Intelligence agencies have intercepted a terror plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks on Britain and other European countries, according to Sky News sources.
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said militants based in Pakistan were planning simultaneous strikes on London and major cities in France and Germany.
He said the plan was in the advanced but not imminent stage and the plotters had been tracked by spy agencies "for some time".
Intelligence sources told Sky the planned attacks would have been similar to the commando-style raids carried out in Mumbai.
Then, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar e Taiba killed 166 people in a series of gun and grenade attacks in the Indian city.
Marshall said the European plot had been "severely disrupted" following intelligence sharing between Britain, France, Germany and the US.
It is not known whether the attackers are already in Europe.
Heavily-armed militants caused mayhem in Mumbai in 2008
News of the planned strikes came as the Eiffel Tower in Paris was evacuated because of a bomb scare for the second time in two weeks.
"It doesn't necessarily mean it was a target, but it shows how nervous the French are," added Marshall.
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."
Britain's terror threat level remains at "severe" following the underpants bomber's attempted attack on Detroit airport last Christmas
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