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Madness haunts Mumbai streets
AFTER the killings comes confusion. The chaos unleashed by terrorists who killed more than 100 people in Mumbai will last far beyond the burial of the dead.
The sense of disorder and fear created by this senseless atrocity will also reverberate far beyond the reaches of the Indian sub-continent. The targeting of British and American citizens was part of a plot that defied logic, while being ruthlessly well organised.
The co-ordinated attacks on such sites as two five-star hotels, a restaurant, a train station and a Jewish centre were calculated with chilling precision, yet the timing seemed to be random. The conflicting features of these evil actions make them all the more disturbing.
Despite the claim of responsibility from one hitherto unknown terrorist group, Deccan Mujahideen, the brutality and ruthlessness of this atrocity appears to bear the fingerprints of individuals inspired by al-Qaida. Indian police and security services will have great difficulty in finding all those involved in the attacks and preventing another killing spree.
If this outrage is proved to be tied to the warped form of Islam preached by Osama bin Laden, then it becomes more important than ever for India to work with Britain and the US in combatting global terrorism.
The West cannot make itself safe by acting on its own.
While efforts to locate and seize terrorist suspects have long been characterised by a series of tensions brought about by UK and US foreign policy, this week's events make it more important than ever for them to work together.
The grim truth is that we can never for a second afford to let our guard down. Terrorist groups have become increasingly inventive and audacious and seem to have an inexhaustable supply of militants ready to risk death or even embrace suicide in their misguided cause.
The ease with which so many people were murdered this week is horrifying. Amid the fear and the unanswered questions caused by India, governments around the world must remember just how dangerous our enemies are – and that nowhere in the world is now safe from the jihadist threat.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Sunday 12 February 2012
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