India facing the prospect of a surge in terrorist attacks

Shaimaa Hefzi

India ranked as a high risk state in the 2021 terrorism index, not only because of the number of terrorist attacks happening in it, but also because of the diversity of these attacks.

India, which lost two prime ministers in the past to terrorism, has to face a large number of terrorist organizations. It also has to fight a large number of Islamist and leftist extremists as well as separatists in all parts of it.

A terrorist attack rocked the whole of India in 2008 when coordinated attacks in India’s commercial capital left 195 people at least dead.

The terrorists attacked different targets, including the main railway station in the city, a Jewish center, a restaurant and a number of luxury hotels. They also took a number of people hostage.

Indian police succeeded then in imposing its control over the Taj Mahal Hotel and killed three terrorists hiding inside the hotel.

Together with the fourth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks in 2012, the Indian Interior Ministry announced the execution of the main perpetrator of the attack. This was the only attacker who survived attacks by Indian police.

Eight years later, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his country’s top security officials against the background of news about possible attacks by what is known as the Mohamed army.

The Indian prime minister said four terrorists of this organization, which is based in Pakistan, had been neutralized.

He noted that the terrorists had a large cache of weapons, noting that these weapons testified to the operations they planned to carry out in ifferent parts of India.