The Paris terrorist attackers conducted prior surveillance of at
least some of the locations they attacked and showed signs of tactical planning
and military-style training, a new U.S. intelligence bulletin says.
The bulletin
issued by the FBI, Homeland Security department and the National
Counterterrorism Center warns U.S. law enforcement to review training to deal
with active shooters, according to U.S. officials.
The bulletin,
which was described to CNN and confirmed by other U.S. officials, advises local
law enforcement to go over active shooter scenarios and asks for them to be on
the lookout for any suspicious people doing surveillance at soft targets and
similar locations.
The bulletin
also said plots like Paris are more likely to happen in Europe and other
locations overseas because of geography and 'societal factors.'
A cell phone
recovered from a garbage bin near the scene of the Bataclan concert venue and
believed to belong to one of the terrorists contained a map of the theater, the
bulletin said. The phone contained encrypted applications. As CNN was first to
report, the cell phone also had a text message, indicating an apparent method
used to coordinate the attacks.
The attackers
rented three cars in Belgium before moving to a safe house they rented in
France.
The bulletin
said the Paris attacks showed a greater level of use of multiple tactics by
ISIS to inflict major causalities.
The multiple
targets and apparent discipline showed likely prior training and familiarity
with the targets to ensure the attacks would be effective.
European
intelligence has assessed that some of the attackers traveled to Syria and
their use of assault rifles and suicide belts appeared to indicate training,
according to the U.S. officials who confirmed the bulletin contents.
No comments:
Post a Comment