Mumbai-Like Terror Plot Thwarted in Europe

According to a US intelligence official, a terror plot that supposedly involved simultaneous strikes in various cities of Europe has been foiled after CIA carried out a series of drone attacks in Pakistan to disrupt the plot.

The scheme, which called for attacks on cities in Germany and France, as well as London hotels, was in an "advanced but not imminent stage", a report by Sky News has claimed. The plotters are allegedly of Algerian or Pakistani descent and have received their training from the tribal areas of Pakistan.

While the plot is still being investigated by officials, a major concern is that plotters were using the Mumbai attacks of 2008 as a model for their assault on Europe. In those attacks, armed gunmen had targeted hotels as well as other easily accessible places, killing over 200 people.

According to US officials, they haven't come across a terror plot as dangerous as the European threat in many years. A counterterrorism official told, "This isn't just your typical Washington talk about how the threats have evolved. People are very concerned about what they're seeing".

The CIA has increased drone attacks inside Pakistani territory in order to help foil the plot, with over 20 strikes carried out this month. Even though European governments haven't specified what plots have been foiled, British security officials have told that US government's stepped-up strikes inside Pakistani territory have disrupted Al-Qaeda's ability to carry out terrorists attacks against the West.