SUICIDE bombers may have been just 48 hours from unleashing a terrifying plot to blow up passenger jets in mid-air when British police swooped.
Security chiefs launched pre-dawn raids to foil the terrorists after intercepting a message from Pakistan that said: "Do your attacks now". The chilling four-word command was a signal for plotters to bring forward their plan to destroy as many as three US-bound aircraft an hour for three hours.
US intelligence officials said the planes would have been blown up over cities that were "primary tourist attractions", such as New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.
British police arrested 24 people, mostly of Pakistani descent but including three Britons who had converted to Islam.
"Make no mistake, if this plot had succeeded it would have been bigger than 9/11 in terms of body count," a senior security source said.
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Security chiefs launched pre-dawn raids to foil the terrorists after intercepting a message from Pakistan that said: "Do your attacks now". The chilling four-word command was a signal for plotters to bring forward their plan to destroy as many as three US-bound aircraft an hour for three hours.
US intelligence officials said the planes would have been blown up over cities that were "primary tourist attractions", such as New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.
British police arrested 24 people, mostly of Pakistani descent but including three Britons who had converted to Islam.
"Make no mistake, if this plot had succeeded it would have been bigger than 9/11 in terms of body count," a senior security source said.
More
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