Homegrown violence possible, FBI warns

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WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- U.S. officials warn "acts of violence" may occur domestically in response to the alleged shooting rampage of an American soldier.

The killing of 16 civilians in Kandahar last week has provoked new tensions and protests across Afghanistan. Effigies of President Obama, as well as crosses, have been burned, ABC News reported.

In a joint "awareness bulletin" to law enforcement agencies Wednesday, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expressed concern that "this event could contribute to the radicalization or mobilization of homegrown violent extremists in the homeland, particularly against U.S.-based military targets."

The bulletin noted no specific threat at the moment, and said it was unlikely the recent incident and other "high-profile perceived offenses against Islam" would motivate terrorists on American soil to action.

The killings "will likely be incorporated into violent extremist propaganda and could contribute to an individual's radicalization to violence", it read.

A report from the staff of Rep. Peter King in December referred to homegrown terrorists, who have no contact with major terrorist groups but could be inspired by them, as a "severe and emerging threat", and that military communities in the U.S. "have recently become the most sought-after targets" of violent extremists, ABC said.