FBI preparing team to visit Mumbai

Reports emerging in American media suggest that the FBI may be preparing a small team of investigators and forensic scientists to go to Mumbai, a city hit by multiple terrorist strikes. These reports come even as a number of foreign visitors to the city are reported to be amongst the large number of casualties.

Day before yesterday TV channels had briefly flashed headlines that two senior US intelligence officials may have been part of the casualties. No further details have emerged since.

Reports quoting counter-terrorism officials in the US say that the attacks in Mumbai appear to mimic al-Qaeda tactics, which normally involve near simultaneous attacks on high profile targets in the heart of a city's financial district.  They say that the whole operation has had funding and logistical support from al Qaeda.

According to these officials, the terrorist onslaught is remarkable for its coordination and sophistication. They point out that the militants attacked 10 sites almost simultaneously, and some of these assailants arrived at their targets by boat.

They even set up command centres to coordinate attacks at some of the sites allowing them to communicate from site to site.

Survivors have said the gunmen had been looking for people with American or British passport.

These reports have already begun raising the possibility of Kashmiri terrorists being involved with the assault. Indian media reports have already been pointing fingers at the Lashkar-e-Toiba (L-e-T) as the likely suspect.

 The L-e-T is an al-Qaeda affiliate, which at one point was associated with the Kashmir issue as the Pakistani military establishment felt the need to rein in the influence of the Hizb-ul-Mujahdeen (HuM), a local Kashmiri militant outfit, in the politics of the Kashmiri valley.  

The L-e-T cadres, which are predominantly Pakistani, also act as surrogates for Pakistani ISI initiatives in the region. The outfit is headed by a Mohajir, an individual of Indian-origin, Hafiz Sayeed.

According to these reports, these experts estimate that the whole operation could have been carried out with a relatively small price tag of $100,000- 200,000, which would include the cost of machine guns, grenades, ammunition and boats used.