For a long time now India has put dealing with Islamic terror on the backburner. The attack in Mumbai yesterday will hopefully be a wake up call and change the way India deals with Islamic terror going forward
Bill Roggio of the Weekly Standard says this is the worst Terror attack since 9-11 and that this should be a sobering reminder for the rest of the world.
While it is too early to know exactly how the Mumbai strikes were planned and executed, one thing seems clear: This attack is the most significant terrorist attack since the Sept. 11 attack against the United States.
The terrorists launched a sophisticated, multi-pronged attack into a city of 18 million residents. This requires planning, training, funding, and detailed reconnaissance. The targets were chosen carefully to achieve maximum effect. The terrorists hit hotels, a train station, a movie house, a residential complex, and a hospital–all soft targets. They also were able to plant bombs in taxis as well as capture a police van, which was then used in a drive-by shooting spree.
The assault teams–there is no other way to describe them–coordinated and synchronized their attacks to overwhelm Mumbai security. The terrorists were able to take a significant number of hostages. They knew where to find foreigners and wealthy Indians–at the five star hotels.
Past attacks in Indian cities and in other parts of the world may have had higher death tolls, but they failed to achieve the results of Mumbai. The city has been completely shut down for two days, while the Hindustan Times said the country is gripped by a “fear psychosis.” India’s government has long treated the terrorist problem as a secondary issue. This will change. The mode of attack–assault teams launched into the heart of a major city–is already sending chills down the spines of security officials and governments throughout the world.
Related posts:
- Pakistan refuses to hand over wanted Jihadists to India
- India: Rabbi among dead hostages discovered at Jewish centre in Mumbai
- UK: Islamist Hijack plot from India caused yesterday’s “severe” terror alert
- Israel issues severe terror warning for India
- India getting in on the War on Terror
- SHOCKER: UK mosques linked to Mumbai jihadists
- A Wake Up Call
- Daily Jihad: Multiple bombings in India…Over 80 dead
- India: Islamist women sleeper cells spreading radical Islam in schools
- Breaking from India: Terror attack on train station in India *updated*