Alalam - America

In a joint bulletin with the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, the FBI told local law enforcement that churches and holiday gatherings were the prime targets for the attacks, CNN reported.

The warning came after a list of churches across the US was posted on a social media group affiliated with ISIS (ISIL, IS, Daesh).

FBI spokesman Andrew Ames said that the agency knew about the list and was investigating its credibility.

Asking for extra vigilance at churches over Christmas, the bulletin said followers of the terror group “continue aspirational calls for attacks on holiday gatherings, including targeting churches.”

The bulletin also noted that there were no specific threats and the warning was issued due to an abundance of caution.

Authorities in major American cities have increased security measures for the New Year holiday in the wake of Monday's attack in the German capital of Berlin, where a truck driver rammed his vehicle into a Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring some 50 more.

Only an hour after the attack, which was claimed by Daesh, the New York Police Department (NYPD) deployed heavily armed counter-terrorism units to monitor crowded pop-up Christmas markets in Union Square, Bryant Park and Columbus Circle.

The NYPD has also reached out to truck rental companies, advising them to practice vigilance and report any suspicious interactions.

Security forces in Chicago, Illinois, have also taken extra steps to ensure that the city remains safe during the holidays.

The corners of Chicago’s landmark Daley Plaza have been blocked by diagonally-parked police cars to prevent vehicle access to a Christmas market there.

The authorities had employed similar measures in July, after another Daesh sympathizer drove a rented, refrigerated truck weighing about 20 tons into a crowd in Nice, France. Over 40 people were killed in that attack and more than 400 other were injured.

SA