More than twenty drone missile strikes conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency over the past 30 days have lead to a serious disruption of a plan to carry out “Mumbai-style” attacks against numerous targets in Europe and potentially the United States.

ABC News reports:

US and European officials said Tuesday they have detected a plot to carry out a major, coordinated series of new terror attacks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and possibly the United States…

Intelligence and law enforcement authorities in the US and Europe said the threat information is based on the interrogation of a suspected German terrorist allegedly captured on his way to Europe in late summer and now being held at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

US law enforcement officials say they have been told the terrorists were planning a series of “Mumbai-style” commando raids on what were termed “economic or soft” targets in the countries…

The captured German reportedly said several teams of attackers, all with European passports, had been trained and dispatched from training camps in Waziristan and Pakistan. Officials say the German claimed the attack plan had been approved by Osama Bin Laden.

Such attacks have posed a serious threat for quite some time. You can murder quite a few people by simply opening fire with AK-47s and tossing grenades in heavily-packed malls and on busy streets. They’ll be taken down by armed law enforcement eventually, of course, but not before people lie dead.

What reportedly disrupted the attack? European and American intelligence shared information which lead to the CIA carrying out a record number of drone missile strikes in the uncontrolled regions of Pakistan. The strikes were reportedly targeted at the leaders of the plot, and indeed SKY News reports that several of the leaders have been killed.

When the terror plan came to light, the US military began helping its European allies by trying to kill the leaders behind the plot in Pakistan’s Waziristan region.

There have been a record 20 missile attacks using drone aircraft there in the past 30 days.

“I am led to believe a number of these attacks were designed against the leadership of this particular plot, which had an al Qaeda and possibly some sort of Taliban connection projecting into Europe,” Marshall added.

“And they have killed several of the leaders – which is why the terror threat has not risen.”

Why should the United States be concerned? Because, as Allahpundit notes, Germany is one of the countries listed under the Visa Waiver Program. German citizens don’t require visas to visit the United States. An unknown German jihadi could enter the United States based solely on his passport and lack of criminal history.