U.S. Officials Remain Mum on Reported Christmas Terror Plot

U.S. officials are said to be tight-lipped about a report by a British newspaper that al Qaeda is plotting to target European commercial airline flights over the busy holiday travel season.

A report in U.K. newspaper The Daily Express on Monday outlines a chilling scenario in which the Khorasan Group, a Syrian arm of al Qaeda, is plotting to smuggle bombs on five European commercial airliners in an attempt to cause chaos and create a “Christmas spectacular” over the busy holiday travel period. According to the Daily Express, which cites a “well-placed security insider,” the Christmas terror plot is being taken so seriously that European security officials have considered instituting a ban on all carry-on luggage on commercial flights.

News that Islamist terrorists are intent on bringing down commercial airliners isn’t a new phenomenon. What is remarkable is the perceived silence from U.S. officials regarding the reportedly credible and specific threat to passenger planes.

The Daily Beast reported on Monday that U.S. counterterrorism officials have remained uncharacteristically silent on the latest terror plot. In the past, U.S. officials have been quick to get in front of specific terrorist threats involving commercial air travel. Similar rumors that Islamist militants in Syria were close to launching an attack on passenger planes formed the leading justification for the start of U.S. military intervention in that country in September.

There are some indications that U.S. security officials do not see the latest plot as a legitimate security threat. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official told Foreign Policy in September that the bomb-making prowess of Syrian-based al Qaeda groups is likely exaggerated, saying, “Khorasan has the desire to attack, though we’re not sure their capabilities match their desire.”

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