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Despite anti-terrorism efforts since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, India remains one of the most “persistently targeted” countries by transnational and domestic terrorist groups, the US State Department said last week at the release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2014.
The report quoting the National Consortium for the Study and Responses to Terrorism by the University of Maryland, noted that approximately 400 people were killed as a result of terrorist attacks in India in 2014. The total number of fatalities included more than 160 deaths attributed to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) or other Maoist groups.
’The number of fatalities from terrorist attacks did not change significantly from the previous year, demonstrating that India remains one of the most persistently targeted countries by insurgents and transnational and domestic terrorist groups,’ the report released at a briefing in Washington, said.
At the special briefing Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism said that going University of Maryland statistics, the number of terrorist attacks in 2014 worldwide increased 35 percent, and total fatalities increased 81 percent compared to 2013, largely due to “activities” in Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
More than 78 percent of all attacks took place in five countries, including India, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria.
The report said that “in 2014 Indian sources continued to attribute attacks and fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir and against Indian facilities in Afghanistan, to transnational terrorist groups, such as Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), which continued to operate, train, rally, propagandize, and fundraise in Pakistan.’
Without saying in as many words, the State Department Report seemingly held Pakistani soil responsible for such attacks against India.
The Indian President and the Prime Minister stressed the need for joint and concerted efforts against networks such as al-Qa’ida, LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and the Haqqani Network, and reiterated their calls to bring the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai to justice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also joined President Obama in reaffirming ‘deep concern’ over the continued threat posed by terrorism, most recently highlighted by the dangers presented by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
According to the report, “Indian officials have emphasized” that the government takes threats posed by ISIL seriously, even though only a small number of Indians are believed to have been recruited into the organization.
Given India’s large Muslim population, potential socio-religious marginalization, and active ISIL online propaganda efforts, New Delhi faces a “risk of increased ISIL recruitment of Indian nationals,” the report said.
Since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the report said, India has attempted to enhance the counterterrorism capabilities of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Guard, and the National Investigation Agency. It added that India’s efforts to counter terrorism were hampered by poor interagency coordination and information-sharing. State-level police forces, to boot, have limited command and control capacity and suffer from poor training and equipment.
India, however, has launched initiatives to address some of these challenges, including through a multi-agency centre for enhancing intelligence gathering and sharing. “The Indian government has proposed the creation of a National Counter Terrorism Centre, but state-level officials have opposed this initiative and it has not been implemented,” the report noted.
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