.
In London security sources commented on the westernised looks of at least one of the attackers caught on CCTV and questions were being asked early on about a possible connection with radicalised Muslims living in the UK or other parts of Europe.
Whatever its structure, Deccan Mujahiddin or IM, it has proved to be both deadly and daring. When IM claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks carried out three months ago in Delhi, India’s capital, it boasted its next target would be Mumbai. None of India’s many security organisations appear to have paid any attention to that.
The gunmen who targeted Mumbai’s luxury hotels, as well as the city’s railway station and the city’s Jewish community centre, or Chabad House, left mayhem in their wake, disrupting the normal day-to-day activities of the city. One commentator has compared the Mumbai attacks to the 1968 Tet Offensive launched by the Vietcong against U.S. occupation forces.
The Tet Offensive was launched against more than 100 cities and towns, but the parallel with the Mumbai attacks is the sheer audacity and surprise that was deployed by the attacking forces. Their arrival by speedboat and deployment of heavy weapons also indicates a level of sophistication that took the Indian authorities completely by surprise.
Acclaimed novelist Aravind Adiga, winer of this year’s Man Booker Prize, has testified in a radio interview how well planned the attacks seemed to be. Adiga, currently visiting Mumbai, said one of the terrorists’ targets was a Jewish community centre that most residents of Mumbai did not even know existed.
Other foreign visitors to Mumbai have told how gunmen entered restaurants located inside some of the luxury hotels and asked which of the guests had American or British passports. Some of them were subsequently taken away.
One British hotel guest staying at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai told the BBC how, ‘The gunmen came into the restaurant and we were ushered, or some of us were ushered, into the kitchen. I think some of the others got out the back door. And then the gunmen told us to go up the stairs, up the fire escape stairs, about 30 of us altogether. So we're walking up each flight of stairs, and then he stopped us after two or three flights and told everyone to put their hands up and said: 'Where are you from? Are there any British or Americans here? Show us your ID,' and all this. People started getting out their business cards, or ID cards or whatever... So I was there with my hands up just thinking basically I was in, you know, serious trouble.’
A local Mumbai-based waiter told how two men dressed in all black walked into Mumbai’s Chattrapati Shivaji railway terminus and started shooting at random. They were described as calm and composed as they loaded their magazines into their guns.
Another eye witness at one of the local restaurant stormed by the gunmen told how his initial reaction was that someone was letting off firecrackers. He only realised he was under attack when a grenade was thrown into the premises, killing two waiters and several tourists.
Terrorist victims include the wife and two sons of Taj Palace Hotel general manager Karambir Kang. Four senior police officials, including Mumbai Police Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, DIG Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist inspector Vijay Salaskar, were also killed in terrorist gunfire.
Among the foreign victims was 73 year old Cyprus-born British millionaire Andreas Liveras, founder of a luxury yacht business. Shortly before he was killed he told an interviewer how he was visiting the aj Palace hotel because it had the reputation of serving the best curry in town.
The Mumbai attacks have for the first time raised questions about the safety of India’s nuclear weapons made up of both atomic and hydrogen bombs. The location of the stored bombs is a closely guarded secret, but it is widely surmised that they were developed and produced at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre that lies only a few miles away from Mumbai city centre.
If terrorists can repeatedly attack India’s capital and other cities with such impunity, so it is being argued, why should they not be able to get their hands on India’s precious store of nuclear weapons that could be used with such devastating effect on any world target.
Among those who worry about the safety of Indian nuclear weapons is B. Raman, former high level employee with India’s top intelligence agency, RAW.
‘I could not sleep the whole of the night,’ Raman wrote in a personal blog published hours after the Mumbai terror strike. ‘One question that kept bothering me again and again was: how safe are our nuclear establishments and material?’ Raman also highlights what he describes as the Indian government’s ‘bovine’ response to the increasing threat from Islamic terrorism. He says the Indian authorities have been in denial mode despite inescapable evidence of how the terrorists have decided to attack the Indian state. ‘From a localised threat, jihadi terrorism has become a pan Indian threat with a pan Islamic ideology,’ Raman commented. ‘Deal with it with a pan-Indian strategy, I said, no reaction…Seek the help of the U.S., I said, no reaction.’
‘Is the IM the name of an organisation or a movement,’ Raman goes on to ask. Is it one or many organisations in different states acting, like the International Islamic Front of Osama bin Laden, as a united force – autonomously when they can and unilaterally when they should. Who constitutes its command and control? Where are they, in India or outside? Nobody knows for certain.’
The attacks generated worldwide condemnation. In his address to the nation, India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh described the attacks as ‘well planned and well orchestrated, probably with external linkages and intended to create a sense of terror by choosing high profile targets.’ He added, ‘Existing laws will be tightened to ensure there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law.’
In Washington President Bush offered his condolences to the Indian people. ‘The United States condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy,’ said a White House spokesman. ‘The U.S. government continues to monitor the situation, including the safety and security of our citizens, and stands ready to assist and support the Indian government.’
Brooke Anderson, spokesman for President-elect Barack Obama, also condemned the attacks and said his thoughts and prayers were with the victims. ‘The United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks,’ he added. ‘We stand with the people of India, whose democracy will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks.’
In his remarks British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, ‘These outrageous attacks in Mumbai will be met with a vigorous response. I have sent a message to [Indian] Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh that the UK stands solidly with his government as they respond, and to offer all necessary help. Urgent action is underway to offer every possible protection to British citizens in the region.’
In Beijing, Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, ‘China always opposes terrorist attacks of any kind, and we express our condolences to the victims.’
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying in Moscow, ‘We are concerned about the loss of life and consider that acts of terrorism of this type are harmful to the whole international order and are a challenge to humanity.’
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commented, ‘The Secretary- General condemns the rash of shootings and blasts in Mumbai today, which killed and wounded a large number of people. Such violence is totally unacceptable. The Secretary- General reiterates his conviction that no cause or grievance can justify indiscriminate attacks against civilians. He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly. [He] sends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and the wounded and expresses his solidarity with the people and government of India.’
A spokesman for Pope Benedict XV1 said, ‘The Holy Father [conveys] his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in these brutal attacks. His Holiness urgently appeals for an end to all acts of terrorism, which gravely offend the human family and severely destabilise the peace and solidarity needed to build a civilisation worthy of mankind's noble vocation to love God and neighbour.’
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari sent a message of condolence from Islamabad saying, ‘The attacks in Mumbai have claimed many innocent victims and remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed and injured. Pakistan and India will continue their joint struggles to counter the actions of terrorists.’
But, however well- meant Zardari’s message of sympathy may have been, immediate suspicions were voiced in India that elements within Pakistan were involved in the attacks. Dr Singh’s speech, in which he talked of ‘external linkages’, was seen as a reference to Pakistan.
One senior Indian military officer Maj Gen RK Huda told Indian television stations that the gunmen were ‘from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan. They tried to pretend that they were from Hyderabad,’ he said. ‘Intercepts, however, show terrorists speaking in Punjabi.’
Responding to General Huda’s assertions, Pakistan's Defence Minister, Ahmed Mukhtar strongly denied that his country was in any way involved. He told the French news agency AFP, ‘In previous cases they (India) have acted like this, but later it all proved wrong. We are very much positive that Pakistan is not involved in this.’ His assessment was echoed by visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who said in Delhi that no-one should be blamed until investigations were finished. ‘Our experience in the past tells us that we should not jump to conclusions,’ he said in an interview with Pakistani media.
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