India was among the countries Osama bin Laden once considered attacking, according to newly declassified US intelligence documents.
The CIA on Friday released more than 70 presidential intelligence briefs linked to the former al‑Qaeda leader, totaling over 100 pages, to mark the 25th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center.
One brief, dated 28 August 1998, and titled “Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat”, reported that bin Laden wanted to launch attacks in multiple countries, including India, NDTV reports.
Other nations listed in the memo, some portions redacted, included Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uganda and “possibly” Nigeria. The brief did not specify Indian targets, dates or operational details.
The document noted that bin Laden’s well‑established infrastructure in North America, Europe and East Asia lent credibility to reports he would also target US interests in those regions. It assessed that bin Laden and other terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan had survived US strikes, maintained their communications network, and resumed training in camps, some of which were relocated.
The terrorist group had resumed training in some camps while relocating others, according to declassified US intelligence documents. The August 1998 presidential brief assessed that Osama bin Laden was preparing further attacks against the United States and the United Kingdom just hours before American missile strikes on al‑Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
According to the memo, bin Laden could “call on a network of individuals and allied groups in at least 60 countries to conduct attacks.”
The bundle of briefs released by the CIA shows that US presidents were repeatedly warned between 1998 and 2001 of possible terrorist strikes. The reports span the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
“This release 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,” the CIA said in a statement.
On 11 September 2001, 19 al‑Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners. Two crashed into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center, causing their collapse. A third struck the Pentagon. The fourth, believed to be aimed at the White House or Congress, went down in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back.
