Supporters of the Islamic State terror group are being urged to attack Times Square and other popular American tourist attractions with easily assembled homemade bombs, according to a disturbing report Tuesday.
A message posted on an ISIS Web forum lists widely available ingredients needed to build a pipe bomb, and includes photos showing how to combine them into a deadly explosive device, Vocativ reported.
The Arabic-language message cites Times Square — the scene of a failed car-bomb attack in 2010 by al Qaeda sympathizer Faisal Shahzad — and the Las Vegas Strip as prime targets, but also suggests striking sites in Texas and mass-transit stations across the country.
The message is titled “To the Lone Wolves in America: How to Make a Bomb in Your Kitchen, to Create Scenes of Horror in Tourist Spots and Other Targets,” and was written three weeks ago.
But it “resurfaced” on Saturday afternoon, around the same time ISIS released a video of the beheading of British aid worker David Haines on the same Web forum, according to Vocativ.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said cops were aware of the message, but added: “There are no credible, specific threats to the city at this time based on the latest intelligence.”
“We’re quite concerned, as you would expect, of the capabilities of ISIS, much more so than al Qaeda … to use social media to try and spread their recruitment efforts to try and inspire,” Bratton said.
“We’re focused on it, and I believe, we are as prepared as any entity could be to deal with threats. But the reality is that we are living in a new era of potential terrorism.”