Israel Matzav

India warned Israel about terror plot against Israeli tourists - Mumbai attack against Israelis an 'error'?

The Hindustan Times reports that India's intelligence agencies warned Israel last month about a plot by the Indian Mujahideen to attack Israeli tourists. More interesting, the Times reports that after the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai - in which the Chabad House in the city was a key focal point - the Pakistanis sent a message to Israel via the Turkish army (which generally opposes Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan - or did in 2008 before all its high-ranking officers were arrested) that the Israeli deaths in those attacks were 'an error.'

The home ministry carried out a joint security review of Pushkar, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer — all popular tourist destinations for Israeli and other foreign tourists — with the Rajasthan police. The Israeli embassy was briefed by Indian counterterrorism officials, but did not issue a warning to tourists “beyond the normal.”

 The existence of a Rajasthan IM module was revealed by the investigation that followed the recent arrest of IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal. He revealed that IM has split on ideological lines.

A Brahma temple in Pushkar was cited by Bhatkal as being particularly popular among Israelis. This temple had been considered by Lashkar-e-Tayyeba scout David Headley as a terror target.

The IM cluster led by Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal and Mohsin Choudhary takes its cue from the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence agency. The ISI wants the terrorist group to remain focused on mainland India.

The Pakistanis are also nervous about putting Israeli in the crosshairs given the Jewish state’s policy of violent retaliation against terror attacks. Sources have claimed that after the Mumbai 26/11 attack, the Pakistan military sent an unofficial message through the Turkish army to Israel claiming the Israeli deaths were an error.

These concerns led the ISI to raid a Defence Housing Authority house in Karachi where IM cadres were being housed and took away communications equipment and weaponry in June.

Hmmm.

Labels: India, Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:55 PM