Paris terror attack similar to 26/11 Mumbai carnage
John Miller, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism of the NY Police Department told CNN that the Paris attack resembles the Mumbai terrorist attack in terms of low-cost and low resources and it carried the various features of the 26/11.
AK-47 was the weapon of choice in both cases.
The terror attack in Paris witnessed over 120 peple being killed on Friday night.
Security experts here see the terrorist attack in Paris as a copycat version of the November 2008 Mumbai, in which 164 people died in multiple assaults by a group of 10 terrorists.
“Anger is filling up inside me again as the pictures, the videos and the social media chats make me relive the horror of that night even more graphically”, said Sourav Mishra, who was injured in the November 26 attacks. Mumbai was the world’s first “hybrid terrorist attack” because it combined all the elements of modern terrorism-stealthy cross-border infiltration by suicide attackers who used random active-shooter attacks on civilians, vehicle bombs and hostage taking. The first attacks were carried out in two restaurants on Rue Bichat-the La Petit Cambodge and the Le Carillon.
“Unlike 26/11 where there was chatter and if our intelligence set-up had been careful we could have had or rather had an idea of attack”.
The terrorists were divided in buddy pairs for carrying out the attacks.
Security has been stepped up at crowded places like railway stations, airports, markets, malls, theatres and hotels across various cities in Maharashtra, including Mumbai. “There are so many similarities, but the most important for me is the selection of the city”. And the terrorists were not much in number as well in these two attacks. “We have also enhanced security at the places of worship including temples, mosques, churches, synagogues etc. The police officials are also scanning their files to check the old timers in henious crimes, their status and gathering information about sleeper cells”, added an officer. Nineteenth century Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin described the terrorist act of the deed, “the most popular, the most potent, and the most irresistible form of propaganda”.
However, though very few in numbers, they can create trouble in future. “A Mumbai-style attack with multiple teams simultaneously hitting different places”, Davis said.