Al Qaida 'training women bombers'

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said a terrorist attack was 'highly likely'
12 April 2012

The Home Office has been unable to confirm reports that Islamic terrorists had trained female suicide bombers to attack Western targets.

The Sunday Telegraph reported al Qaida terrorist cells had trained women, who may not have Arabic appearances, to carry out suicide bomb attacks.

The report come as the threat to the UK from international terrorism was raised from substantial to severe - meaning an attack is "highly likely".

The Home Office said it was unable to comment on whether the two were linked, but insisted the threat level was raised only in consideration of an "entire body" of information.

Richard Clarke a former chief White House counter-terrorism adviser, told the Sunday Telegraph: "They have trained women. There are others who are still out there and who have been trained and who are clean skins - that means people who we do not have a record of, people who may not look like al Qaida terrorists, who may not be Arabs and may not be men."

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said although the threat had increased there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent.

He said it was not specifically linked to the Christmas Day plane bomb plot or any other incident, although it comes ahead of a major anti-terrorism conference in London next week.

Mr Johnson said: "The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) has... raised the threat to the UK from international terrorism from substantial to severe.

"This means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress that there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent.

"JTAC keeps the threat level under constant review and makes its judgments based on a broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups in the UK and overseas."

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