Before 9/11, Osama Bin Laden Had India On His Radar For Terror Attacks, CIA Files Reveal

New Delhi: Newly released CIA intelligence documents have revealed that India was among the countries that former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had considered targeting years before the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States.

The revelations are contained in a set of more than 70 presidential intelligence briefs related to bin Laden that were released by the US Central Intelligence Agency ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The documents, running to more than 100 pages, shed new light on the extent of the threat posed by bin Laden and his network in the years before the attacks.

One of the key documents is a presidential intelligence brief dated August 28, 1998, titled “Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat.” The brief stated that bin Laden was looking to launch attacks against multiple countries, including India.

The other countries mentioned in the document included Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uganda and, possibly, Nigeria. However, significant portions of the document remain redacted, and it does not specify a particular target in India, an intended date for an attack or a detailed operational plan.

The disclosure provides an insight into the global ambitions of bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network well before the 9/11 attacks. According to the intelligence assessment, bin Laden and other terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan had survived US strikes against their camps, while their communications network remained operational.

The document also indicated that al-Qaeda had resumed training activities at some camps, while others were being relocated. It assessed that bin Laden could rely on a network of individuals and allied groups spread across dozens of countries to carry out attacks.

The CIA brief warned that bin Laden's established infrastructure in North America, Europe and East Asia gave credibility to reports that the terror network could target US interests in those regions. The intelligence assessment came at a time when the US was already increasingly concerned about the threat posed by bin Laden and his organisation.

The newly released material also highlights how US intelligence agencies repeatedly warned successive administrations about the growing al-Qaeda threat between 1998 and 2001. The collection covers the final years of President Bill Clinton's administration and the beginning of President George W Bush's presidency.

The documents have been released as the United States marks 25 years since the September 11 attacks, when 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four passenger aircraft in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history.

Two of the hijacked planes were flown into New York's World Trade Centre, bringing down the Twin Towers. Another aircraft struck the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers.

The CIA said the release of the presidential intelligence briefs offers an unprecedented level of transparency into some of the US government's most sensitive intelligence reporting from the period before and immediately after 9/11.

The revelation that India had figured among countries considered for potential attacks adds another dimension to the history of al-Qaeda's international terror ambitions. At the same time, the documents currently available do not establish that a specific attack on Indian soil was operationally planned or carried out as a result of the 1998 assessment.

The declassified material instead demonstrates that, years before 9/11, US intelligence had identified bin Laden's network as a global threat with the capability and intent to target interests and countries far beyond Afghanistan.

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