Terror targets: Hindu religious observances

LeT and Kashmiri groups will attack India:
US Intelligence
Hindu religious observances are possible targets
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=542389
Sridhar Krishnaswami Washington, Feb.5 (PTI) The U.S intelligence believes that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and Kashmir-focussed insurgent groups will continue to plan and execute "attacks" in India.
"The IC (intelligence community) assesses that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and other Kashmir-focussed groups will continue attack planning and execution in India. Shia and Hindu religious observances are possible targets, as are transportation networks and government buildings," according to the Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnel.
McConnel was giving his assessment while briefing the US Select Senate Committee on Intelligence on an unclassified version of the Annual Threat Assessment.
"We judge Kashmir-focussed groups will continue to support the attacks in Afghanistan, and operatives trained by the groups will continue to feature in al-Qaida transnational attack planning," McConnel told law makers.
McConnel also made the assessment that although India and Pakistan are "fielding a more mature strategic nuclear capability" neither of them are in a Cold war mentality of an arms race for numerical superiority.
The top Intelligence person of the Bush administration also argued that the ongoing political uncertainty in Pakistan has not seriously threatened the military control over the country's nuclear arsenals.
"In assessing the nuclear competition between India and Pakistan, we note that missile tests and new force deployments
Over the past three years have not affected the ongoing political dialogue.
Although both New Delhi and Islamabad are fielding a more mature strategic nuclear capability, they do not appear to be engaged in a Cold War-style arms race for numerical superiority."
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka navy sources said that two of its coastal patrol craft were fired upon by a boat that came along with a cluster of Indian fishing vessels in the Gulf of Mannar last evening.
One of the boat among the Indian fishing vessels had pretended to be in distress and requested assistance from the Lankan Navy boats, the sources said.
When approached, the boats had opened fire at the navy vessel, they added.
Navy spokesman D K P Dassanayake said the LTTE militants "might have hijacked the Indian fishing vessel or were simply disguising as fishermen".
He said 200-300 Indian fishing trawlers entered into Sri Lankan waters every week.
"This is despite the presence of powerful Indian Navy and the Coastguards on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between two countries," the Defence Ministry statement said.
Dassanayake said Sri Lanka navy has been providing humanitarian assistance to Indian fishermen in distress whenever needed.
"However, the excessive poaching by the Indian fishing vessels has created a situation that militants can exploit," he said.
"There were ample instances where LTTE rebels had hijacked Indian fishing vessels, murdered, maimed and harassed the fishermen due to this reason," a Defence Ministry statement quoted Dassanayake as saying.