PESHAWAR, July 1: Security agencies have been put on high security alert following warnings by their American counterparts of possible terrorist attacks against key installations in the NWFP.

A government official said the US intelligence agencies based their warnings on details given by arrested Al Qaeda men. “We are on a high state of alert,” the official said.

The warnings came following a visit to Islamabad last week by US CentCom chief Gen Tommy Franks who is reported to have shared the information with senior officials of security agencies.

A reliable source in the federal interior ministry quoted CentCom as saying that a terrorist act could be committed against key installations. They have been told to take proper security measures to avert any sabotage.

The sources said that it was the third such warning from CentCom to Islamabad in recent months. CentCom warned Islamabad of an unspecified terrorist act in Pakistan just a few days before the June 14 car bombing outside the US Consulate in Karachi which claimed 12 lives.

In May last, the sources said, CentCom had warned that a plane with US passengers might be hijacked by terrorists. Security was beefed up in cities after that warning. But the threat did not materialise.

A senior government official denied having received any specific warning but admitted that the government was on a high state of security alert. “We have not received any specific warning but we are on a state of high security alert,” the official said.