LONDON: A day after the US issued a worldwide travel alert citing an al-Qaida threat, Interpol on Saturday sounded a global terror alert advising its members to increase their vigilance against attacks.

According to the security agency , the alert comes following a series of jailbreaks across nine countries, including Iraq, Libya and Pakistan, in the past month. The agency has advised increased vigilance in August, which marks the anniversary of terror acts in Mumbai, Gluboky (Russia), Jakarta and the 15th anniversary of the US embassy bombings in Nairobi.

With suspected al-Qaida involvement in several of the prison breakouts which led to the escape of hundreds of terrorists, Interpol has called for assistance from its 190 member countries to determine whether the "recent events were coordinated" as part of a larger terror plot.

"They are requested to alert the relevant member country and the secretariat headquarters if any escaped terrorist is located or intelligence developed which could help prevent a terrorist attack," it said.

The staff at Interpol's 24-hour Command and Coordination Centre are also prioritizing all information and intelligence with regard to the prison breakouts or possible terrorist plots to immediately inform relevant member countries.

On Friday, the US issued a global travel alert warning Americans that al-Qaida may be planning attacks in August. The US state department cited "credible intelligence", suggesting that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan attacks on US targets in the Middle East and North Africa. The US authorities announced one-day closure of more than 20 diplomatic missions on August 4 while the UK foreign office ordered closure of the British embassy in Yemen on August 4 and 5.

"We are particularly concerned about the security situation in the final days of Ramzan and into Eid," the foreign office said in a statement, referring to the Muslim holy month which ends on Wednesday. Germany and France also decided to close their embassies in Yemen on Sunday and Monday.

"In recent years, terrorist attacks focusing on diplomatic facilities in Afghanistan, Greece, India, Kenya, Libya, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syria , Tanzania , Turkey and Yemen have resulted in hundreds of casualties of all nationalities," the report said.

Prison breaks took place in Pakistan on July 31 in a Taliban-led operation and in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison on July 22. Some 500 convicts, among them senior Qaida operatives, escaped from jail.