported on the CNN Web site late on Wednesday, said extremist groups were expected to attempt more attacks inside the US with “increased frequency.”
The unclassified memo prepared for US law enforcement agencies urged authorities to “operate under the premise that other operatives are in the country and could advance plotting with little or no warning.”
Highlighting recent cases of militants living in the country for years, as they radicalized, plotted and attempted to carry out attacks, the memo also warns of a reduced ability to track them — such as Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing earlier this month.
Shorter periods of training overseas “compared to lengthier training cycles for earlier operations,” leads to problems detecting their activities, DHS said, according to the CNN report. Other trends indicate plotters are also looking for “smaller, more achievable attacks against easily accessible targets,” the memo said.
In a new national security strategy scheduled to be released yesterday, the administration was likely to focus attention on the threat posed by homegrown, radical extremists following pressure on al-Qaeda limiting the group’s ability to move, raise funds, recruit and carry out attacks.
The network was now relying on poorly trained “foot soldiers” who might be able to slip past US defenses because they do not fit the conventional profile of a terrorist, Deputy US National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan said in a speech on Wednesday.
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