Baghdad: The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) confirmed that raising the state of alert at US military bases in Europe was due to a group of factors and is not linked to a specific threat. Sabrina Singh, deputy spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said in a press statement, 'The European command with our forces is taking steps as a precaution and to increase vigilance.' This comes after several American media outlets reported that the US Army had raised the alert level of a number of its bases to the 'Charlie' level, which is the second highest level. This level is applied 'when an incident occurs, or upon receiving intelligence information indicating the possibility of some type of terrorist act or targeting against individuals or facilities,' as the US Army states on its website. Source: National Iraqi News Agency