Tuesday, February 01, 2011

U.S. renews travel alert for United Kingdom


An updated State Department travel alert for the United Kingdom, issued Monday, cites "the continuing high level of terrorist threat, including the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems, aviation and other travel infrastructure."
Unlike a travel warning, which recommends against all nonessential travel (such as the travel warning for Egypt), a State Department alert urges travelers to be vigilant and increase their security awareness.
The renewed alert for England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland - effective through April 30 - coincides with expiration of a Europe-wide alert issued last October.
"In the past several years, extremists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as the aviation sector in cities such as London, Madrid, Glasgow, and most recently, Moscow, demonstrating that terrorists continue to take an active interest in targeting these transport sectors across a variety of European cities," the State Department notes, adding that "as has been widely reported in the press, UK law enforcement authorities have taken action to guard against a terrorist attack, underscoring in their public statements that the police are using a range of tactics to mitigate the threat."

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