US warns of possible al-Qaida terror attacks

The State Department has issued a worldwide warning of possible al-Qaida attacks against US interests, citing the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

“We are seeing increasing indications that al-Qaida is preparing to strike US interests abroad,” the State Department said in a statement.

There were no plans to raise the nation’s terrorism threat alert level.

In past months, al-Qaida and connected organisations have carried out bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Casablanca, Morocco, and Bali, Indonesia, the State Department said.

“We therefore assess that European or Eurasian locations could be venues for the next round of attacks, possibly to closely coincide with the” September 11 anniversary, the State Department said.

The latest caution updates a July 29 warning about possible hijackings of commercial aircraft by terrorists.

The national terrorist threat level remains at yellow, signifying an elevated risk of attacks. The five-level, colour-coded system was last raised to orange, or high risk, for 11 days in May.