Trains and public transportation systems have been an easy target in recent years. Today a cowardly act on Bombay (Mumbai) India’s train system killed close to 200 innocent civilians. The bombings on the London subway system a year ago killed 52 people and the bombing in Madrid, Spain on March 11, 2004 killed 192 people.
The Mumbai bombings was an extremely well coordinated attack where 7 bombs went off, mostly targeting first-class train compartments. Nobody has claimed responsibility as of yet, so I suspect it won’t turn out to be the work of an international organization, but more likely a smaller Indian organization. In 1993, India’s worst terrorist attack took place with a similar series of 13 coordinated bombs killing 257 people. The bombs were widely believed to be retaliation for the Babri Mosque demolition in 1992.
Mass transit systems make it difficult to prevent these kinds of attacks, which is why terrorists are using them as targets. With the war in Afghanistan escalating, it’s only a matter of time before Canada is targeted with a similar attack on a subway on a smaller scale. It’s a good thing Canadians are bad terrorists, as our chances of preventing an attack are very good.