Indian Terror: Attackers Targeting Americans & Britons?

by Damozel |  Though this is now being widely questioned elsewhere [see update],  The Times of London reported earlier that the attack has "all the hallmarks" of an Al Qaeda attack.  "It look[s] to be the most co-ordinated terrorist operation since the targeting of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001," says their report.According to Sky News:

Eyewitness reports say the attackers were targeting Britons and Americans.

Alex Chamberlain, a Briton caught in the attacks, told Sky News an attacker asked tourists if they were British or American before opening fire.

He added there was "no doubt" in his mind the attacks were from a fundamentalist Islamic group.

The attackers have taken hostages.  Michael Evans of the Times of London reports that at least 40 Britons are being held.  The head of Mumbai's anti-terrorism unit and two senior officers have been killed. (BBC News2)

Four terror suspects have been killed and nine arrested, police say.

Eleven police officers were killed in the clashes.

A group calling itself the "Deccan Mujahedeen" has claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to the Press Trust of India.  (Sky News)

Despite this claim, the Times of London notes that both British and American intelligence have been expecting what ToL calls an "Al Qaeda spectacular" between Obama's election and the inauguration.  (ToL; Michael Evans)

The multiple attacks on Westerners in Bombay last night showed all the signs of an al-Qaeda strategy — picking on vulnerable Western “soft targets” but not in a country where there would be maximum security...Last night an organisation calling itself Deecan Mujahideen claimed responsibility but, as in the past when unknown groups came forward to admit involvement, the name was neither recognizable nor relevant.The sheer audacity of the terrorists are all familiar elements of al-Qaeda’.

Why India?

Counter-terrorist experts last night said that India would have been selected for the latest spectacular “probably because that’s where al-Qaeda has sufficient resources to carry out an attack on this scale. They don’t choose for the sake of it, they look to see where they have the greatest capability and then order an attack,” a counter-terror expert told The Times...

The key to this latest attack was the search by the armed terrorists for American and British passport holders. With a reported 40 Britons held hostage, the terrorists have the upper hand. The counter-terrorist sources said targeting Bombay’s most luxurious hotels and a crowded railway station had all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda operation.(ToL; Michael Evans)

Alice Miles of The Times of London reports, "Intelligence “chatter” in recent weeks indicated that al-Qaeda was plotting an attack."

One British tourists reports that she and fellow Britons spent hours holed up in their hotel rooms.

"There were about 20 or 30 people in each room. The doors were locked very quickly, the lights turned off, and everybody just lay very still on the floor," she said.(BBC News1)

UPDATE:  Given the number of Indians killed and wounded and other aspects of the attack, this focus might turn out to be somewhat myopic.  Even so, the gunmen clearly intended harm to westerners as well as Indians.  We must wait to see how events unfold to understand the primary purpose of their attack. 

Memeorandum has more discussion.

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