Al Qaeda's Magazine Encourages Followers to Target US Train System

In the wake of the recent New York City subway bombing, there is a new target of al Qaeda.

The newest edition of al Qaeda's online propaganda magazine, Inspire, calls on its followers to target trains in the United States and Europe. The publication identifies three methods of attack: derailments, targeting the train's compartments, or assaults on stations.

"There has been a lot of chatter on terrorist forums surrounding trains. The possibility of derailments, of attacks at stations, or on trains," said Elliot Zweig with Middle East Research Institute. He adds, "We've obviously seen this in Madrid, London, and elsewhere."

The magazine, written in English, provides step-by-step instructions, similar to previous issues that coached terrorists on homemade bombs. 

Within hours of the online magazine's release, the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Bureau also sent out a series of tweets. "We've known about the content & threats presented in the current issue of AQAP's Inspire 17 prior to its release....our robust multi-layered counterterrorism apparatus is designed to protect our air, land, waterways and railways," the tweets read.

The threat is so real for the U.S. rail system, which stretches over 140,000 miles of track, much of it unsecured, that federal intelligence agencies notified state and local police. 

Europe has been the target of several successful rail attacks, including the 2004 coordinated al Qaeda plot targeting Madrid, which killed nearly 200 people and injured more than 1,500. 

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon said the threat to U.S. rail networks should not be over-hyped, but put in context.

"Probably the greatest vulnerability is going to be more in subway lines than in major rail lines," O'Hanlon explained. "It's really almost inconceivable to think of how you protect them. On the other hand, you're generally not going to see quite the number of casualties."

While al Qaeda has not abandoned the large-scale, mass-casualty attack, these have proven harder to execute. 

ISIS, which has shown more success with lone wolf operations, and now al Qaeda seem to understand the impact of these small-cell plots that are so much harder to disrupt, as a top general recently explained.

While federal counterterrorism experts gather intelligence, it's up to local authorities to guard train stations and the rail lines.

But we can all be the eyes and ears of local law enforcement. If we see something, we all need to say something.