Top US counter-terror official warns of 'a number of specific threats' aimed at Sochi Olympics

A top US counter-terrorism official has warned that there are 'a number of specific threats' aimed at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with the greatest danger coming from the Caucasus Emirate, who has threatened to attack the Games.

Russia, which is trying to root out militants in the North Caucasus region, has mounted a massive security operation for the Olympics, deploying more than 50,000 police and soldiers amid threats from Muslim insurgents.

According to CBS News, director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen said that US and Russia are tracking threats of 'varying degrees of credibility', although he added that potential attacks seem more likely outside the venues for the Games instead of the area or region around Sochi.

Meanwhile, the Austrian Olympic Committee has received an anonymous letter containing a kidnap threat against Alpine skier Bernadette Schild and skeleton pilot Janine Flock during the Sochi Games.

The kidnap threat comes less than two weeks after a string of European Olympic committees, including Austria's, received emails containing terrorist threats against its athletes in Sochi, which were later deemed a hoax, the report added.