There has been evidence that past wildfires were set by terrorists. The devastating fires in Greece in 2007 are also thought to have been set by Jihadists, and a detainee at Gitmo confessed to plotting an arson attack. Now new information suggests Al-Qaeda is plotting to set fires in America, Europe and Australia and South America simultaneously in an attack they dubbed a “global fireball” which would have severe economic consequences for the countries involved.

From The Daily Express:

ISLAMIC extremists are threatening an environmental disaster by sparking a series of catastrophic wild fires.

Western intelligence agencies fear that Al Qaeda terrorists are planning a “global fireball” in a new departure in its war on the West.

Deliberately lighting forest blazes in Europe, the US and Australia would not only stretch emergency services but leave insurance companies facing multi-billion pound damage bills as the credit crunch bites.

The fires would also create a pollution disaster, with billions tons of climate change gases escaping into the atmosphere.

The so-called “forest jihad” is being championed by Islamic scholars and Osama Bin Laden’s terror strategists who believe setting fire to dry woodlands will produce maximum damage for minimum risk.

Western security services have picked up internet chatter which spells out in graphic terms the terrorists’ thinking.

One message warns: “Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organisation were to claim responsibility for the forest fires. You can hardly begin to imagine the level of fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia and in Australia.”

Australia is at most immediate risk from Al Qaeda’s change in tactics. Years of drought have left tinderbox conditions and with summer beckoning, its bush lands are vulnerable to a co-ordinated fire starting.

Australia’s Attorney-General Robert McClelland said last week that the country was “vigilant against such threats”.

America’s FBI have been on alert for “basic but devastating” terrorist outrages since the capture of key Al Qaeda personnel in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

As long ago as 2003, secret memos were landing in CIA and FBI intrays detailing threats posed by fanatics that included fire-starting and attacks on main street stores.

The strategy is said to have been inspired by Al Qaeda ideologue Abu Musab al-Suri, who used to live in the UK, but is now believed to be languishing in a CIA secret prison.

Although starting forest fires does not carry the promise of martyrdom as it does with suicide bombings, the strategy allows small cells to operate independently and create maximum disruption with little risk of detection.

In one warning picked up by monitoring services, exponents of the forest jihad declared: “Scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels’ forests when they do the same to our lands.”

While there is no suggestion that Al Qaeda has been behind the fires in California, there is growing belief terrorists may have been responsible for the blaze that left more than 50 dead in Greece last summer.

On an Al Qaeda website, supporters were reminded “not to forget the summer forest jihad”. It added: “This is an invitation to the Muslims of Europe and America, Australia and Russia to burn forests.”

The message claims the burning of trees as a method of warfare is permitted in Islam and uses quotes from the Koran to back it up. The “benefits” of fires, say fanatics, is causing casualties, hitting tourist income, timber shortages for domestic, industrial use and pharmaceuticals, and stretching emergency services.

N.T.A. has more, read through it all to understand the full extent of this threat.

If you live near a forest clear a safety zone around your house even if it means cutting down your favorite tree. Do not use straw mulch or similar flammable materials for gardening and if permissible use gravel for landscaping, creating a “dry moat” around your house. Get prepared for fires because they’re apparently coming soon.