MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Daesh is capable of conducting an attack on the United States, similar to those that shook Paris and Brussels, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday.
"They do have that capacity… That's something we worry about a lot in the United States, that they could conjure up a raid like they did in Paris or Brussels," Clapper told CNN in an interview.
According to Clapper, Daesh could try either to send people to the United States or incite those already in the country, however, the group's leadership is unlikely to choose specific targets in the United States.
"That's apparently not exactly their modus operandi… It's more general, strategic guidance, and then let the local cell figure out how to achieve the objectives," the intelligence chief added.
Clapper cited the December 2015 attack in San Bernardino, which claimed 14 lives and left dozens injured as an example of what the militant group is capable of. A couple — US-born Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik — attacked the Inland Regional Center, where Farook worked.
Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries, claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks on Paris in November 13, which killed 130 people, and the March 22 series of blasts in Brussels, which claimed the lives of 35 people.
