Al-Qaeda urges terror attacks on American, European rail systems
A few days before fatal vehicle attacks in Spain, a branch of alQaeda called for broad strikes on railroads across the USA and Europe.
The threat is open-ended, rather than targeting a specific route or setting a deadline. The New York Police Department took note, and security experts said concerns about rail attacks are valid because trains and stations are more accessible than planes and airports.
“The reason for concern about potential rail attacks is that the new al- Qaeda and ISIS playbook focuses on these low-level sorts of attacks that kill a few people, temporarily disrupt a system and incite more fear and uncertainty into the population,” said Jeffrey Price, a security expert and professor at Metropolitan State University in Denver.
Al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula suggested truck attacks through the Web magazine Inspire in 2010. Vehicle attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and Cambrils on Friday killed 15 people and injured 120.
Days before the attacks in Spain, the latest edition of Inspire called for rail attacks, which are relatively inexpensive and don’t require suicide.
An 18-page guide in the magazine suggested derailing trains with equipment that the report described, setting off bombs inside or outside a train or blowing up a station.
Though vague, the threat drew the attention of the New York Police Department, which said in a tweet that it is ready “to protect our air, land, waterways and railways.”
The Inspire article noted that terrorists spent about $4,000 to try to get bombs onto cargo flights in 2010.
Even though they failed, the operation was considered a success because the aviation industry spent billions on better security afterward. “Part of terrorism’s goals are to cause significant economic damage because of the response of the government to terrorist events,” Price said.
Trains and stations have been attacked in recent years, including a Brussels subway station in March 2016, the London Underground in July 2005 and a Madrid commuter train in March 2004. Security experts said rail systems are difficult to defend because of the number of passengers and the ease of access to stations, without the checkpoints at airports.