ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The CIA has stepped up attacks by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan in a response to reports of planned terror attacks on European targets, U.S. officials said.
U.S. military officials said the reports of the planned attacks were "credible but not specific" enough for authorities to determine precisely where an assault may occur, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
A U.S. official said President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have been briefed at length on the European threat, saying the intel is considered grave enough to merit pre-emptive strikes.
U.S. intelligence agencies have had "to work backwards, with your starting point being individuals you believe are involved in plotting, even when you don't have the full outlines of the plot itself," the official told the Post. "That's why we have been striking -- with precision -- people and facilities that are part of these conspiracies."
Reports indicate drone strikes were carried out Tuesday on a Taliban compound in South Waziristan, the Post said. If confirmed, it would bring the total number of drone attacks in September to 21, far ahead of the previous monthly record of 12 strikes in January, data compiled by the Web site Long War Journal indicate.
