NEW DELHI: The United States has warned that "foreign terrorists," including those from the Al-Qaeda, were "allegedly" planning to carry out a "series of bombing attacks" in or around New Delhi and Mumbai in the days leading to August 15.

A travel advisory posted on the U.S. Embassy website on Friday said the terrorists were working on a timeframe of August 11-16. "Likely targets include major airports, key central Indian Government offices, and major gathering places such as hotels and markets," the warning said.

Emergency services

Urging American citizens to maintain a low profile and be especially alert and attentive to their surroundings, it said that Embassy/Consulates would be available for emergency services 24 hours a day.

Hours after the American warning became public knowledge, Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal described it as "very innocuous." He asserted that all possible steps had been taken to thwart a possible terrorist attack ahead of Independence Day.

"It is normal for a mission to issue advisories whenever they have information. We too do the same thing. They do their security bandobast based on that. It is a very innocuous advisory," he was quoted as telling presspersons.

"No intelligence input"

Mr. Duggal, who chose not to respond to questions about the presence of Al-Qaeda terrorists in the country, added, "I have only seen the advisory, and there is no intelligence input shared with us."

In a related development, a senior External Affairs Ministry official said he had no information about whether or not the Americans shared intelligence about possible terrorist attacks with the Government.

When contacted, an American Embassy official pointed out that the U.S. worked "very closely" with the Government on such issues. However, he preferred not to comment when asked if information had been shared in this particular case.

"We do share information with the Government of India. We always do that," the official added.

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