Crossword Genius

Threats of attacks from Salah et al defending poorly later (3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

red alerts

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'threats of attacks from salah et' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'al defending poorly later' is the wordplay.
'al' becomes 'reds' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'defending' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are defended).
'poorly' indicates an anagram (a poor spelling).
'later' anagrammed gives 'alert'.
'reds' placed around 'alert' is 'RED ALERTS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for red alerts that I've seen is " States of readiness".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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