Global terror group Al Qaeda or its various franchisees could be behind the audacious terror attacks in Mumbai, an act which incidentally can also be a part of a larger conspiracy to gain favourable political outcomes for extremists, said a leading US think tank.
US private intelligence firm Stratfor in its latest report has said that "evidence and logic suggest that radical Pakistani Islamists carried out the attack."
While pointing out that it is difficult to pinpoint one particular group, the intelligence firm said, "It could have been linked to Al Qaeda prime or its various franchisees and/or to Kashmiri insurgents."
Stratfor, pointing out to a larger conspiracy behind the attack said that too much planning and training was involved in this attack for it to have been conceived by a "bunch of guys in a garage."
It said that in the highly politicised atmosphere of Pakistan's radical Islamist factions, terror frequently has a more sophisticated and strategic purpose and hence "whoever invested the time and took the risk in organising this attack had a reason to do so."
Stratfor said that unlike previous occasions when terror acts were traced back to Pakistan, this time around the Indian government is under too much pressure to act.
{{/usCountry}}Stratfor said that unlike previous occasions when terror acts were traced back to Pakistan, this time around the Indian government is under too much pressure to act.
{{/usCountry}}"As one might expect, public opinion in India is shifting from stunned to furious. India's Congress party-led government is politically weak and nearing the end of its life span. It lacks the political power to ignore the attack, even if it were inclined to do so. If it ignored the attack, it would fall, and a more intensely nationalist government would take its place."