This travel alert expires on February 20, 2017.
In the wake of an ISIS-linked plot being thwarted by the French security services, the US State Department issued a travel warning to its citizens urging them to exercise caution at holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets in Europe in the coming weeks.
“Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh), al Qaeda, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events. US citizens should also be alert to the possibility that extremist sympathizers or self-radicalized extremists may conduct attacks during this period with little or no warning. Terrorist may employ a wide variety of tactics, using both conventional and nonconventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests,” the warning said.
This travel alert expires on February 20, 2017.
While extremists have carried out attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, and Turkey in the past year, the Department remains concerned about the potential for attacks throughout Europe, the alert warned.
On Sunday, seven people were arrested by the French authorities after carrying out anti-terror raids in Strasbourg and Marseilles.
The eight-month-long investigation foiled a “new terrorist attack that had been planned for a long time on our soil,” CNN quoted French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, as saying in a news conference in Paris.