ABC News has a report that intelligence officials have uncovered evidence of an imminent terror attack against the US: Officials Warn Police of Potential Terror. (Hat tip: Allah.)

Like many such tips, it is vague, but the government is disturbed enough that it held a rare conference call with local police to warn them.

The intelligence, received a week ago but secret until now, is from known Muslim extremists who suggested an attack — possibly in the U.S. — was imminent, and that operatives were already “in place,” sources tell ABCNEWS.

“I think it’s very clear from what we’re seeing right now is that the bad guys, the al Qaeda, is getting very creative, that they are active and that they are going to continue to try and hit us,” said Jerry Hauer, a former emergency management official and now an ABCNEWS consultant.

The primary area of concern is so-called soft targets. Police were told to be on the lookout for surveillance of landmarks, and for suspicious items left in malls, subway stations or other large gatherings.