The US military is positioning warships and aircraft to evacuate American officials and athletes in case terrorists strike the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The plan calls for warships with helicopters to sail to the Black Sea this week and for C-17 transport planes to be placed on standby in Germany, an American official told CNN Monday.
The German site is about two hours by air from Sochi.
The ships and planes are "just in case the Russians ask for help" and "if something happens, like a major terrorist attack, and we need to get Americans out," the unnamed official said.
The deployment reflects growing concern among American officials that the Olympics, which begin Feb. 6, are vulnerable to attacks by the same Islamic militants who set off two deadly suicide bombs in the city of Volgograd, Russia, in December.
"It's a very serious fear," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Also Monday, a video surfaced of the two Volgograd bombers promising bloodshed at the Games.
Posted on a jihadi Web site, the clip shows the men delivering a message from beyond the grave:
"We've prepared a present for you and all tourists who'll come over. If you will hold the Olympics, you'll get a present from us for the Muslim blood that's been spilled," they said.
Police in Russia are also on the lookout for a female "black widow" suicide bomber who may already be in Sochi — operating inside the so-called "ring of steel" security cordon hyped by Russian officials, ABC News reported.
Posters and fliers with a photograph of the woman, identified as Ruzanna Ibragimova, 22, started appearing around Sochi hotels over the weekend and at the host city's airport, ABC said.
The widow of a terrorist reportedly killed last year in a shootout with police, Ibragimova goes by the nickname Salima and has a small scar across her left cheek, Russian authorities said. She also walks with a pronounced limp and has a stiff left arm that doesn't bend at the elbow, authorities said.She is believed to be affiliated with the Caucasus Emirate, a terrorist group led by Doku Umarov that has threatened attacks against the Games.
Even as Russian President Vladimir Putin promised a safe and secure Olympics, the latest video and the black widow scare have American officials increasingly fearful.
One security expert told ABC News that if Ibragimova was able to penetrate Sochi's security perimeter, and is inside plotting an attack, the breach "really raises questions about the strength of the Russia security apparatus."
"The specific worry is that she's a woman and because of that it's easier for women to infiltrate indoor or outdoor venues, that she could be a bomb carrier," added security expert, Christopher Swift, a Georgetown University professor who has studied militant groups in the North Caucasus.
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