The New York City Subway IS safe: De Blasio holds press conference to insist that there is no terror threat after Iraqi PM's claims that ISIS will launch strike
- Mayor de Blasio: 'I have a simple message: There is no threat to our subway'
- Increased resources toward travel network and more police on the streets
- Haider al-Abadi claimed Iraqi intelligence officials uncovered a terror plot
- Said U.S. and French nationals are being trained to attack home countries
- Abadi said intelligence was credible but was 'not sure' if attack is imminent
- But America's National Security Council quickly knocked down the claims
- Spokesperson said there is no evidence to suggest information is accurate
- FBI Director James Comey told reporters that he hadn't heard of the plot
New
York Mayor Bill de Blasio has spoken out against claims that ISIS is
planning to attack the subway saying there is 'no credible threat.'
After
taking the subway to a news conference this afternoon, he said: 'I have
a simple message for our New Yorkers: There is no threat to our subway
system.'
New
York Police Commissioner Bratton said the NYPD has put increased
resources toward protecting subways and rail stations and there will be
more police patrols on the streets, but insisted the people of the city
should feel 'comfortable and secure' using the travel network.
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New York officials have spoken out
against claims that ISIS is planning to attack the subway saying there
is 'no credible threat.' Pictured George Venizelos, Assistant
Director-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (left) New
York Field Office, New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton
(centre) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (right)
Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news
conference this afternoon: 'I have a simple message for our New Yorkers -
there is no threat to our subway system'
Enhanced security: More officers including sniffer dogs were deployed to the subway
Reassurances: New York governor Andrew Cuomo reassured commuters the subway was same from a platform
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
(left) and New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton arrive
at the press conference after taking the subway. New York Police
Commissioner Bratton said the NYPD has put increased resources toward
protecting subways and rail stations and there will be more police
patrols
They
were responding to claims by the Iraqi Prime Minister this morning that
ISIS militants are planning to carry out terror attacks on the New York
and Paris subways.
Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi today claimed to have received 'credible'
information from intelligence officials in Baghdad that foreign fighters
belonging to ISIS were plotting attacks.
National Security Council spokesman Caitlin Hayden said: 'We
have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any
information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations
We take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information
we receive from our partners.'
Mr
Abadi made his remarks at a meeting with journalists on the sidelines
of a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly
in New York today.
He
said that the suspects included Islamic extremists originally from the
United States and France who have been fighting alongside ISIS
terrorists in Iraq.
Threat: Iraq's Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi said he was told of the plot by intelligence officials in
Baghdad, and that it was the work of extremists originally from the U.S.
and France who have been fighting for ISIS
Radicals: ISIS supporters slogans as
they carry the group's flags in front of the provincial government
headquarters in Mosul, Iraq. Militants in the country are suspected of
plotting the New York and Paris attacks
'Today, while I am here, I am receiving accurate reports
from Baghdad where there was [the] arrest of [a] few elements
and there are networks planning from inside Iraq to have
attacks,' he said.
'They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the
U.S.,' he added, speaking in English. 'From the details I have received, yes it looks
credible.'
'They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq,' Mr Abadi went on to say.
His claims were quickly slapped down by U.S. officials, however.
'We've
seen the reports of Prime Minister Abadi's comments. We have not
confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our
Iraqi partners before making further determinations,' said Caitlin
Hayden, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council.
'We
take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information we
receive from our partners. We're obviously very focused on the issue of
foreign fighters, as you saw evidenced yesterday at the Security
Council session the President chaired, she added.
Force: A handout picture made
available by the US Department of Defense today shows a formation of US
Navy F-18E Super Hornets refueling having carried out airstrikes on
targets linked to ISIS
Allies:
Last Friday French President Francois Hollande (left) ordered his
country's air force to carry out attacks on ISIS targets in Iraq. In
doing so, France joined a 'broad coalition' of nations agreeing to
support plans by U.S. president Barack Obama (right) to 'degrade and
eventually destroy' the terrorist group
Strikes: A U.S.-led coalition opened
airstrikes inside Syria on Monday, expanding weeks of attacks by the
United States on Islamic State targets in Iraq
The
Iraqi Prime Minister said that he received the information from
intelligence officials based in Baghdad earlier this morning.
In
addition to the brutality Islamic State has visited on the people of
Iraq and Syria, western leaders have voiced concern that the group would
turn its terror operations outside the region.
A
U.S.-led coalition opened airstrikes inside Syria on Monday, expanding
weeks of attacks by the United States on Islamic State targets in Iraq.
A
fresh wave of airstrikes from the United States and its Arab allies hit
ISIS oil refineries overnight, killing at least 14 militants and
striking at the heart of the terror group's funding.
ISIS
generates up to $2million a day from the sale of oil, employing highly
trained engineers to extract thousands of barrels a day from the vast
swaths of Syria and Iraq under the terror group's control.
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