MILITANTS IN INDIA SHIFT FOCUS TO FOREIGNERS, ECONOMY
James Rupert
Bloomberg, November 28, 2008
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai show India’s home-grown Islamic militant movement is aligning its campaign with those in the broader Muslim world, while seeking to hit economic interests, intelligence analysts said.
Gunmen who stormed hotels and other tourist sites in India’s financial capital -- leaving at least 121 dead -- displayed a greater degree of organization, sophistication and determination than in strikes of recent years, said B. Raman, the former counter-terrorism director of India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.
The violence “seems to be part of a chain of attacks dating back to last year” by a domestic militant group called the Indian Mujahideen, which in recent statements has “made references to the ’war of civilizations,’” signaling a mindset close to international groups such as al-Qaeda, Raman said.
After years in which Indian Muslim extremists have focused on the country’s Hindu majority, the militants’ targeting of Americans and Britons gives them common cause with global Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and at the same time strikes the international links that have helped India’s economy grow at 9 percent or more for each of the past three years.
Previously, their aim was “to incite communal strife between Hindus and Muslims,” said Reva Bhalla, director of geopolitical analysts at Stratfor, a private intelligence company in Austin, Texas. The latest attacks were aimed at “spreading fear to Western tourists and businesspeople, hitting at India’s economic lifelines,” Bhalla said.
James Rupert
Bloomberg, November 28, 2008
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai show India’s home-grown Islamic militant movement is aligning its campaign with those in the broader Muslim world, while seeking to hit economic interests, intelligence analysts said.
Gunmen who stormed hotels and other tourist sites in India’s financial capital -- leaving at least 121 dead -- displayed a greater degree of organization, sophistication and determination than in strikes of recent years, said B. Raman, the former counter-terrorism director of India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.
The violence “seems to be part of a chain of attacks dating back to last year” by a domestic militant group called the Indian Mujahideen, which in recent statements has “made references to the ’war of civilizations,’” signaling a mindset close to international groups such as al-Qaeda, Raman said.
After years in which Indian Muslim extremists have focused on the country’s Hindu majority, the militants’ targeting of Americans and Britons gives them common cause with global Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and at the same time strikes the international links that have helped India’s economy grow at 9 percent or more for each of the past three years.
Previously, their aim was “to incite communal strife between Hindus and Muslims,” said Reva Bhalla, director of geopolitical analysts at Stratfor, a private intelligence company in Austin, Texas. The latest attacks were aimed at “spreading fear to Western tourists and businesspeople, hitting at India’s economic lifelines,” Bhalla said.
(...) [artículo aquí]
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment