Mumbai attack shows new sophisticated terror: analysts

India frequently accuses Pakistan of sheltering guerrilla groups which have launched attacks against Indian targets despite Islamabad’s strong denials.

Analysts said the tactics used in Mumbai appeared to be inspired by those of al-Qaida or groups linked to al-Qaida, such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Lashkar, which was blamed for the 2001 attack on India’s parliament that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to war, is fighting Indian rule in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir.

“Al-Qaeda has become a shorthand word to claim the cause of radical Islam — it’s more of a brand than an integrated corporation,” said Robert Ayers, a security expert at British international affairs think-tank Chatham House.

“It’s going to take a while to determine who are responsible. But it has all the characteristics of an al-Qaida attack — multiple strikes across multiple areas,” Ayers said.

“The thing that makes it unique is the taking of hostages. But that has increased the publicity, they get international media exposure, taking hostages involves other nation states,” he added.

“This was an extremely well-planned operation, the logistics, the timing. The operational planning was very, very professional,” he said.

Businessman Ratan Tata, whose tea-to-steel Tata Group owns the Taj hotel, said the gunmen “seemed to know their way around” the building.

Amit Chanda, head of the Indian Subcontinent practice of Risk Advisory, also said it appeared the attacks were carried out with an anti-Western aim with the militants’ “deliberate selection” of foreign hostages.

“This (attack) is a statement about India’s relationship with the UK, the U.S. and Israel,” Chanda said. Israel is India’s second-largest arms supplier.

“There has been a trend for countries that have suffered a major attack to describe it as their own 9/11, for example, the Spanish after the 2004 Madrid train bombings or the Pakistanis after the Marriott bombing in Islamabad,” Chanda said.

“I think this attack — because of its audacity and brazenness — will be remembered as India’s 9/11,’” he said.

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