Concerns that Somali terrorists might stage a brazen attack on America are on the rise after the deadly Uganda bombings, senior Obama administration officials said Tuesday.Al Qaeda-aligned Al Shabaab's attacks in Kampala Sunday that killed 76 World Cup revelers, including one American, could foreshadow a U.S. terror plot, they said.
"There is a concern Al Shabaab might try to carry out similar types of attacks in other venues," a top U.S. official told reporters.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he dispatched a sergeant and three officers to join about 60 other Joint Terrorism Task Force investigators in Uganda. A detective who was already based in South Africa for the World Cup is also on his way, Kelly said.
Shabaab goons - including some Somali-Americans and Al Qaeda operatives who moved to Somalia to flee a CIA drone blitz in Pakistan - have long been targeted by U.S. Special Operations Forces.
"I'm worried about any organization - particularly one associated with Al Qaeda and has Al Qaeda sprinkled within it - [and] their determination, as well as potential capability, to carry out an attack outside of the region," the senior administration official said.