Reuters

New York, Nov 28: US authorities have warned of a possible Al-Qaida threat to transit systems in and around New York City, a homeland security official said on Wednesday.

Police said they were increasing security in response to the warning but said this was “in an abundance of caution.” The warning comes at the start of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, one of the busiest US travel periods of the year. “The police department is aware of an unsubstantiated report indicating that al-Qaida terrorists discussed targeting mass transit in New York City and the vicinity,” deputy police commissioner Paul Browne said.

A homeland security department spokesman said that al-Qaida may have discussed such attacks in September.

New York has remained on an orange alert — the second highest level — since the 9/11 attacks. The rest of the US is on yellow alert, one level below orange. In October 2005, the city’s subway system was on high alert after detainees in Iraq were thought to be plotting a bomb attack, but the threat was later found to lack credibility.