LONDON: The Mumbai terror attack is a well-planned, ‘terrorist spectacular’ with all the tell-tale signs of the Al-Qaeda, and has been on the cards in this crucial period before presidential elect Barack Obama takes office in the United States next year.
British security and intelligence experts say that all the indications were there that the Al Qaeda was plotting an attack to ‘grab the headlines’. Intelligence sources told the London Times that the Mumbai attacks and particularly the fact that Westerners were singled out for ‘special treatment’ show signs of an Al Qaeda strategy. Targeting vulnerable Western ‘soft targets’ but in a country where there wouldn’t be maximum security is a strong trait of Al Qaeda’s work.
As the unprecedented scale of the attacks became clear it looked to be the most co-ordinated terrorist operation since the targeting of the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001.
Counter-terrorist experts said that India would have been selected for the latest spectacular “probably because that’s where Al Qaeda has sufficient resources to carry out an attack on this scale”.
“They don’t choose for the sake of it, they look to see where they have the greatest capability and then order an attack,” a counter-terror expert said. Targeting Mumbai’s most luxurious hotels and a crowded railway station had all the hallmarks of a well planned Al Qaeda operation. Added to this is the fact the terrorists searched out and held American, British and Israeli passport holders. “All these indicate a “typical Al Qaeda-style activity”, said a security source.
Other sources said India was the home of a complicated network of terrorists and it might be too early to jump to the conclusion that it was an al-Qaeda operation. “It seems to be a highly opportunistic attack,” one source said.
However, this is traditionally the way al-Qaeda works. The leadership decides an attack should take place and leaves its franchise operators to decide how best to carry it out. Many of the gunmen appeared to be young but they also seemed confident, suggesting that they were well trained.
