“Red alert for security authorities: terrorist organisation Al-Qaida plans attacks on high-speed trains in Europe,” announces Bildzeitung, which reports on information sourced from the American National Security Agency (NSA), which tapped a telephone conversation between Al-Qaida leaders a few weeks ago.
According to security experts quoted by the daily, “the attacks could take the form of acts of sabotage on tracks and tunnels as well as the placing of bombs on trains.”
Bild reports that in the wake of the news, German authorities are monitoring high-speed trains and railway stations with “invisible measures” including plainclothes police patrols.
According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s government and security agencies have calmly responded to the Bildzeitung report. “Security measures established by the federal police, which are already extensive, have not been reinforced,” points out the newspaper.
In contrast, Parisian daily Le Monde reminds its readers that —
… in early August, the United States and several other countries, including France, closed numerous embassies in the Middle East and Africa, in the light of the “extremely high risk” of attacks.
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