Al-Qaeda could attack Queen, UK sports events: media report

Al-Qaeda has been trying to recruit 'lone wolf' jihadists returning from Syria to carry out bomb attacks at high-profile sporting events in Britain, including the Epsom Derby horse race, attended by the Queen, and Wimbledon, media reported here today.

The Wimbledon tennis championships and FA Cup football matches have been suggested as potential targets in an attempt to cause "maximum carnage", the Sunday Times reported.

The Osama bin Laden-founded terror group recommends that such operations be carried out either by a "martyrdom bomber" or with explosives linked to a timer or a remote device.

"This type of car bomb is not usually used to destroy buildings, but is very effective in killing individuals," it said last week in a new edition of its online magazine called Inspire.

The English-language publication, produced by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a Yemen-based affiliate, outlines a list of possible targets in Britain, the US and France.

It singles out high-profile sporting events in what it calls "crusader countries" attended by "tens of thousands" of fans.