A newly released ISIS video featured images of Times Square in NY City and it put the area on high alert.
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Police said they were aware of the footage and there was a “heightened state of vigilance”.
Bill de Blasio, said there was no need to panic and that fully-equipped police officers have been assigned to deal with any terrorist threat.
While Times Square and Herald Square appear in the video, the NYPD in conjunction with all of our partners are taking all necessary security precautions in these areas and areas across the City.
“There is no specific and credible threat against NY City”. We cannot be intimidated.
The NY Police Department (NYPD) and the mayor pointed out that a few of the footage used in the video was old.
‘I would anticipate that this is not the only operation that ISIS has in the pipeline, ‘ he said.
Earlier this week, another video released by ISIS threatened to strike Washington, D.C. New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio tried to calm down the population and suggested New Yorkers to not change their everyday habits.
“In NY, we understand we are a terrorist target”. De Blasio added that they have launched a task squad equipped with 500-plus people with the sole goal of countering terrorism in the city. However, New York’s WABC TV reports that the footage of the city is not new and previously appeared in an ISIS video released back in April.
Meantime, it’s still not clear what happened to the suspected mastermind of last week’s terror attacks in Paris following a police raid north of the city on Wednesday.
“City officials are on a public relations offensive, using the morning talk shows to say the city is safe and open for business”, he said. The NYPD also has a new 800-person tactical response team in addition to its 600-person SWAT emergency service unit.
NY was the main target of 2001 plane attacks masterminded by the terrorist outfit Al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden that smashed the twin towers of World trade Center on September 11, which has opened a new era of global terrorism that was triggered by Islamist terrorists.
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Authorities in the US capital said they were stepping up security.
