Al Qaeda considered attacking the US rail sector on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US government officials said on Thursday in describing intelligence from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan. They said some evidence was found indicating that the Al Qaeda leader or his associates had engaged in discussions or planning for a possible attack on a train inside the United States on September 11, 2011. “We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the US rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting,” spokesman Matthew Chandler said of an intelligence message the Department of Homeland Security sent on Thursday.
The department and other US agencies have been reviewing the treasure trove of information from bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad seized by the United States during the raid this week. The information indicated that one possible tactic for attacking a train was trying to somehow tip it off its tracks, one official said. The official said it appeared from the information that this was an idea that bin Laden or his associates considered, but there was no indication now from the intelligence that further plans were drawn up for the scheme or that steps were taken to carry it out. Another official said Al Qaeda in February last year contemplated the rail attack to occur on the 10th anniversary of the hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon, but the group was not tied to that exact date.