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Delhi blasts: US embassy had warned its citizens

     New Delhi: The US embassy in New Delhi had on October 10 warned its citizens (living in Delhi) about threat of possible terrorist attacks in the Indian Capital, and incidentally serial blasts rocked the Capital in less than three weeks, on October 29. In a message on its website, which specifically mentioned possible suicide car bombings, the embassy said that attacks could be "directed against US interests in New Delhi", as well as in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kolkata. Now, after the serial blasts have taken place killing 61 people and leaving about 200 injured, the US' news and analysis service Stratfor has said: "The bombings could indicate that the Kashmiri militants are taking a page from the al Qaeda playbook. Attacking a crowded marketplace - a soft target filled with potential victims - is a tactic used repeatedly in Iraq by Abu Musab al- Zarqawi's jihadist network." It further said, "There is reason to believe that follow-on attacks will occur. The bombs used on October 29 were detonated by timers, not suicide bombs, meaning the cell (read terror groups) is still intact and can strike again once more bombs are built.

     Security has been stepped up in New Delhi, with more uniformed police patrolling the streets and barricades and checkpoints set up. The heightened security, however, unlikely will deter additional attacks if they are planned for the near future. Terrorist cells have attacked in the face of increased security before, notably in London, were an attack attempt occurred just two weeks after the July 7 Underground bombings." According to the analysis service, the terror group responsible for the Oct 29 attacks could now simply wait until security relaxes, or stage attacks in other cities (like Gurgaon and Noida) where many Western high-tech firms operate call centres. Even if attacks in those cites do not directly target Western companies, any attack in those cities would surely make executives and investors nervous.

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