Update | Terrorist Attacks via Paragliders

A small AC Daily News post India & England Fear Paragliding has become a top read I checked the update just now and find little to report to interested readers.

Restating the background, global intelligence officials suspect that the terrorist group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks is planning another strike in India, this time from the air, using suicide bombers flying paragliders.

Confirmed purchase of 50 paragliding kits from Europe indicates that this new form of terrorism has moved beyond imagination and into execution mode.

Personally, I take the facts of the problem very seriously and see this type of terrorism as a major possibility on American soil, not just England or India. Frankly, the possibilities are chilling, as we try to understand what is and isn’t possible in terms of paragliding.

Speaking about potential terrorist attacks in India, B. Raman, a former counter-terrorism chief in the Indian foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing told the London Times:

“It would be natural for them to plan another spectacular attack from the air. The warning has to be taken seriously.” Paragliders usually do not have an engine but can — in skilled hands and in the right conditions — cover large distances. The world record for flying a paraglider is more than 460km (285 miles).

Al Jazeera reported that even small airplanes could be highjacked in the air (or stolen??), giving the paragliders a jump off point.

The core of concerns extends beyond that of a terrorist attack in India, England or elsewhere.

The Indian alerts, which banned paragliding for several days during Republic Day celebrations and now removed, came after US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned of efforts by al Qaeda and its affiliates to destabilize South Asia and trigger a war between India and Pakistan.

Al Jazeera reported on Jan 26, 2010 that security officials in Kashmir uncovered a large cache of arms and explosives which they believe was meant for a Republic Day attack.

Those concerns about Kashmir serving as provocation for war took a major step forward with events yesterday in Lahore, Pakistan.

Solution on Kashmir Faces New threat

The UN banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the front face of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) resurfaced once aagain, holding a massive rally in Lahore to announce its continued support to jihad against India for ‘liberating Kashmir’.

JuD’s top leaders, including Hafeez Muhammed Saeed, the 26/11 mastermind (the Mumbai attacks) , and Ameer Hamza addressed the gathering. (media not allowed, says One India News) Al Jazeera confirms.

Returning to the subject of paragliding in India, prominent paragliding pilots from across India arrived in Pavagadh on Feb. 3, to take part in a paragliding festival that has gone off without incident. Anne