India on Alert as Bomb Toll Soars to 49

'Every city in India is vulnerable'

(NEWSER) - India still has no idea who was behind the three explosions that killed 18 people in Mumbai yesterday, and the government has admitted it had no inkling the attacks were coming. “Whoever planned this attack worked in a very, very clandestine manner,” Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal . But he insisted that it was “not a failure of intelligence,” adding that policing such crowded areas is difficult. “Every city in India is vulnerable,” he said. More»

Police believe captured Indian militant was among attackers' local accomplices

(NEWSER) - Indian police busted a terror cell planning to attack Mumbai earlier this year that was directed by the same two Pakistani-based terror kingpins accused in last week's attacks, said police. Those captured Pakistani and Indian militants, still being held, had guns, explosives, and maps of Mumbai landmarks, the New York Times reports. One suspect said he had received 4 months training from Pakistan's ISI spy agency. More»

India braces for fresh attacks that could spark war

(NEWSER) - The Pakistan-based terror network that organized the slaughter of 163 people in Mumbai last year is still thriving, and security officials on both sides of the border fear it's only a matter of time before operatives attack India again. Lashkar-e-Taiba enjoys broad support within Pakistan, its top leadership remains intact despite a wave of arrests following the Mumbai attack, and it's poised to strike again, current and former militants tell the New York Times. More»

Qaeda link could lead to material support charges for Zazi

(NEWSER) - Investigators have linked up to 12 others to the alleged bomb plot that led to the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, his father, and an informant Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reports. While details of the investigation and the plot are sketchy—an assistant AG says “no specific information regarding the timing, location, or target of any planned attack” is known—insiders say charges against Zazi are forthcoming. More»

(NEWSER) - Al Qaeda is weak militarily and “has been rejected by a great majority of Muslims,” Steve Coll writes in the New Yorker, but the terrorist organization and its affiliates can still create a “shock” like today's bombings in Jakarta. Despite the group's apparent inability to pull off a major attack like Sept. 11, “bombings like the one in Jakarta will recur for an indefinite time.” The only solution is for the US to assume “a posture of strategic patience about terrorism that is durable, vigilant, and proportional.” More»