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US warned India of attack by Islamist militants

by Sanjay Jha | December 3, 2008 at 12:44 am

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Indians are seething with rage after hearing that The US government had tipped off Indian authorities about a pending raid by a Pakistan based Islamic militant group. According to media reports US intelligence passed warnings to India that Pakistan-based terrorists would infiltrate its territory by sea to attack Mumbai.

Although the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined yesterday to comment on intelligence shared with allies round the world.

American ABC News has quoted a US intelligence officer saying the warning had been specific, of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centres in Mumbai". The terrorists used boats to land on Mumbai's waterfront before attacking multiple targets which killed 183 people and led India to endure a four-day national nightmare.

The US warned India last month of a pending raid by a Pakistan-based militant group it emerged yesterday, a revelation that will add to public anger over apparent security lapses and missed chances to stop the attack on Mumbai.

Although the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined yesterday to comment on intelligence shared with allies round the world, a serving intelligence source confirmed to the Guardian that a warning had been passed to Indian counterparts.

ABC News also quoted a US intelligence officer saying the warning had been specific, of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centres in Mumbai". The terrorists used boats to land on Mumbai's waterfront before attacking multiple targets which killed 183 people and led India to endure a four-day national nightmare.

Indian intelligence sources told NDTV news yesterday they had issued several warnings about a strike on Mumbai. The latest was issued eight days before the attack, warning that the "sea wing" of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group accused by India of being behind the attack, was planning to target Mumbai.

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hussain

at 00:58 on December 3rd, 2008

The US warning as well as Mumbai attack itself seem to be a part of the same plot. Had there been a real warning, the Indian intelligence services would have not been caught off-guard.

Fairbanks

at 14:30 on December 3rd, 2008

The warning also mentioned the Taj Hotel. Too vague?

Paschen

at 01:10 on December 3rd, 2008

That would not look good for India's secret service.

Amitjha

at 01:37 on December 3rd, 2008

Intelligence people kill several terrorist , but not get noticed.There are thousands alert on daily basis , thousands of threatening mail.........unfortunately it is somehow related to islamic terrorism.But this blame game needs to be ended and concrete action is required.Killing one or two terrirst during operation is not going to solve the problem, we need to eliminate terrorism for ever.

Fairbanks

at 12:52 on December 4th, 2008

Amitjha,

we need to eliminate terrorism for ever

. . . This is indeed a problem. The thesis: we cannot eliminate terrorism. The only way, aside from burning half the world, is for the community the terrorists spring from to deal with the problem. Please reply in 100 pages or less.

gerrypopplestone

at 02:06 on December 3rd, 2008

India has come in for unwarranted criticism for not acting on the intelligence received. We should remind ourselves that the US itself received intelligence warning of the 9/11 attacks in the sir. As Amitjha points out, there is a huge amount of traffic that gets picked up each day, not all of it very clear.

Art_By_Alida

at 07:34 on December 4th, 2008

The government DID heed the warning and had heightening security, but one week before the attacks because area businesses were complaining, they stopped the extra security.

This information is inaccurate. The New York Times is also reporting incorrectly. Sheesh, you can't even get the major media giants to post correct info anymore.

Read this.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.hotel/index.html?eref=rss_latest