The number of internet users worldwide is expected to touch 2.2 billion by 2013 and India is projected to have the third largest online population during the same time, says a report.
"The number of people online around the world will grow more than 45 per cent to 2.2 billion users by 2013 and Asia will continue to be the biggest Internet growth engine.
"... India will be the third largest internet user base by 2013 - with China and the US taking the first two spots, respectively," technology and market research firm Forrester Research said in a report.
Globally, there were about 1.5 billion Internet users in the year 2008.
Titled 'Global Online Population Forecast, 2008 to 2013', the report noted that emerging markets like India would see a growth of 10 to 20 per cent by 2013.
"In some of the emerging markets in Asia such as China, India and Indonesia, the average annual growth rates will be 10 to 20 per cent over the next five years (2008-13)," the report said. India's number of Internet users was estimated to be 52 million in 2008.
In the next four years, about 43 per cent of the Internet users globally are anticipated to reside in Asia and neighbouring China would account for about half of that population.
"... the shifting online population and growing spending power among Asian consumers means that Asian markets will represent a far greater percentage of the total in 2013 than they do today," Forrester Research Senior Analyst Zia Daniell Wigder said.
According to the report, the percentage of internet users in Asia would increase to 43 per cent in 2013 from 38 per cent in 2008.
"The percentage of the global online population located in North America will drop from 17 per cent to 13 per cent between 2008 and 2013, while Europe's share will shrink from 26 per cent to 22 per cent.
"The percentage of those in Asia will increase from 38 per cent to 43 per cent and Latin America will remain steady at about 11 per cent of the global total," Forrester noted.
The report said apart from China, other Asian countries with substantial online growth rates include India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
"By contrast, growth rates in some of the more mature markets such as Japan and South Korea will rise by less than two per cent each year," it added.
Agencies
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Web Abuzz with news of attack on Sri Lankan Cricket Team
Within hours of attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team near the Gaddafi cricket stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, the web was loaded with videos, links and discussions
A few gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team near the Gaddafi cricket stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. This news broke out a few hours ago and got the social media enthusiasts active over the web along with the news media.
All media was affected -- starting with news channels like IBN Live streaming a live video about the news to the micro-blogging service Twitter which was the one heavily impacted with 140 character discussions.
This attack on Sri Lankan cricket team has become one of the trending topics on Twitter. Here are a few links which lead to Sri Lankan Cricket team related news and discussions on Twitter:
keyword: Sri Lankan
keyword: #srilanka
Few of the reactions on the micro-blogging site Twitter that were noted:
SuaveRepublique: Suave is wishing that the Sri Lankan Cricketers are OK, and that cricket is never played there again.
tajdaroc: HOW is it that the attckers were able to escape having been in plain sight? The access logistics are as simple as can be #SriLanka #Pakistan
CXOtoday
A few gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team near the Gaddafi cricket stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. This news broke out a few hours ago and got the social media enthusiasts active over the web along with the news media.
All media was affected -- starting with news channels like IBN Live streaming a live video about the news to the micro-blogging service Twitter which was the one heavily impacted with 140 character discussions.
This attack on Sri Lankan cricket team has become one of the trending topics on Twitter. Here are a few links which lead to Sri Lankan Cricket team related news and discussions on Twitter:
keyword: Sri Lankan
keyword: #srilanka
Few of the reactions on the micro-blogging site Twitter that were noted:
SuaveRepublique: Suave is wishing that the Sri Lankan Cricketers are OK, and that cricket is never played there again.
tajdaroc: HOW is it that the attckers were able to escape having been in plain sight? The access logistics are as simple as can be #SriLanka #Pakistan
CXOtoday
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Has the crisis left Dubai migrant workers out in the cold?
Low-paid Asian workers who toil long days to build the skyscrapers of Dubai have become the latest victims of the global financial crisis as companies run short of business and money.
For many years, the Gulf emirate was a magnet for South Asian workers who fed the booming economy with cheap manpower -- from cleaners and gardeners to skilled and unskilled builders.
A report issued earlier this month showed that 582 billion dollars worth of building projects in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, had been put on hold due to the slowdown. That was 45 percent of the total.
Arnold, a 26-year-old Filipino machine operator, found a job in a small aluminium factory only two months after arriving in Dubai last summer. But in January, he and six others from the 15-strong workforce were laid off.
"I am staying in Dubai trying to find another job," he said, pointing out that his previous employer lost a great deal of business when many construction projects ground to a halt, cutting demand for aluminium products.
Six years of spectacular growth in the UAE construction sector, mainly in Dubai, absorbed hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly from South Asia. That had a knock-on effect, creating further opportunities for migrants.
But the financial crisis, mainly in construction and related industries, is reversing that trend, forcing foreign workers to go home.
"The crisis is worse in the Philippines. We have no future there. We are looking for part-time jobs here, anything," Arnold told AFP as he hung out with two friends who had also lost their jobs.
Christopher, a compatriot, said he has been in Dubai for around nine months working as a welder during the day and a barista in the evening.
He and his wife, who also works in a Dubai coffee shop, used to send 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month home, where their two kids were left behind.
Migrant workers send billions of dollars home every year. One money transfer firm, UAE Exchange, said its volume last year was 12 billion dollars, most of it to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Like Arnold, Christopher was working illegally in the hope that an employer would get him a work permit. Now he is searching desperately for anything.
But even for labourers who were brought to the UAE on a work visa to satisfy the needs of the once-booming economy, many are receiving the pink slip.
"Some 200 gardeners were sacked recently from our company" out of about 10,000 workers, said an Indian as he planted saplings in the garden of an elegant office building in Dubai.
"They told us the company does not have much work and is short of money," said the man in his mid-40s, refusing to give his name.
Two other colleagues, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, carried on trimming the hedge, appearing hesitant to say anything that might jeopardise their jobs.
"We are expecting to lose our jobs," said the man, who earns a meager 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month in return for 48 hours a week.
He lamented that two years ago he had to pay what was for him a fortune of around 10,000 dirhams (2,725 dollars) to Indian intermediaries to get a job in Dubai.
Murukesan, an Indian cleaner, said his employer, a large cleaning and maintenance company, last week told workers who had completed at least two years of work to go home on four-month unpaid vacations.
"They said do not come back until we call you," he said with a faint smile, appearing content as he has completed only 18 months of his contract.
"In the past, workers were not taking vacations, even after four years of continuous work," he said, highlighting a huge work load in the immediate past.
It appears some of the unpaid "vacations" are simply a way of getting rid of people without having to pay them off. Under UAE law, workers laid off must be paid 21 days' salary for each of the first five years worked and a month's salary for every year after that.
"They are trying to find excuses to bypass the rules of terminating a contract," said Monir al-Zaman, labour attache at the Bangladeshi embassy.
"Compensation should be paid if workers are being fired," he told the media, adding that companies should resort to cutting overtime work and even reduce salaries before laying off workers.
In December, Khalfan al-Kaabi, a member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said up to 45 percent of construction workers could be laid off this year if private sector projects in the UAE were delayed or cancelled.
Zaman said he could not provide a figure on Bangladeshi workers having lost their jobs in the UAE, because the process is not done "formally".
He also pointed out that he noticed, during inspection visits to labour camps, that many workers stayed in the UAE even if they were not being paid, in hope of finding work.
But poor unemployed workers cannot linger for long if jobs remain rare.
"Maybe this month I have to decide to stay or go ... because I don't have any money. Now I'm borrowing from friends," said Arnold.
Agencies
For many years, the Gulf emirate was a magnet for South Asian workers who fed the booming economy with cheap manpower -- from cleaners and gardeners to skilled and unskilled builders.
A report issued earlier this month showed that 582 billion dollars worth of building projects in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, had been put on hold due to the slowdown. That was 45 percent of the total.
Arnold, a 26-year-old Filipino machine operator, found a job in a small aluminium factory only two months after arriving in Dubai last summer. But in January, he and six others from the 15-strong workforce were laid off.
"I am staying in Dubai trying to find another job," he said, pointing out that his previous employer lost a great deal of business when many construction projects ground to a halt, cutting demand for aluminium products.
Six years of spectacular growth in the UAE construction sector, mainly in Dubai, absorbed hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly from South Asia. That had a knock-on effect, creating further opportunities for migrants.
But the financial crisis, mainly in construction and related industries, is reversing that trend, forcing foreign workers to go home.
"The crisis is worse in the Philippines. We have no future there. We are looking for part-time jobs here, anything," Arnold told AFP as he hung out with two friends who had also lost their jobs.
Christopher, a compatriot, said he has been in Dubai for around nine months working as a welder during the day and a barista in the evening.
He and his wife, who also works in a Dubai coffee shop, used to send 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month home, where their two kids were left behind.
Migrant workers send billions of dollars home every year. One money transfer firm, UAE Exchange, said its volume last year was 12 billion dollars, most of it to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Like Arnold, Christopher was working illegally in the hope that an employer would get him a work permit. Now he is searching desperately for anything.
But even for labourers who were brought to the UAE on a work visa to satisfy the needs of the once-booming economy, many are receiving the pink slip.
"Some 200 gardeners were sacked recently from our company" out of about 10,000 workers, said an Indian as he planted saplings in the garden of an elegant office building in Dubai.
"They told us the company does not have much work and is short of money," said the man in his mid-40s, refusing to give his name.
Two other colleagues, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, carried on trimming the hedge, appearing hesitant to say anything that might jeopardise their jobs.
"We are expecting to lose our jobs," said the man, who earns a meager 500 dirhams (136 dollars) a month in return for 48 hours a week.
He lamented that two years ago he had to pay what was for him a fortune of around 10,000 dirhams (2,725 dollars) to Indian intermediaries to get a job in Dubai.
Murukesan, an Indian cleaner, said his employer, a large cleaning and maintenance company, last week told workers who had completed at least two years of work to go home on four-month unpaid vacations.
"They said do not come back until we call you," he said with a faint smile, appearing content as he has completed only 18 months of his contract.
"In the past, workers were not taking vacations, even after four years of continuous work," he said, highlighting a huge work load in the immediate past.
It appears some of the unpaid "vacations" are simply a way of getting rid of people without having to pay them off. Under UAE law, workers laid off must be paid 21 days' salary for each of the first five years worked and a month's salary for every year after that.
"They are trying to find excuses to bypass the rules of terminating a contract," said Monir al-Zaman, labour attache at the Bangladeshi embassy.
"Compensation should be paid if workers are being fired," he told the media, adding that companies should resort to cutting overtime work and even reduce salaries before laying off workers.
In December, Khalfan al-Kaabi, a member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said up to 45 percent of construction workers could be laid off this year if private sector projects in the UAE were delayed or cancelled.
Zaman said he could not provide a figure on Bangladeshi workers having lost their jobs in the UAE, because the process is not done "formally".
He also pointed out that he noticed, during inspection visits to labour camps, that many workers stayed in the UAE even if they were not being paid, in hope of finding work.
But poor unemployed workers cannot linger for long if jobs remain rare.
"Maybe this month I have to decide to stay or go ... because I don't have any money. Now I'm borrowing from friends," said Arnold.
Agencies
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Net blackout in Mideast and South Asia
Breaks in three submarine cables which link Europe and the Middle East have disrupted Internet and international telephone services in parts of the Middle East and South Asia.
The disruption reduced Egypt's Internet capacity by about 80 percent. Technicians were restoring some capacity by diverting communications traffic through the Red Sea, said a Communications Ministry official, who asked not to be named.
Residents said Internet service was either non-existent or very slow. The gravity of the outage, caused by breaks in cables in the Mediterranean off Italy, varied from area to area and according to the service provider.
In Pakistan, Internet service provider Micronet Broadband said its customers were facing degraded Internet services because of "issues" on the SMW-3, SMW-4 and FLAG lines.
In January, breaks in undersea cables off the Egyptian coast disrupted Internet access in Egypt, the Gulf region and south Asia, forcing service providers to reroute traffic and disrupting some businesses and financial dealings.
Several Egyptian residents said late on Friday that it was impossible to call the United States but calls to Europe appeared to be going through.
In Pakistan, Micronet engineer Wajahat Basharat said on Saturday Internet traffic was congested and slow and some of it was being diverted to other routes.
"Significant outage”
The International Cable Protection Committee, an association of submarine cable operators, said it was "aware of multiple submarine cable failures in the Eastern Mediterranean area that may be affecting the speed of Internet communications on some routes."
It said in a statement on its website it did not know what had caused the problem.
Stephan Beckert, an analyst with the U.S.-based telecommunications market research firm TeleGeography, said the three affected cables were the most direct route for moving traffic between Western Europe and the Middle East.
"If those three cables were cut and are completely out, it would be a fairly significant outage," he said.
"It is going to cause problems for some customers. It's certainly going to slow things down," Beckert said, adding that he did not believe financial institutions would be hit hard.
"Generally speaking we find that they are extremely painstaking about making sure that they have redundant capacity," he said.
Officials with AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications, the two largest U.S.-based carriers, said that some customers in the Middle East had lost all service, while others were experiencing partial disruptions on Internet connections.
Verizon had rerouted some of its traffic by sending it across the Atlantic, then the United States, across the Pacific, and on to the Middle East.
A New York Stock Exchange spokesman said he was unaware of any disruptions in trading. Exchanges CME Group, and IntercontinentalExchange said they had no disruption in their trading on Friday.
Source: Agencies
The disruption reduced Egypt's Internet capacity by about 80 percent. Technicians were restoring some capacity by diverting communications traffic through the Red Sea, said a Communications Ministry official, who asked not to be named.
Residents said Internet service was either non-existent or very slow. The gravity of the outage, caused by breaks in cables in the Mediterranean off Italy, varied from area to area and according to the service provider.
In Pakistan, Internet service provider Micronet Broadband said its customers were facing degraded Internet services because of "issues" on the SMW-3, SMW-4 and FLAG lines.
In January, breaks in undersea cables off the Egyptian coast disrupted Internet access in Egypt, the Gulf region and south Asia, forcing service providers to reroute traffic and disrupting some businesses and financial dealings.
Several Egyptian residents said late on Friday that it was impossible to call the United States but calls to Europe appeared to be going through.
In Pakistan, Micronet engineer Wajahat Basharat said on Saturday Internet traffic was congested and slow and some of it was being diverted to other routes.
"Significant outage”
The International Cable Protection Committee, an association of submarine cable operators, said it was "aware of multiple submarine cable failures in the Eastern Mediterranean area that may be affecting the speed of Internet communications on some routes."
It said in a statement on its website it did not know what had caused the problem.
Stephan Beckert, an analyst with the U.S.-based telecommunications market research firm TeleGeography, said the three affected cables were the most direct route for moving traffic between Western Europe and the Middle East.
"If those three cables were cut and are completely out, it would be a fairly significant outage," he said.
"It is going to cause problems for some customers. It's certainly going to slow things down," Beckert said, adding that he did not believe financial institutions would be hit hard.
"Generally speaking we find that they are extremely painstaking about making sure that they have redundant capacity," he said.
Officials with AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications, the two largest U.S.-based carriers, said that some customers in the Middle East had lost all service, while others were experiencing partial disruptions on Internet connections.
Verizon had rerouted some of its traffic by sending it across the Atlantic, then the United States, across the Pacific, and on to the Middle East.
A New York Stock Exchange spokesman said he was unaware of any disruptions in trading. Exchanges CME Group, and IntercontinentalExchange said they had no disruption in their trading on Friday.
Source: Agencies
Is Google earth Map giving geography lessons to terrorists?
Google Earth is the seventh popular Internet application tool but it is being growingly misused by terror groups to have the first glimpse of sensitive places to plot attacks without moving an inch.
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Feburuary this year with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets.
The interrogation report of Fahim, who was trained at the Baitul Mujahideen camp in Pakistan in his statement said that a top Lashker commander 'Kahasa' asked him to show the spots in Mumbai on the Google Earth. "I was shown the map of Mumbai in Googleearth.com. Kahasa asked me to point out places in Mumbai he noted down and marked those places in the map," he told interrogators, adding, "I was first asked about my residence location and in-laws location in Mumbai."
Sensitive places like offices of Commissioner of Police and DGP, Gateway of India, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mantralaya, Wankhede Stadium, Race Course, Church Gate Railway Station, Stock Exchange Building, BARC, Kalina Army Gate and other such spots were located and marked on the Google Earth Map.
Fahim, along with Sabauddin, were brought to Mumbai and remanded to police custody till December 31. They are being questioned to ascertain whether they had provided the minute details to Lashkar terrorists to help them plan the terror strike here on November 26.
Source; Agencies
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Feburuary this year with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets.
The interrogation report of Fahim, who was trained at the Baitul Mujahideen camp in Pakistan in his statement said that a top Lashker commander 'Kahasa' asked him to show the spots in Mumbai on the Google Earth. "I was shown the map of Mumbai in Googleearth.com. Kahasa asked me to point out places in Mumbai he noted down and marked those places in the map," he told interrogators, adding, "I was first asked about my residence location and in-laws location in Mumbai."
Sensitive places like offices of Commissioner of Police and DGP, Gateway of India, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mantralaya, Wankhede Stadium, Race Course, Church Gate Railway Station, Stock Exchange Building, BARC, Kalina Army Gate and other such spots were located and marked on the Google Earth Map.
Fahim, along with Sabauddin, were brought to Mumbai and remanded to police custody till December 31. They are being questioned to ascertain whether they had provided the minute details to Lashkar terrorists to help them plan the terror strike here on November 26.
Source; Agencies
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sat phones may help India trace jihadi trail
They have for long been a big chink in the Indian security apparatus. Not licensed to be sold here, Thuraiya satellite phones have been a favourite with the anti-India terror groups who use them to go about their deadly agenda without the fear of their calls getting intercepted.
However, as Mumbai cops gather evidence to strengthen their already-formidable case against Pakistan-based jehadi group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, a unique characteristic of Thuraiya satellite phone is proving to be of great help.
All the satellite phones have built-in GPS devices which help the Thuraiya `switch' -- master control facility -- in Sharjah to record the movement of a phone as it makes or receives calls.
Sources indicated that investigators, working together with the FBI, have already procured the details from Thuraiya which will help them plot the journey of the Lashkar gang when they set out from Kazghar Creek in Pakistan on their ghastly mission against India.
The Thuraiya switch at Sharjah will also have records of the co-ordinates of Lashkar leaders who used their satellite phones to communicate with their boys heading for Mumbai.
"The evidence will destroy Pakistan's deniability", asserted top intelligence sources, while indicating that Americans are working hard to get the evidence from Sharjah which will help them plot the movement of the gang as well as key Lashkar operatives -- Zakiurr Rahman and Muzammil.
Mohammad Ajmal, the arrested terrorist, has told interrogators that Zakiurr Rahman and Muzammil had instructed them to throw both the satellite phone and the GPS device into the sea after reaching Mumbai. While the jehadis scrupulously carried out their brief to kill innocents and cause mayhem, they forgot to jettison the two devices -- a lapse which threatens to spoil the celebrations over the Mumbai strikes in the Muridike headquarters of Lashkar and which has created complications for Pakistan.
Source: Agencies
However, as Mumbai cops gather evidence to strengthen their already-formidable case against Pakistan-based jehadi group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, a unique characteristic of Thuraiya satellite phone is proving to be of great help.
All the satellite phones have built-in GPS devices which help the Thuraiya `switch' -- master control facility -- in Sharjah to record the movement of a phone as it makes or receives calls.
Sources indicated that investigators, working together with the FBI, have already procured the details from Thuraiya which will help them plot the journey of the Lashkar gang when they set out from Kazghar Creek in Pakistan on their ghastly mission against India.
The Thuraiya switch at Sharjah will also have records of the co-ordinates of Lashkar leaders who used their satellite phones to communicate with their boys heading for Mumbai.
"The evidence will destroy Pakistan's deniability", asserted top intelligence sources, while indicating that Americans are working hard to get the evidence from Sharjah which will help them plot the movement of the gang as well as key Lashkar operatives -- Zakiurr Rahman and Muzammil.
Mohammad Ajmal, the arrested terrorist, has told interrogators that Zakiurr Rahman and Muzammil had instructed them to throw both the satellite phone and the GPS device into the sea after reaching Mumbai. While the jehadis scrupulously carried out their brief to kill innocents and cause mayhem, they forgot to jettison the two devices -- a lapse which threatens to spoil the celebrations over the Mumbai strikes in the Muridike headquarters of Lashkar and which has created complications for Pakistan.
Source: Agencies
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Are hotels world over a soft target for terrorists?
Attacks on two luxury hotels -The Taj and Trident- in the country's financial capital Mumbai have drawn attention again to the fact that hotels are a soft target for terrorists who want to capture world attention to their causes. The Mumbai incident follows previous attempts on hotels elsewhere in the world, one such incident in the recent past in Islamabad where a deadly blast targeted the Marriott hotel near Pakistan's Parliament, killing at least 40 people and wounded another 200.
In 2005 in Jordan, Al Qaeda conducted a series of coordinated bombing on three hotels in the capital city Amman on November 9. The blasts at at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn killed 60 people and injured 115 others.
Oen of the hotels was hosting a wedding with hundreds of guests. In October 2004, bombings at three sites on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula killed 34 people.
The Egyptian government said the mastermind was Palestinian and the targets appeared to be Israeli tourists. On August 5, 2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel in Indonesian capital Jakarta killing 12 people, including one Danish, one Dutch and two Chinese and injuring 150.
The hotel was viewed as a symbol of Western power and thus been the prime focus of terrorists. Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele, experts say.
Mumbai being the financial capital of the country at the centre of economic decision making there are numerous important delegates checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in the city.
Source: PTI
In 2005 in Jordan, Al Qaeda conducted a series of coordinated bombing on three hotels in the capital city Amman on November 9. The blasts at at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn killed 60 people and injured 115 others.
Oen of the hotels was hosting a wedding with hundreds of guests. In October 2004, bombings at three sites on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula killed 34 people.
The Egyptian government said the mastermind was Palestinian and the targets appeared to be Israeli tourists. On August 5, 2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel in Indonesian capital Jakarta killing 12 people, including one Danish, one Dutch and two Chinese and injuring 150.
The hotel was viewed as a symbol of Western power and thus been the prime focus of terrorists. Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele, experts say.
Mumbai being the financial capital of the country at the centre of economic decision making there are numerous important delegates checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in the city.
Source: PTI
Mumbai attacks: Are other cities not vulnerability?
Whatever group lies behind the attacks in Mumbai, security experts say one thing has been made abundantly clear: a massive city can be reduced to mayhem if a group of men is well-enough armed and prepared to die.
Rather than hijacking planes as in September 11, or smuggling delicately wired car bombs into a city, the Mumbai gunmen chose a frontal style of armed assault, killing more than 100 people, wounding around 250 and causing immense panic in a thriving city of 13 million.
Security specialists say the attack was probably months in the planning and appears to have been finely tuned in its execution, but it ultimately relied on only an estimated 25 gunmen lightly armed with assault rifles and hand-grenades.
Their ability to roam around and sustain the attack, while all the while being willing to die in the onslaught, made it all the more difficult to combat and far more drawn out than an instantaneous suicide bomb attack might have been.
"It's virtually impossible to stop 20 guys with guns from attacking anywhere in the world if they are prepared to die," said Sajjan Gohel, an analyst with the Asia-Pacific Foundation, an independent security and intelligence group based in London.
"That is the thing about the fedayeen strategy," he said, using an Arabic term used to describe self-sacrificial gunmen who have operated in Iraq, Kashmir and across the Muslim world.
"It's even more effective than a suicide mission. With a suicide mission, you blow up your explosives and you're gone. With a fedayeen attack, you try to last out as long as possible, killing as many people as possible," he told Reuters.
Nearly 20 hours after the attack began late on Wednesday night, Indian soldiers and the militants were still exchanging gunfire and more than 100 people were trapped inside the Taj Mahal hotel, one of two five-star hotels popular with Western tourists and businessmen that were targeted in the assault.
Indian authorities closed stock, bond and foreign exchange markets, schools were shuttered and panicked foreigners on holiday or on business were desperate to flee, reducing India's business powerhouse to a tense, semi-warzone.
"Men armed with automatic weapons are able to run amok and keep the situation going for much, much longer," Henry Wilkinson, a senior analyst with Janusian Security Risk Management, a London-based consultancy, told Reuters.
"Whether it's intended or not, that creates an extended drama which is all the more terrifying."
AL QAEDA
Given the boldness of the assault, its high-level of planning and the fact that foreigners were specifically targeted, security specialists believe there is likely to have been a degree of inspiration from or link to external groups allied to Al Qaeda, such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
They say the tactics are different from the more common, post-9/11 attacks seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, but still bear similar hallmarks.
"It's very interesting that they didn't go in using car bombs, it was more of a direct armed assault on a city," said Wilkinson. "It's very reminiscent of the attacks in Saudi Arabia in 2003, when the gunmen were going around trying to find Westerners and kill them."
Wilkinson highlighted the fact the Mumbai gunmen appeared to have used only assault rifles and hand-grenades, giving them much more mobility and freeing them up to take hostages.
"I would suggest that using guns and hand-grenades was a deliberate choice... The amount of planning and training they must have done to carry out such an attack is impressive."
Such an assault might be mounted virtually anywhere in the world, he said, making cities in Europe and the United States vulnerable, even if such an outcome remains unlikely.
In London in 2005 four suicide bombers killed 52 people on public transport and brought the city to a standstill.
Both attacks underline just how hard it is for democratic states to protect themselves against such attacks without draconian security measures and powerful intelligence.
"I can't see any reason -- if there is a terrorist group that has the capability... attacks like this in Europe or the United States can't be discounted," he said.
One advantage for Indian authorities and any intelligence services called in to help investigate the Mumbai attacks is that at least nine gunmen are reported to have been seized.
In a suicide bombing, forensics can help investigators establish only so much. In this case, those detained are likely to reveal much more intelligence about who plotted the attack.
"The fact that a few of them have been seized is highly significant," said Wilkinson. "I think a lot more information about these attacks and who was behind them is going to come to light."
Source: Reuters
Rather than hijacking planes as in September 11, or smuggling delicately wired car bombs into a city, the Mumbai gunmen chose a frontal style of armed assault, killing more than 100 people, wounding around 250 and causing immense panic in a thriving city of 13 million.
Security specialists say the attack was probably months in the planning and appears to have been finely tuned in its execution, but it ultimately relied on only an estimated 25 gunmen lightly armed with assault rifles and hand-grenades.
Their ability to roam around and sustain the attack, while all the while being willing to die in the onslaught, made it all the more difficult to combat and far more drawn out than an instantaneous suicide bomb attack might have been.
"It's virtually impossible to stop 20 guys with guns from attacking anywhere in the world if they are prepared to die," said Sajjan Gohel, an analyst with the Asia-Pacific Foundation, an independent security and intelligence group based in London.
"That is the thing about the fedayeen strategy," he said, using an Arabic term used to describe self-sacrificial gunmen who have operated in Iraq, Kashmir and across the Muslim world.
"It's even more effective than a suicide mission. With a suicide mission, you blow up your explosives and you're gone. With a fedayeen attack, you try to last out as long as possible, killing as many people as possible," he told Reuters.
Nearly 20 hours after the attack began late on Wednesday night, Indian soldiers and the militants were still exchanging gunfire and more than 100 people were trapped inside the Taj Mahal hotel, one of two five-star hotels popular with Western tourists and businessmen that were targeted in the assault.
Indian authorities closed stock, bond and foreign exchange markets, schools were shuttered and panicked foreigners on holiday or on business were desperate to flee, reducing India's business powerhouse to a tense, semi-warzone.
"Men armed with automatic weapons are able to run amok and keep the situation going for much, much longer," Henry Wilkinson, a senior analyst with Janusian Security Risk Management, a London-based consultancy, told Reuters.
"Whether it's intended or not, that creates an extended drama which is all the more terrifying."
AL QAEDA
Given the boldness of the assault, its high-level of planning and the fact that foreigners were specifically targeted, security specialists believe there is likely to have been a degree of inspiration from or link to external groups allied to Al Qaeda, such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
They say the tactics are different from the more common, post-9/11 attacks seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, but still bear similar hallmarks.
"It's very interesting that they didn't go in using car bombs, it was more of a direct armed assault on a city," said Wilkinson. "It's very reminiscent of the attacks in Saudi Arabia in 2003, when the gunmen were going around trying to find Westerners and kill them."
Wilkinson highlighted the fact the Mumbai gunmen appeared to have used only assault rifles and hand-grenades, giving them much more mobility and freeing them up to take hostages.
"I would suggest that using guns and hand-grenades was a deliberate choice... The amount of planning and training they must have done to carry out such an attack is impressive."
Such an assault might be mounted virtually anywhere in the world, he said, making cities in Europe and the United States vulnerable, even if such an outcome remains unlikely.
In London in 2005 four suicide bombers killed 52 people on public transport and brought the city to a standstill.
Both attacks underline just how hard it is for democratic states to protect themselves against such attacks without draconian security measures and powerful intelligence.
"I can't see any reason -- if there is a terrorist group that has the capability... attacks like this in Europe or the United States can't be discounted," he said.
One advantage for Indian authorities and any intelligence services called in to help investigate the Mumbai attacks is that at least nine gunmen are reported to have been seized.
In a suicide bombing, forensics can help investigators establish only so much. In this case, those detained are likely to reveal much more intelligence about who plotted the attack.
"The fact that a few of them have been seized is highly significant," said Wilkinson. "I think a lot more information about these attacks and who was behind them is going to come to light."
Source: Reuters
Who are the militants behind the Mumbai attacks?
Militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked luxury hotels, hospitals and a famous tourist cafe in India's commercial capital Mumbai late on Wednesday, killing at least 101 people.
Who is behind the attacks?
Witnesses say the attackers were young South Asian men speaking Hindi or Urdu, suggesting they are probably members of an Indian militant group rather than foreigners.
The attacks were claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen in an e-mail to news organisations. Deccan is an area of southern India. Analysts say that while it is not clear whether the claim is genuine, the attacks were most likely carried out by a group called the Indian Mujahideen. The name used in the claim of responsibility suggests the attackers could be members of a south Indian offshoot or cell of the Indian Mujahideen.
Who are the Indian Mujahideen?
Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago that killed 187 people.
Police said the Indian Mujahideen may also include former members of th Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami.
In an e-mail to various media in September, the group denounced Mumbai's police anti-terrorist squad, accusing them of harassing Muslims.
"If this is the degree your arrogance has reached, and if you think that by these stunts you can scare us, then let the Indian Mujahideen warn all the people of Mumbai that whatever deadly attacks Mumbaikars will face in future, their responsibility would lie with the Mumbai ATS and their guardians," it said.
The Indian Mujahideen have made credible claims of responsibility for most of the recent major attacks on civilian targets in India over the past two years.
The Mumbai attacks appear to have been carefully co-ordinated, well-planned and involved a large number of attackers. A high level of sophistication has also been a hallmark of previous attacks by the Indian Mujahideen.
The Mumbai attacks also focused clearly on tourist targets, including two luxury hotels and a famous cafe.
In May, the Indian Mujahideen made a specific threat to attack tourist sites in India unless the government stopped supporting the United States in the international arena.
The threat was made in an e-mail claiming responsibility for bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur. The e-mail, signed by "Guru Al-Hindi", declared "open war against India" and included the serial number of one of the bicycles on which the bombs were left.
Witnesses in Mumbai say the attackers in Mumbai singled out Americans and Britons in their attacks.
The group first emerged during a wave of bombings in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded. Their next attacks were the Jaipur blasts.
On July 25, eight small bomb attacks in the IT city of Bangalore on July 25 that killed at least one person and wounded 15. There was no known claim of responsibility.
But a day later, at least 16 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 and wounding 161. Shortly before the blasts, an e-mail in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was sent to local media warning that people would soon "feel the terror of death" in the name of Allah.
It said the attacks were revenge for the Gujarat riots of 2002, when around 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs. A later e-mail accused several state governments of harassing, imprisoning and torturing Muslims and threatened consequences if they did not stop.
In September, at least five bombs exploded in crowded markets and streets in New Delhi, killing at least 18 people. The Indian Mujahideen sent out an e-mail moments after the first blast in New Delhi, saying the explosions were to prove its capability to strike in the most secure of Indian cities.
All previous incidents in which the Indian Mujahideen are suspected of involvement involved co-ordinated serial bombs. The Mumbai attacks also show clear signs of co-ordination but were carried out by gunmen, some carrying grenades.
The tactics, a military-style assault on soft targets, singling out foreigners, and taking hostages, are rare and do not fit the usual methods of militant attacks on civilian areas.
However, similar attacks have been carried out before, notably the May 2004 attacks in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.
Gunmen attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex in the city, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. The attackers asked hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim before deciding whom to kill.
Source: Reuters
Who is behind the attacks?
Witnesses say the attackers were young South Asian men speaking Hindi or Urdu, suggesting they are probably members of an Indian militant group rather than foreigners.
The attacks were claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen in an e-mail to news organisations. Deccan is an area of southern India. Analysts say that while it is not clear whether the claim is genuine, the attacks were most likely carried out by a group called the Indian Mujahideen. The name used in the claim of responsibility suggests the attackers could be members of a south Indian offshoot or cell of the Indian Mujahideen.
Who are the Indian Mujahideen?
Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago that killed 187 people.
Police said the Indian Mujahideen may also include former members of th Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami.
In an e-mail to various media in September, the group denounced Mumbai's police anti-terrorist squad, accusing them of harassing Muslims.
"If this is the degree your arrogance has reached, and if you think that by these stunts you can scare us, then let the Indian Mujahideen warn all the people of Mumbai that whatever deadly attacks Mumbaikars will face in future, their responsibility would lie with the Mumbai ATS and their guardians," it said.
The Indian Mujahideen have made credible claims of responsibility for most of the recent major attacks on civilian targets in India over the past two years.
The Mumbai attacks appear to have been carefully co-ordinated, well-planned and involved a large number of attackers. A high level of sophistication has also been a hallmark of previous attacks by the Indian Mujahideen.
The Mumbai attacks also focused clearly on tourist targets, including two luxury hotels and a famous cafe.
In May, the Indian Mujahideen made a specific threat to attack tourist sites in India unless the government stopped supporting the United States in the international arena.
The threat was made in an e-mail claiming responsibility for bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur. The e-mail, signed by "Guru Al-Hindi", declared "open war against India" and included the serial number of one of the bicycles on which the bombs were left.
Witnesses in Mumbai say the attackers in Mumbai singled out Americans and Britons in their attacks.
The group first emerged during a wave of bombings in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded. Their next attacks were the Jaipur blasts.
On July 25, eight small bomb attacks in the IT city of Bangalore on July 25 that killed at least one person and wounded 15. There was no known claim of responsibility.
But a day later, at least 16 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 and wounding 161. Shortly before the blasts, an e-mail in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was sent to local media warning that people would soon "feel the terror of death" in the name of Allah.
It said the attacks were revenge for the Gujarat riots of 2002, when around 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs. A later e-mail accused several state governments of harassing, imprisoning and torturing Muslims and threatened consequences if they did not stop.
In September, at least five bombs exploded in crowded markets and streets in New Delhi, killing at least 18 people. The Indian Mujahideen sent out an e-mail moments after the first blast in New Delhi, saying the explosions were to prove its capability to strike in the most secure of Indian cities.
All previous incidents in which the Indian Mujahideen are suspected of involvement involved co-ordinated serial bombs. The Mumbai attacks also show clear signs of co-ordination but were carried out by gunmen, some carrying grenades.
The tactics, a military-style assault on soft targets, singling out foreigners, and taking hostages, are rare and do not fit the usual methods of militant attacks on civilian areas.
However, similar attacks have been carried out before, notably the May 2004 attacks in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.
Gunmen attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex in the city, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. The attackers asked hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim before deciding whom to kill.
Source: Reuters
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