Posted on 12/05/2008 4:18:58 PM PST by angkor
WASHINGTON: Several attackers may have survived the three-day siege of Mumbai that killed 171 people last week, analysts said on Thursday.
"I think there are more. My sources say (there were) at least 23 of the gunmen," said Farhana Ali, a former CIA and Rand Corp counterterrorism analyst and expert on militant networks. Ali, who most recently visited India and Pakistan last month before the attacks, said her information came from Pakistan, but declined to further identify the source.
"If that's true, that makes one wonder why we haven't seen more attacks. Are they lying low?" she said "I think they (Indian authorities) are bracing themselves for more," she said.
Ali spoke at a briefing for US government counterterrorism and military officials, and others. It was sponsored by the Counterterrorism Foundation, which supports research and publication on terrorism issues.
A security scare at the New Delhi airport early on Friday New Delhi time, in which media reported a shootout after what a news channel described as two sharp sounds, underscored the country's raw nerves. NDTV said a police sweep turned up nothing unusual and a witness said operations appeared normal.
Indian authorities have said 10 gunmen took part in the Mumbai attacks last week. But reports early in the attacks cited police as estimating there were 25 gunmen.
Initial eyewitness reports tallied to about 24 terrorists: 10 landed at one harbor/port near Mumbai; 8 at another port; perhaps 4 checked into the Taj a day before the attacks; and two were working as cooks (at least one at the Taj).
Separately there were other reports that 10 had been killed and 9 captured.
There was a "fog of war" going on in Mumbai over those 60 hours, but the concluding count of "10 terrorists" just doesn't add up nor does it seem plausible.
Also, there were reports of females accompanying some of the terrorists ( advance party?), that were buying food & liquor the day before the attack.
“the concluding count of “10 terrorists” just doesn’t add up nor does it seem plausible.”
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Agreed. this is also the first I heard about female accomplices.
Burkas a’plenty. I thought that 10 people couldn’t pull this off, and that some escaped. Probably by mixing in with the hostages or hotel guests and just running or wandering out. Like a movie plot, but real life.
Yep, have read about the female.
>>>>>I thought that 10 people couldn’t pull this off, and that some escaped. <<<<<<
I have thought from the first story about the captured guy that several of his cohorts were caught and tortured into talking until their last breaths.
Not just dreaming that up. The contemporaneous reports were of two separate landings at two separate ports; the way the captured guy seemed “tightlipped” in the ER but later said “I want to die now” (after seeing his “mutilated” and dead buddy in the hospital); and other factoids.
In any case this was exactly the scenario where torture should have been and possibly was applied to terrorists in an effort to discover the scope and tactics of the plot.
By the way, there was a very early report describing the tactics and procedures of the terrorists that could only have come from a captee or an informant. As I read it I had the distinct impression it was from a captured suspect who spilled all the beans.
Screw that, what’s a Farhana Ali doing, holed up in the
CIA?
Okay, kidding.
Another story on fox just caught my eye along a similar vein. Car Bomb Rips Through Pakistan Street, Killing Dozens; 'External Forces' Blamed Since those killed were Shiite and the Pakistanis were so quick to blame India, naturally I thought of the ISI. They want to try out the bombs on Hindus.
No guns in the hands of security in the train station, no guns in the hands of security in the hotels, and it would seem no surveillance cameras either.
Officials Say Possible Mumbai Attack Planner Arrested Months Ago
Voice of America | Dec. 5, 2008 | VOA News
Posted on 12/05/2008 3:17:54 AM PST by FocusNexus
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2143313/posts
CBS News (ick) was hosting a video surveillance tape from the Victoria Terminus train station attack.
At the beginning you could see the two terrorists, then the police hiding, then the police running away with their Enfields, and then various scenes from other surveillance cameras in the station.
Dear Lord. Did the police just run away without calling for reinforcements?
I have tried not to watch the videos or much TV on the bombing.
Our friend’s three brothers were shot and one killed in Mumbai.
It’s too painful to see the pictures.
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