Britons trained in Pakistan for Mumbai-style attacks

LONDON - At least 20 British nationals are undergoing training in Pakistan-based terrorist camps to launch Mumbai-style shootings and suicide attacks in London and other European cities, The Daily Telegraph reported quoting intelligence sources.

The trainees — all ritish passport holders and young Muslims - are said to have travelled into the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan to join training camps run by Al Qaeda and their associated militant groups.

According to Western intelligence sources, they are being trained to use firearms as well as explosives so that they can launch random shooting sprees in London. Militants were also planning simultaneous strikes in cities of France and Germany.

“We believe there are 15 to 20 Britons in the camps,” said an intelligence source in Islamabad, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The revelation comes after the US intelligence agency CIA launched drone strikes on Pakistan-based terrorist camps in North and South Waziristan in an attempt to disrupt an Al Qaeda plot to launch an attack targeting Britain, France and Germany.

The plans would have seen terrorists sent on to the streets, probably of the capital cities, to randomly shoot civilians before heading in to landmark buildings, the report said.

Intelligence sources said that the attacks would have been coordinated for maximum impact and may have been aimed at financial institutions. However, the terror cells had not yet travelled to Europe and the targets were still unclear.

Sources also said that a missile from one US drone killed several Britons in a training camp in Pakistan and the security services are now trying to trace their links back to Britain.

British intellegence agency MI5 is thought to be uncomfortable that an ongoing operation has become public while they were still building up a picture of the terrorists’ support network.

“This is an ongoing operation with a constantly changing dynamic,” one security source said. “There are local, national and international links, including Pakistan.”

Intelligence agencies in Britain and the US were in the early stages of establishing the full details of the plot but MI5 had traced it from Pakistan back to Britain, sources told The Daily Telegraph.

Britain’s Metropolitan Police tactical response teams have been training on a “shoot to kill” basis after briefings that most deaths in such an attack were likely to occur in the first 30 minutes of an attack.

A US intelligence source said the threat was “credible, but not specific” and could have included other European countries such as Spain and Italy, or even the US.

Some of the intelligence is understood to have originated with the capture of a German national in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July. Ahmed Sidiqi, 36, is said to have talked of training with explosives and weapons and of plans to launch attacks in Germany and Europe.

Sidiqi attended the Masjid Taiba, formerly known as the Al-Quds mosque, in Hamburg, which was also attended by the leaders of the Sep 11 attacks.

German security sources said there were “increasing rumblings” about potential attacks and they were aware of intelligence pointing to Al Qaeda attacks in Europe and the US.

“As we have repeatedly said, we know Al Qaeda wants to attack Europe and the US. We continue to work closely with our European allies on the threat from international terrorism, including Al Qaeda,” James Clapper, US intelligence chief, said in a statement.

The US has fired at least 21 missiles so far this month in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the highest monthly total in the past six years.

Saturday, Sheikh Fateh al-Masri, a senior Al Qaeda commander, was thought to have been killed in North Waziristan, according to unconfirmed reports.

Fateh, also known as Abdul Razzaq, is said to have taken over operational command of Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is thought to have been in command of the European plot.

“It shouldn’t surprise anyone that links between plots and those who are orchestrating them lead to decisive American action,” a US official said. “The terrorists who are involved are, as everyone should expect, going to be targets. That’s the whole point of all of this.”

The 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai in India two years ago killed 166 people and left injured more than 300. The attack marked a shift in tactics in the use of terrorist fighters on the ground using guns and grenades, rather than suicide bombers targeting crowded areas.