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The horrific terrorist attack on America’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (9/11) changed the global security scenario forever. A shocking truth has emerged from the declassified documents and investigation reports of American intelligence agencies (CIA and FBI) regarding Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of this attack and the leader of the notorious terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. According to the documents, India was included in the ‘prime hit list’ of bin Laden and his terrorist network long before the planes started wreaking havoc on American soil. Bin Laden was conspiring to deal a deep blow not only to the Western countries but also to India’s sovereignty, democratic system and economic progress.
A review of US counterterrorism experts and intelligence documents makes clear that Osama bin Laden began to focus his attention on the Indian subcontinent after his return to Afghanistan in 1996:
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Tie-up with Pakistan supported terrorist groups: Bin Laden had provided money, arms and training to anti-India terrorist organizations like Harkat-ul-Ansar (later Harkat-ul-Mujahideen), Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
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Connection to Kandahar plane hijacking (IC-814): There was direct logistical cooperation between Al Qaeda and the Taliban behind the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999. The release of Masood Azhar after this incident had further fueled Al Qaeda’s plans against India.
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Reiki of Indian Embassies: Intelligence files also revealed that during the 1998 bombings on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Al Qaeda had also monitored Indian missions in South Asia and the Gulf countries.
According to intelligence analysts, Al Qaeda’s objective was to create widespread instability in India by attacking a major symbolic and economic center:
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Nuclear and Defense Establishment: Bin Laden was always concerned about India’s nuclear capabilities and his fighters were trying to gather information about Indian military and research bases.
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Financial capital Mumbai and administrative centers of Delhi: Even before the 9/11 attacks, Laden’s network had started working on a plan to target India’s major financial institutions, Parliament House and commercial centers, which its affiliates later tried to execute.
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Religious and historical sites: Suicide attacks on major religious places were planned to disintegrate the social fabric of India.
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, India’s then leadership and security agencies had clarified in international forums that dividing terrorism as ‘regional’ or ‘global’ is a huge mistake. India had been suffering the brunt of cross-border terrorism for decades, which Western countries had long considered a local law and order issue. CIA documents established that bin Laden’s network was working on an integrated global jihadist agenda, with both the US and India as its primary enemies.
In May 2011, when US Navy Seals attacked bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, thousands of computer hard drives and documents were recovered from there. Many secret diaries and letters related to the activities of Indian security forces, Kashmir issue and strategies for expanding jihadi networks in India were also found in these documents. This was strong evidence that till the time of his death, Laden was continuously engaged in plotting against India.
Indian intelligence agencies RAW (R&AW) and IB foiled many dangerous plans of Al Qaeda in time by sharing real-time intelligence with Western intelligence in the 1990s and early 2000s. Even today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and security agencies are continuously tightening the noose on the sleeper cells of Al Qaeda’s Indian Subcontinent wing (AQIS).