Army chief warns of more 26/11-like attacks

November 3, 2009

Kartik Shuddha Pratipada, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

New Delhi: Even as Navy and Coast Guard warships conduct patrols on the west coast amid a high terror alert, Army chief General Deepak Kapoor on Tuesday warned that the possibility of more 26/11-like terror attacks could not be ruled out.

"We have to take all steps to prevent any Mumbai-type attacks. We cannot rule out apprehensions of such possibilities," Gen Kapoor said on the sidelines of an Army function here.

Asked about the threat of terror spillover from the Af-Pak region, the Army chief said the entire South Asian region was infested with terror groups. "We have to collectively battle such threats," he said.

This comes soon after both home minister P Chidambaram and defence minister A K Antony reiterated that Pakistan needed to take concrete steps to control the terror emanating from its soil.

"A large number of terrorist camps are operating across the border. Most of these camps are near Pakistani army areas. So, unless Pakistan takes serious and sincere efforts to control terrorists, our relationship will not improve," said Antony.

As earlier reported by TOI, the government's much-touted comprehensive revamp of the country's coastal security architecture is yet to take concrete shape on the ground despite almost an year having elapsed since the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Some measures have, however, been taken to boost `coordination' in intelligence-sharing and operational matters, with joint operation centres being set up at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair, even as a new regional Coast Guard HQ has just come up at Gandhinagar.

Under this, Navy and Coast Guard have been holding drills to bolster coastal security along the east and west coasts. "We have conducted exercises, state-by-state, with all agencies concerned like customs, state marine police forces, Intelligence Bureau, port authorities and the like," said an officer.

As for the plan to open 15 new Coast Guard stations in a progressive manner to plug surveillance gaps along the coastline, a station will be commissioned at Karwar on Wednesday.

Source: TOI

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