Why Muslim terrorists targeted Jews in Mumbai

"... by targeting a Jewish center, the attackers would win over a large part of the Islamic-Arabic networks that would otherwise have felt unconcerned by attacks that occurred far from their usual area of activity."

"(...) The attack was extremely sophisticated

- An attack of this kind, in an overcrowded city such as Mumbai requires months of location research and planning; that could only have been conducted in a friendly location in order to avoid drawing attention (so, maybe in Pakistan).

- According to early reports, fake uniforms and an ambulance or a police vehicle may have been used for the first attacks (including against the hospital), which again underscores the level of precision of the planning and the high tactical ability of the attackers.

- It seems that the boat used to carry the terrorists near the coast was an Indian fishing boat that had been hijacked fifteen days ago off Pakistan. If this was to be confirmed it would reinforce the idea of the “Pakistani lead.”

- The number of terrorists involved will give an indication of the significance of the operation that some local media have called the “Indian 9-11.” Nonetheless, given that there were at least 5 targets located several kilometres from one another, one can assess that there could be, at least between 20 and 30 attackers involved.

- The selection of the targets was made in a rigorous and clever manner. By attacking a station and a hospital, the terrorists were targeting the population, ensuring a large number of casualties. By getting into two luxurious hotels, they were making sure that they could face British and American nationals, who appeared to have been prime targets, and they were putting the security forces in a nightmarish situation. Taking back the control of a hotel – the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi are very large with hundreds of rooms each – is quite tricky: one has to go room by room, search dozens of hallways and hundreds of installations (bathrooms, restrooms, kitchens etc.) that could be as much traps, and to sort out the terrorist from the hotel guests, and of course keep the collateral damage as low as possible. Lastly, by targeting a Jewish center, the attackers would win over a large part of the Islamic-Arabic networks that would otherwise have felt unconcerned by attacks that occurred far from their usual area of activity."

Source: First lessons of the Mumbai carnage (in pdf), by Claude Moniquet, CEO, ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence & Security Center), Copyright© ESISC 2008

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