UNPRECEDENTED ALERT IN ISRAEL OF ATTACK

UNPRECEDENTED ALERT IN ISRAEL OF ATTACK
TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israeli authorities have been placed on what officials termed an unprecedented alert of a mass-casualty Islamic insurgency attack. Officials said Israel has received information of plans by Islamic insurgency groups to carry out a series of major attacks on Israeli civilians in both the Jewish state and the region over the next week. They said the attacks were being planned in such areas as Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Jordan, Turkey, India's Kashmir region and southern Thailand.

"The information that we have received from a variety of sources comes down to this: Israelis and the Jews are targets around the region," an official said.

In Israel, officials said, authorities have received 50 alerts of a Palestinian attack. The range of threats includes Palestinian suicide bombings, ambushes on Israeli motorists, mortar and missile strikes and abductions of Israeli civilians and soldiers. They said Israeli authorities foiled 15 Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in August.