A potential terror plot may have involved synchronized attacks in several countries with “at least a dozen” people taking part, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Earlier, a German counterterrorism source said that a man captured in Afghanistan had tipped off investigators to a potential “Mumbai-style” plot in Europe.

Mumbai, the financial hub of India, was the site of a three-day terror attack two years ago that left more than 160 people dead. Ten men launched the carefully planned assault, targeting prominent sites such as the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Oberoi-Trident hotels, the historic Victoria Terminus train station and a Jewish cultural center.

The intelligence gathered so far, the law enforcement official said, indicated that sites in the United Kingdom, France and Germany as well as Italy and Belgium may have been targets in the potential plot.

Investigators believe al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden signed off on a European attack plan, a separate law enforcement source said. But U.S. and international officials say they have seen no sign of an imminent attack.

U.S. officials said the alleged plot has no U.S. component — at least none that has been found. One official stressed that the plot is serious and credible but that the intelligence available lacked specificity: no who, where or how.

Some names of “known operational planners” are possibly connected with the plot, but there is “no precise insight” into who may be planning an attack, the official said. Soft targets such as hotels and economic targets are of particular concern, but there is “no precise” intelligence on the mode of attack, said the official.

Another official said there are different threads coming from different places, and it’s not clear how or even if they will come together. The European countries involved — primarily Germany, France and Britain — are tackling the perceived threats as they see fit, the official said.

The “threat has certainly caught our attention” and that of our allies, the official said. Although no “U.S. dimension” to the plot has been uncovered, the official said, the “U.S. is only a seven-hour plane ride away” from Europe.

The potential plot is one reason for a dramatic increase in the number of missile strikes by unmanned drones against terrorist targets in Pakistan, according to a U.S. official.

The number of suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan jumped to 20 this month — more than in any previous month and twice the monthly average, according to a CNN estimate based on information from Pakistani officials.

A federal law enforcement official in the United States, meanwhile, said “the volume seems to be turned up” on the threat information coming out of Europe.

The intelligence indicates there is interest in using people with Western passports in an attack, that official said. The official said the potential operatives may be a mix of Europeans and others, possibly including North Africans, Pakistanis, Turks, Uzbeks and Tajiks.

There is concern about an “active shooter” scenario that would create as many casualties and as much chaos as possible in a short period of time. The Mumbai attacks showed how effective this kind of an attack can be in drawing attention.

More on: CNN

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