NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- New York police said they stepped up security measures in subways and transit stations Wednesday after learning of discussions about possible terror attacks.
The New York Times reported members of the al-Qaida terrorist network were heard discussing how to coordinate a wave of explosions in the subway system during the holidays.
These plans were undeveloped and had only reached "the aspirational stage," said Paul J. Browne, chief spokesman for the police department. He said the city was responding out of "an abundance of caution," the newspaper reported.
"It is not uncommon for the department to receive threat information and to adjust our resources accordingly," he said.
Terrorists have targeted mass transit systems in the past. In March 2004, 191 people were killed in Madrid when an al-Qaida-inspired cell detonated 10 bombs on four commuter trains. A year later, four suicide bombers with links to al-Qaida killed 52 people when they detonated bombs on a bus and three underground trains in London.
