Sachin Parashar, of The Times of India, is reporting that the American embassy in India is on heightened alert amid reports of an impending terror attack.
The attack is reportedly scheduled to take place before July 30 by a 20-man cell. The cell is described as an "Iranian terror group" made up of Iranian, Afghan and Kashmiri nationals, armed with sophisticated weaponry.
What is noteworthy about this report is not only that the unnamed terror group is said to have previously "backed" Saddam Hussein but that the warning for the attack was gathered, at least in part, from captured members of al Qaeda in Pakistan.
It is possible that the "Iranian group" in question is the formerly Iraq-based terror group MKO, though their previous attacks have primarily been directed at the post-Shah regime of Iran.
Therefore, the members, goals and background of the Iranian group in question, as well as the nature of their "backing" of Saddam Hussein are interesting questions that deserve answers. The arrest and capture of this terror cell, by Indian and/or American forces, would be a necessary step in answering those questions.
Regarding al Qaeda, the devastating simultaneous embassy attacks in Africa in 1998 and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2004 exemplify their extensive background in such attacks, and thus the intelligence gained from al Qaeda detainees may indicate that the attacks are, at least partially, al Qaeda sponsored. Groups affiliated with al Qaeda in the Kashmir region include Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad , meaning that al Qaeda's knowledge of an impending attack is not unlikely.
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