Plot to poison British troops foiled

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Pakistani spies uncovered a plot by al-Qaida followers to poison British troops in retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden, British officials said.

Al-Qaida followers planned to ambush supply trucks carrying material to British and U.S. bases in Helmand, Afghanistan, to taint food and water with poison, The Daily Mirror reported Thursday. The operatives planned to either secure drivers' cooperation by threatening to kill family members or kill the drivers and assume their identities.

The plot was uncovered by Pakistani spies looking into a new terror unit called Osama's Army, established to avenge the death of the al-Qaida leader, British officials said.

U.S. troops killed bin Laden last month in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.

"Al-Qaida is getting more and more inventive and we have to keep up with them," a British security official told the Mirror. "In the aftermath of bin Laden's death, the network has become increasingly determined to launch attacks."

Osama's Army also plotted to conduct suicide bombings against western embassies in Pakistan, the British security official said.