India is among the list of countries that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had once considered to attack, documents released by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have revealed.
The CIA on Friday released more than 70 presidential intelligence briefs linked to bin Laden, with more than 100 pages of materials, to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Centre in New York City in 2001.
The presidential brief dated August 28, 1998, mentions that bin Laden wanted to launch attacks on multiple countries, including India. The other countries mentioned in the memo, parts of which are redacted, include Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uganda and “possibly” Nigeria.
Titled “Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat”, the document redacts the source of the information. It does not identify a specific Indian target, an attack date, or a precise operational plan.
“Bin Ladin’s well-established infrastructure in North America, Europe, and East Asia lends credibility to reports that he also will target US interests in these regions,” the document says.
It assesses that bin Laden and other terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan had survived the US attacks on the country and that “their communications network remains intact”. The terrorist group had even resumed its training in some camps and other camps were being moved.
It says bin Laden was looking to launch further attacks against the US as well as the UK hours before the US missile strikes on al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
The memo further noted that the al-Qaeda chief may “call on a network of individuals and allied groups in at least 60 countries to conduct attacks.”
The bundle of presidential intelligence briefs released by the CIA demonstrates that the intelligence agency had warned former US Presidents multiple times from 1998 to 2001 about a possible terrorist attack on the country. The briefs cover a period starting during Bill Clinton’s presidency and continue into that of George W Bush.
The release of the briefs provides “unprecedented transparency on America’s most sensitive intelligence publication from the years before and the day after one of the darkest moments in our history,” the CIA said in a statement.
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners. Two of the jets collided into the World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers, causing a complete collapse of the iconic skyscrapers.
A third jet hit the Pentagon, while the fourth one, believed to have been targeting the White House or Congress, crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back.
