FBI Warns of Possible Islamic State Attack on Memphis-Arkansas Bridge
The FBI has notified local officials in Tennessee and Arkansas of a potential Islamic State terrorist threat that would blow up the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge that spans the Mississippi river.
The FBI reportedly sent a bulletin to police in the area, suggesting they take the necessary precautions out of an "abundance of caution" regarding the bridge, which connects West Memphis in Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee.
FBI spokesman Chris Allen said in a statement that there was no official intelligence that indicated the threat to the bridge was significant; rather, the threat was made anonymously.
"This is an unsubstantiated, anonymous threat," the FBI spokesperson said.
The FBI added in its statement that it had received an anonymous tip that the Islamic State was working with someone in the U.S. "to blow up the Memphis-Arkansas bridge on an unknown date, activating ISIS terror cells in the United States."
The alleged threat comes shortly after the U.S. announced that it had successfully killed three top leaders in the Islamic State terror group by conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
U.S. Lieutenant General James Terry recently said that the airstrikes have " made significant progress in halting that (militant) offensive."
Of the three militants recently killed, one includes a top military commander while another includes a key deputy. The U.S. did confirm that during airstrikes in Iraq in early December, American planes and their allies failed to successfully kill the head of the Islamic State, senior commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
