Bin Laden considered attacks in India, other countries: CIA
What's the story
The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released over 70 presidential intelligence briefs related to former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The release, which comes on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, includes more than 100 pages of material. Among the revelations is that India was one of the countries bin Laden had considered attacking.
Target list
India among potential targets
A presidential brief dated August 28, 1998, lists India among several countries bin Laden was considering for attacks.
Other nations on the list include Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Uganda. Nigeria was also identified as a possible target.
However, the document does not specify any particular target in India or provide details of when or how such an attack could have been executed.
Network resilience
Bin Laden's network after US missile strikes
The brief, titled Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat, assesses bin Laden's network after US missile strikes on al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
It notes that despite these attacks, bin Laden and other terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan survived.
The document also states that "their communications network remains intact" and training at some camps had resumed while others were being relocated.
Global threat
Global reach of bin Laden's network
The intelligence assessment further reveals bin Laden's ambitions extended beyond the United States.
It states that he may "call on a network of individuals and allied groups in at least 60 countries to conduct attacks," showing how widespread his reach was and how serious the threat was perceived to be by US intelligence agencies.
Transparency
CIA releases presidential briefs on 9/11 attacks
The release of these presidential intelligence briefs provides "unprecedented transparency on America's most sensitive intelligence publication from the years before and the day after one of the darkest moments in our history," according to a CIA statement.
The documents cover a period from Bill Clinton's presidency to George W Bush's administration, repeatedly warning about potential terrorist attacks leading up to 9/11.