Pakistani Taliban: Terror Attacks in U.S., Europe Coming 'Soon'
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan says attacks will "avenge" death of Osama bin Laden.
June 27, 2011 — -- The Pakistani branch of the Taliban is threatening to carry out 10 new terror attacks, which will include targets in the U.S. and Europe, to "avenge" the death of Osama bin Laden, one of the group's leaders said in a video over the weekend.
"Soon you will see attacks against America and NATO countries," Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) deputy commander Waliur Rehman says in the video. Of the targets in Europe, the group's priority is attacks in France and the U.K., he says.
Rehman also claims that a deadly, brazen attack on a Pakistani naval base in late May was their first act of vengeance for bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs on May 2.
READ: Osama Bin Laden Killed: 'Justice Is Done,' President Says
Rehman is seen in the video, which aired on Al-Arabiya, sitting in the wilderness in front of a large sniper rifle while surrounded by fighters. It also shows fighters hiking though the woods and firing weapons including a high-caliber machine gun.
TTP is believed to be behind several deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years and demonstrated its apparent ability to reach targets in the West when the group claimed responsibility for the failed Times Square bombing plot in Spring 2010. Faisal Shahzad, convicted in the Times Square incident, traveled to Waziristan, Pakistan, shortly before the bungled attack where he was introduced to high-ranking members of the Pakistani Taliban and received bomb-making training, law enforcement and intelligence sources told ABC News then.
READ: Shahzad Had Contact With Awlaki, Taliban Chief and Mumbai Massacre Mastermind, Sources Say
In September 2010, the U.S. added TTP to the terrorism blacklist and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the group represented a threat to U.S. national security.
Last month Rehman announced TTP would carry out its jihad against the West "with new zeal" following the death of bin Laden.
"We have the same target, program and mission," he said, according to the AP report published May 18. "Our enemies are NATO, Jews and Christians."
READ: Pakistan Taliban Vows Revenge Attacks After Osama Bin Laden Death
U.S. officials believe Rehman has personally participated in cross-border attacks on U.S. and NATO personnel in Afghanistan and is wanted for his role in the murder of seven Americans killed at the bombing of a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, Dec. 2009. There is a $5 million reward for information leading to Rehman's capture.
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