Spanish bomb not raising U.S. terror alert

WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. security officials will not raise the yellow terror alert status in the wake of this week's deadly train bombings in Spain, CNN reported Friday.

"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said Brian Roehrkasse, a Homeland Security Agency spokesman.

An intelligence official said the level of "chatter" in the system is lower than it was in late December, when the threat level was raised from yellow to orange, the second highest rank on a five-tier scale.

The United States is currently on a "yellow" level of terror alert, the third or middle level of a five-level system.

At the time, the department said intelligence "chatter" suggested terrorists might attempt attacks in the United States during the holiday period, which led to anti-terrorism measures that included closing airspace over New York; Las Vegas, Nevada; and other cities.

Spanish authorities said backpacks loaded with explosives were used in the Madrid attacks, that destroyed four trains, killed 198 people and injured some 1,430 others.