Bloody Aftermath of Mumbai: Who Are The Deccan Mujahideen, Where Did They Come From?

As the year 2008 almost comes to a close, India has had its deal of violence in Mumbai in which gunman stormed several hotels. Casualties are in the triple digits. But, who is the Deccan Mujahideen?

In Mumbai, India, it was extremely chaotic as many have been killed with many more being injured in a chain of attacks at the hands of gunmen. However, it is unknown at the moment on whom or which group is responsible for this attack in Mumbai. So far, it has caught the entire world by surprise. Numerous areas were attacked such as the: Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel, and the Chabad House. AFP reports from London, Britain, that world leaders have expressed horror and anger at the attacks. France has already announced that it is sending aircraft with medical and rescue experts to aid the Europeans that have been caught in these atrocious attacks. Current US President George W. Bush has offered help to Indian Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh. US President-elect Barack Obama, who is set to take the office of the US Presidency in January of 2009, has condemned the attacks. Obama said that this stresses the importance of the US working with the world to dismantle such terror cells and networks. This will be one of Obama's first international challenges after taking office. In an Associated Press report on Yahoo, Pakistan has condemned the attacks on Mumbai. Pakistan is no stranger to terror attacks. On December 27 of 2007, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. The leader of the Pakistani Taliban was blamed. However, a lot of criticism and blame was also aimed at then President Pervez Musharraf. Today, Pakistan and other parts of South Asia are still having tough times fighting against terrorists. So far, Singh has said that the militants outside of India are responsible. This caused an immediate warning from Pakistan. However, Singh did not saying anything about Pakistan being responsible. For the time being, Pakistan could possibly be suspected. If that is the case, this could be one of the foreign challenges that Obama will face when he takes the oath of office as US President on January 20, 2009. In another Associated Press article, there is the possibility that the gunmen came from within India. According to a British security official, intelligence agencies were caught with their pants down. “We have been actively monitoring plots in Britain and abroad and there was nothing to indicate something like this was about to happen,” the security official said. Britain does monitor the activity of both countries. The group claiming responsibility called the Deccan Mujahideen was never on the radar. That would mean an unknown group had emerged from the undiscovered depths and pulled off such an attack. While there are possible suspicions aimed at Pakistan, security officials said that now is not the time to jump to conclusions. Remember, Deccan Mujahideen appears to be unknown to the world’s intelligence networks. As the British security official said, spy agencies across the world were caught with their pants down. Overall, it is unknown on where the Deccan Mujahideen had originated from. Perhaps the world will find out in the near future. It looks like that the world’s intelligence and spy agencies will now have to work triple overtime to find out more about this group.