Homegrown Extremists Could Seek to Replicate Paris, FBI and DHS Say in Joint Bulletin
Source: ABC News
By Pierre Thomas, Jack Date, Mike Levine
Nov 23, 2015, 11:47 PM ET
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint bulletin reviewing the tactics and techniques used by terrorists in the November 13 Paris attacks, sharing their assessment of the potential for similar attacks to occur in the United States.
The bulletin states that homegrown violent extremists, either inspired or directed by Syria-based operatives, represent the most likely ISIL threat to the homeland. Sent to more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies around the country, the bulletin warns that such extremists, "could seek to replicate the effects of the Paris attacks using similar weapons and tactics, although on a smaller scale."
Authorities believe the Paris attackers practiced a "high degree of operational security" and may have planned their attack in Belgium "outside the purview of French security services," and that a cell phone found by French authorities likely associated with an attacker contained encrypted applications, "likely intended to make it difficult for security services to exploit the contents."
Soft targets in the U.S. continue to be a vulnerability ISIL may try to exploit, according to the joint assessment. "We judge ISIL will almost certainly consider a diverse selection of soft targets for attacks in the West - including in the United States - that extend beyond targeting government, military, and law enforcement officials and facilities, based on the target selection in the attacks and other recent plots in the West."
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/homegrown-extremists-seek-replicate-paris-fbi-dhs-joint/story?id=35384504
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