Picture Of The Day

[image: #dailymail]

22 U.S. Embassies And Consulates Across North Africa And The Middle East Closed

*ABC News* has revealed that 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and Middle East were closed following the identification of a significant threat from an al-Qaeda affiliate. A senior U.S. official described the terrorists as saying the planned attack is "going to be big" and "strategically significant." 

"The part that is alarming is the confidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty," the official said, adding that the group - Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - appeared to have a media plan for after the attack. #"We do not know whether they mean an embassy, an airbase, an aircraft, trains," #"we are concerned about surgically implanted devices," # "These are guys who have developed the techniques to defeat our detection methods." The official also said authorities were stunned that the group broke "operational security" - meaning they talked likely knowing it would be picked up by intercepts.