By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Former Director General of Information Systems, Indian Army

The Le Petit Cambodge restaurant with a makeshift memorial of flowers, the day after the attacks

A state of emergency has been declared in France following multiple terror attacks on November 13. This was the second terror attack in Paris this year, previous one being the January attack at Charlie Hebdo. But the multiple attacks in six locations this November was by far the deadliest that France has suffered with some 120 to 158 people killed and scores wounded in what was a pre-planned and well coordinated terrorist action. From the accounts, at least five terrorists including two suicide bombers were involved. Two suicide bombers reportedly detonated explosives at locations near a stadium where a soccer match between France and Germany was underway, also being witnessed by French President Francois Hollande. Simultaneously, terrorists also opened fire with automatics on a tightly packed Cambodian restaurant in a drive-by shooting. Gunmen also opened fire on Rue de Charonne, at the Louvre and Les Halles. The deadliest strike killing 118 people was when terrorists opened fire in the Bataclan concert hall, which was later stormed by French security forces eventually killing three terrorists. As per reports, overall eight terrorists and four policemen have been killed. Ironically, terrorists were striking Paris at a time when PM Narendra Modi was speaking in London about the need for the world to unite against terrorism. In an address to the nation, French President Francois Hollande said that the country will close off its borders. The French government will prioritize immediately locking down the city, protecting civilians and capturing the attackers. The next piece of that will be to close down transportation and the borders to prevent any perpetrators from escaping. Finally they will begin to investigate to uproot the parties responsible for the attacks. French Army troops numbering 7000 have now been deployed in Paris.

These terrorist attacks have come five days before French aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ is to sail for the Persian Gulf for actions against the ISIS in Iraq-Syria. France had also joined US-led airstrikes against ISIS in Syria in September 2014. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, France had reviewed its anti-terrorism measures. These will likely come under criticism and scrutiny. Intelligence undoubtedly failed in this case. Although, terror attacks are easy to orchestrate in democratic countries, it is the intelligence that will need to be improved especially by infiltrating the ghettos and downtown areas that terrorists frequent, in addition to closely monitoring cyber-space and physically infiltrating these very organizations, including by proxy. Post the Charlie Hebdo attacks, leaders of the EU had undertaken a march to show solidarity against terrorism. This resolve will need to be strengthened and more importantly translated into concrete action beyond just air strikes, in concert other countries of the world. Concerns have been rising about the thousands of so called Syrian refugees streaming into Europe, which according to some is a well thought out plan to infiltrate terrorists into Europe.

The reasons cited are:

1. Syria has been under attack for many years, so why this sudden exodus to Europe in such large numbers;
2. many of the so called Syrian refugees are not Syrians;
3. there have been many incidents where instead of showing gratitude to the host country for being accepted, they have been displaying arrogance and making undue demands;
4. the Belgium police has reportedly seized a consignment of 80,000 fake passports meant for the refugee influx into Europe, and;
5. some of the refugees apparently are affluent, not displaying signs of being refugees, and possibly being infiltrated for a purpose along with genuine refugees.

Police have found a Syrian passport close to the body of one of the suicide bombers in Paris. Another suicide bomber has been identified as a French nation. The attacks will likely be politicized with Presidential elections due in 2017. However, French resolve against the ISIS will harden more, with French aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ sailing out to the Persian Gulf on schedule. Anti-terror measures will be reviewed globally by most countries. Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, Police in London had held an exercise to test how they would respond to marauding gun attacks in the heart of London. Scotland Yard has created a special forces-style unit of 130 armed officers to counter the threat of a terrorist gun attack in Britain. The ISIS reportedly claimed responsibility only after President Hollande accused the organization. The attacks followed the same pattern as in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Involvement of Pakistan based terrorists too cannot be ruled out, with bulk TTP aligned with ISIS and scores of Pakistani terrorists fighting alongside ISIS in Iraq-Syria. Additionally, the ISIS has been propagating ‘lone wolf’ attacks and a recent study conducted in the west concludes that lone wolf terrorism can inflict up to a million casualties through CBRN terrorism. India needs to draw its own lessons.