‘Naxalites could move towards urban terrorism’

Stratfor has warned that the Indian Maoist movement could develop the “tradecraft for urban terrorism”.

Leading US strategic think tank Stratfor has warned that irrespective of the Maoist movement appearing to be fairly contained in India, the rebel group’s leaders could develop the “tradecraft for urban terrorism”, reported IANS on Friday.

The organisation rejected Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s categorisation of the Naxalites as the biggest threat to the country’s internal security. It claimed that incidents like the 2008 Mumbai attacks, affirmed that Pakistan and militants hiding there posed a greater external threat. It also added that the Naxalites will need to demonstrate their striking abilities outside the Red Corridor, Eastern India, to add sense to their intent to pursue urban targets.

The think tank however pointed out that the rebel group should be watched as they could develop such capabilities. “Naxalites are honing their capacity to construct and deploy IEDs, conduct armed raids and maintain an extensive, agile and responsive intelligence network,” warned Stratfor.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2010.