Official: U.S. resident sent info to terror group

NYPD investigators have learned that a U.S. resident living on the East Coast has sent surveillance information, including maps and photographs of lower Manhattan and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, to a reputed member of the Nigeria-based Islamic terror group Boko Haram, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

A self-described follower of the Somali-based terror cell Al-Shabaab, an ally of al-Qaida, the U.S. resident passed the information to the Nigerian contact within the past three weeks, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

" 'I wish I could do more, I fight for Allah, I will see you in . . . [heaven],' " the unidentified man said in his email to Nigeria, according to the official.

Material sent via email included aerial images of the Holland Tunnel traffic pattern, as well as maps tracing routes from Hoboken, N.J., through the Hudson River tunnels to the Wall Street area, the official noted.

The Nigerian information flow is the second time this week that use of the Internet has raised security concerns. On Monday, the NYPD disclosed that the al-Qaida-linked Web forum As Ansar posted a threatening color graphic depicting the skyline of Manhattan accompanied by the words "Al Qaeda -- Coming Soon Again in New York."

According to law enforcement officials, the As Ansar forum operates out of a server in Southeast Asia, although its administrators remain unknown and appear to work from various places around the world. The forum deals with a wide variety of Jihadist issues, such as bomb making and firearms training.

Reacting to the latest Internet activity, a police spokesman said the NYPD was concerned, but added that there was no known specific threat to the city.

"The use of the Internet to communicate not only propaganda but in this instance apparently operational information is of growing concern to the NYPD," spokesman Paul Browne said.