Federal authorities warned of a Mumbai-style terrorist attack to a group of nearly 400 D.C.-area businesspeople gathered for an inaugural security briefing. Special Agent Andrew McCabe, chief of the counter-terrorism division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, gave a presentation advising business managers to double-check their security plans and prepare for the possibility of sophisticated terrorists. He added that “no credible threats to the inauguration” currently exist.
In the November Mumbai attacks, 10 men dressed in Western-style clothing terrorized the city with a military-style siege of several buildings, as opposed to the “spectacular” tactics of Al Qaida-style attacks. More than 170 people were killed, and more than 300 wounded.
“Al Qaida is focused on spectacular events,” McCabe said. “What Mumbai shows us is you don’t need a spectacular attack to create a very high level of international awareness.”
