The prime minister of Iraq has warned of an alleged Islamic State plot to target subways in the USA and Paris.
Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said he was told of the supposed plot by intelligence agents who gathered the informatics from captive IS militants
He said: “Today, while I'm here I'm receiving accurate reports from Baghdad that there were arrests of a few elements and there were networks from inside Iraq to have attacks ... on metros of Paris and US.
“They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq."
When asked if the attacks were imminent he said: “I’m not sure.”
He added: “No, it has not been disrupted yet…this is a network.”
The politician made the comments to journalists attending the United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York today.
But a senior US official said nobody in the Obama administration has been aware of a planned attack on subways in US and Paris.
A spokeswoman said: “We have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations.”
John Miller, the New York Police Department's top counter terror official, said they were aware of the Iraqi official's statements "and we are in close contact with the FBI and other federal partners as we assess this particular threat stream."
The Islamic State extremists' blitz in Iraq and Syria prompted the United State to launch air strikes in Iraq last month, to aid Kurdish forces who were battling the militants and to protect religious minorities.
In addition to the brutality Islamic State has visited on the people in Iraq and Syria, western leaders have voiced concern that the group would move its terror operations outside the region.
This week, the U.S. and five allied Arab states expanded the aerial campaign into Syria, where the militant group is battling President Bashar Assad's forces as well as Western-backed rebels.
New York is home to the country's largest subway system.
