Mumbai in Kabul

Or should it be the other way around?

Wired looks at the similarities between the attack on the Kabul Ministries by attackers claiming to be associated with the Taliban and those who recently assaulted Mumbai. Bill Roggio notes that the most recent attacks really look like an earlier one mounted against the Hotel Serena within Afghanistan itself. At any rate, the resemblance, if any, can be understood if it is realized that rogue members of Pakistani intelligence may have advised both the attackers in Kabul and in Mumbai. Roggio writes:

This cell is believed to be behind the assault on the Serena Hotel in January 2008, the assassination attempt on President Karzai at a ceremony in April 2008, the deadly suicide attack on the Indian embassy in July 2008, and a number of other attacks. The suicide attack on the Indian embassy has been traced back to Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency, which has supported the Taliban and various Kashmiri terror groups such as the Harkat ul-Mujahideen.

Today’s assault in Kabul is similar to the assault on the Serena Hotel. In that attack gunmen wearing suicide vests breached the front gate with a suicide attack and then entered the hotel and began shooting civilians.

Although it is fashionable to dismiss the role of states in terrorism, it is nevertheless the case that the major terror outfits in the world have links to either state intelligence agencies or rogue elements within them. Ultimately, states still matter at least in the big leagues.