When I was in Mumbai in February I stayed at the Taj and ate the best fish curry I have ever tasted at Leopold’s: both targets in tonight’s shocking attacks. Even as the angry flames light up the sky of this extraordinary world city, it is clear that this was, at least in part, a strike aimed at Westerners staying in Mumbai and, with an eye to the future, an attempt to spray psychological shrapnel in the direction of those planning to go there.
The city has a long and bloody history of religious cantonisation and gang warfare. There have been worse outbursts of violence in the recent past. But this looks like the work of an al Qaeda affiliate: co-ordinated, fast, apparently undetected in intercepts and clearly intended to achieve maximum prominence on the Western networks (in which respect it is succeeding spectacularly). The simultaneous hits on local counter-terrorist police suggests a relatively sophisticated strategy at work.
It is too early to say with confidence who is responsible and how long this crisis will last. But there is at least a risk that President-elect Obama will be fretting over a hostage situation at Thanksgiving even before he takes office.
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