Bomb Threat Puts Pakistan On "Red Alert"

Heightened Security Put In Place At All Airports After Threat; Pakistani Soldiers Fire On U.S. Choppers In Unrelated Incident

(CBS/AP)  This story was written by CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad and CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals in London.

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Pakistan's security officials put all of the country's airports on "red alert" Thursday after intelligence warnings of a suicide attack.

"We had very credible information of a suicide attempt in Islamabad which prompted this step," a senior security official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to address the matter.

The security official said the heightened security was prompted by information gained through the interrogation of a recently arrested militant suspect, but he declined to identify the suspect or say when or where the person was taken into custody.

In a conflicting report, an airport official in Islamabad told the Associated Press that the threat came from an anonymous phone call. Col. Ashraf Faiz, a senior airport security officer, told the AP that the airport hit the panic button on Thursday after an unidentified man called an office of Pakistan's national airline, saying a suicide bomber was about to attack it.

At the country's largest airport, in the capital city of Islamabad, only passengers with valid tickets were allowed to enter the airport until Thursday afternoon. A government official said the emergency security measures were under constant review.

Deepening the sense of crisis, the U.S. government has barred its personnel from major hotels and even restaurants and urged all Americans in Pakistan to do likewise.

The United Nations and other foreign missions are mulling whether to crank up security precautions, and expatriate staff and dependents are bracing for instructions to quit the country.

British Airways, whose flights are usually busy with staff from the vast British consular section in Islamabad, has canceled flights to Pakistan indefinitely, citing security concerns.

Thursday's warning came less than a week after a devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which left at least 53 people dead and more than 260 injured.

A Western defense official in Islamabad told Bokhari there were reports of a number of al Qaeda plans "in the pipeline to attack locations across Pakistan to destabilize the country."

According to a report Wednesday in Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper, intelligence agencies informed the police that three explosives-laden trucks had entered the capital city - one of them known to have been destroyed in the Marriott Hotel attack last Saturday.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said the whereabouts of the other two trucks remained a mystery, but they were believed to be within Islamabad city limits.

It was not immediately clear whether there was a link between the missing trucks reported by the Daily Times and the move by officials to put airports on "red alert" Thursday morning.

Speaking to CBS News on condition of anonymity, the Western official said al Qaeda's central goal was to force Pakistan's leaders to abandon their support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

The bulk of logistical supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan pass through Pakistan.

Despite the constant warnings of al Qaeda plots from Pakistani and Western officials in the region, it was another, far-lesser-known group which claimed responsibility for the Marriott Hotel attack over the weekend.

That group, which calls itself "Fedayeen al-Islam" (Soldiers of Islam) issued a new warning on Wednesday threatening further attacks on any entity deemed supportive of the United States.

In an English language telephone message to reporters, the group said "all those who will facilitate Americans and NATO crusaders … will keep on receiving the blows."

CBS News research shows the group has claimed responsibility for at least one previous attack in Pakistan, but that claim was later debunked by a more credible claim by al Qaeda.

Neither the veracity of the group's claim over the Marriott attack, nor its threat made Wednesday could be confirmed by CBS News. No further claims of responsibility had surfaced on the Internet or in other media Thursday.

The bombing and the new threats underscored the danger Islamist militants pose to Pakistan, where al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have established bases in tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.

The U.S. has pushed Pakistan to crack down on the northwest bases, even launching its own attacks, but those American strikes have drawn sharp condemnation from Pakistani leaders, who say they kill civilians, fan extremism and violate their sovereignty.

Pakistan's army has threatened to resist future incursions, and the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said that Pakistani troops fired at two American helicopters patrolling the border on Thursday.

A coalition spokesman said the choppers, which weren't hit, neither crossed the border nor returned fire.

The Pakistani military disputed that assertion, saying its troops fired warning shots when the two helicopters crossed over the border - and that the U.S. helicopters fired back. But President Asif Ali Zardari, speaking in New York, said his troops only fired flares.

[nicholasma]

No Bail out !!!!!!!!
We have no voice !!!!!
If you bail wall street out then who needs the law
you would not bail out the farmers just scum on wall street

[swwils]

That country should stay on red alert especially shooting at the coalition forces.Who''s side are they on anyway?I do know we can''t just leave that is a nuclear armed country.The radical extremist can''t gain control of this kind of power.They will strap a nuke to jr. and send him to school then a giant radioactive mushroom cloud begins.Think what that would bring with it,the 4 horseman!

[libluv2cnsor]

Pervez Musharraf was ousted due to radical islamic pressure DEFENDED BY THE LIBERAL REALM..

now its time to see the cause and effect of that effort..

welcome to the end of days

[docpeter1953]

Bomb Threat Puts Pakistan On "Red Alert"

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Think they will now (finally) help the USA to stop terrorists from crossing their border?

Think they will now actually do something to help hunt down and capture terrorists in their country instead of complaining that the NATO forces crossed their border to do it for them?

[yongamerica]

Now that the Pakistani Army is protecting the terrorists from NATO troops the terrorists have more resources to expend destroying Pakistani infrastructures.

Smooth move Ex-Lax

[crescentgirl]

"Welcome to reality, Pakistan. How''''s that Islamic religion ya''''ll like so much working for you?"--maxify55

Maxify55, what does this have to do with the Islamic faith? The Islamic faith is practiced by over 1.5 billion (and yes, i said billion) people. To paint all Muslims with same brush and characterize them as terroristic is just plain absurd. Please do a fact check and actually read about the issue on which you are commenting...before you go and spew hate-filled ignorance. thanks.

[yongamerica]

And now Pakistan wishes it could ask for outside help. A drone capable of disabling one of those trucks would be handy about now.

[dredre2k]

"Red Alert"? Pakistan is under attack by Klingons again, huh.

[vsg4]

"Welcome to reality, Pakistan. How''''s that Islamic religion ya''ll like so much working for you?

Posted by maxify55 at 08:42 AM : Sep 25, 2008"

I regret the loss of innocent lives and for their injuries. To attract funds for their religious schools (Madrasas) from rich Suadi Wahabis they show that Islam is at threat and train these Jihadis. Well what else I would like to say that rooster come home to roost, is not it ?

[inketolstoy]

Makes me wonder if this information came from guys American soldiers seized from across the border in Afghanistan. That would be ironic.

[vigilantwarr]

So two "explosives-laden trucks" are unaccounted for. Reminds me of the 9/11 truck bombs that were blacked-out of the media. Makes you wonder whose trucks they were, doesn''t it?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/movers-and-shakers/

[neo269]

Now they''re just chasing their tails.

[toby2957]

But but but the surge is working and Pakistan is our ally!

uh-huh

No, I don''t believe those things either.