US: Attacks by Pak groups most lethal strain of terror in India

Reflecting improved counter-insurgency policies,civilian fatalities from terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir have substantially decreased from 2001-2004 — approximately 20 per cent decrease each year,it said citing Indian government statistics and a leading independent Indian terrorism expert.

The data for the first nine months of 2005 showed a continued decline,but “a spike in lethal attacks after the October 8 earthquake resulted in the 2005 levels being roughly equal to those for 2004,” said the cable.

The United States,which has accused WikiLeaks,of stealing its secret cables,has however,refused to either deny or confirm the authenticity of these documents.

“Since January 2005,’jihadis’ have carried out or are believed to be responsible for lethal attacks at three popular markets on Diwali and Jama Masjid,both in Delhi,as well as Ayodhya,Varanasi and Bangalore,in addition to the litany of deadly bombings and shootings in Jammu and Kashmir itself.

“These new targets in the Hindi heartland and the South reflect a new and dangerous trend that bears close watching,” the cable said.

Referring to the series of terrorist attacks inside Kashmir,it said foreign terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),at times operating through front names from camps in Pakistan,claimed responsibility for many of these attacks. Some of these groups maintain ties with al-Qaeda,although the Indian government takes pride in claiming there is no direct al-Qaeda presence in the country outside of Kashmir,it said.

The US embassy memo said India has a vast capacity to absorb US counter-terrorism training. “…our challenge now is to rationalise the training the USG (US government) offers to ensure it meets mutually-agreed goals.”

“There is also ample room to expand information and intelligence sharing between the USG and GOI (Government of India),but much will depend on the degree to which US priorities align with Indian goals. Overcoming the lingering effects of decades of mutual mistrust is also essential,” it said.

“Embassy New Delhi has had some experience with working under the US-India Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) that came into force in October; there is room here too for improvement,” the cable said.

Noting that the prominent place ‘jihadi terrorism’ plays in India’s threat perception is a significant irritant in Indo-Pakistan relations,it said most of the Indian interlocutors believe Islamabad opens and closes the spigot of cross-border terrorism to influence other aspects of bilateral affairs and to keep “the Kashmir issue” on the front burner.

“The NSA (M K) Narayanan in March told the UK High Commissioner he was less worried about LoC infiltration than he was about Pakistani intelligence support for terrorist modules elsewhere in India — such as the cells responsible for the Delhi and Bangalore attacks.

“Another growing concern is that jihadis are infiltrating into Northeast India from Nepal and Bangladesh,” it said.

A 2006 American embassy cable from New Delhi said India was not interested in discussing Naxalism with the US or those in its northeast.

It claimed that the Indian government does not focus on Naxalite or northeast terrorism with the intensity it devotes to ‘jihadi’ terrorists coming out of Pakistan.

The cable sent to the State Department in April 2006 ahead of a US-India counter-terrorism meeting said New Delhi does not focus much on Naxalism because it believes that Naxals generally target security forces.

Also that Naxals lack external support,which makes them a purely Indian problem,something the Indian government cannot “blame” on other countries,it said.

“The Government of India (GOI) blames Pakistan and Bangladesh as instigators/supporters of ‘jihadi’ terrorism,and Bangladesh for also allowing northeast terrorists support or,at minimum,safe haven. The GOI can and does exploit these links to attract international sympathy (and partial absolution) for its own domestic governance and border security short-comings,” said the cable.

The embassy wrote,because Naxalites and northeast groups are treated as domestic issues,they are largely handled by the individual states in which these groups operate.

“The GOI over the past year has tried to tie together the anti-Naxal efforts of the ‘Naxal-affected states,’ but to no discernible effect thus far,and the states lack the capacity to mount an effective response to the problem,” the cable said.

“The most likely solutions to the problems posed by the Naxal and northeast groups involve improving local/state governance and economic opportunity,a difficult and long-term solution for New Delhi and the affected states to effect.”

While India does not focus much on bio-terrorism or weapons of mass destruction,cyber-security,by contrast,is an increasing source of Indian concern and focus,the cable said.

“India hosts a significant number of high-tech professionals,many of whom possess the skills to effect cyber-terrorism; however,reports of ‘cyber-terrorism’ in India have heretofore related only to defacement of GOI websites,” it said.

“We have seen no credible information about terrorist groups attempting to execute cyber-terrorists acts,although some groups are undoubtedly interested,and ‘jihadi’ groups particularly are understood to use email,Internet chat services,and other digital communications platforms.

“That said,India’s increasingly remote-controlled critical infrastructure (energy generation,transportation,water and sanitation,communications,etc.) present tempting targets for tech-savvy terrorists,” the embassy warned.