Thaindian News

Sydney, Oct 2(ANI): Indian security forces will probably prevent a large-scale terror attack on the Delhi Commonwealth Games, but small attacks are highly possible, a Sydney-based think tank has said.

The Lowy Institute’s International Security Program Director, Rory Medcalf, said that the chances of a major attack succeeding against a “highly protected” games venue were small, but the widely reported construction woes have made the protection game harder.

“These are now hard targets, and plots are likely to be thwarted or aborted, but it is quite possible that jihadists, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, will attempt smaller attacks on vulnerable or random targets in the wider Delhi area or elsewhere in India,” Fox Sports quoted Medcalf, as saying in a statement.

“It is possible that foreigners could be casualties in such attacks, although Indians are likely to bear the brunt,” he added.

In his paper titled ‘Terror Games: Understanding Security and Risk in New Delhi’, Medcalf also said that scandals surrounding the handling of the October 3-14 Games preparations have made the security job harder.

“Scandals have distracted the games committee and other managers from devoting maximum attention to security,” the report said.

“By this 11th hour in preparations, security, not completing venues and accommodation, should have been the only game in town,” it added.

Medcalf has previously worked as an intelligence analyst, and served as an Australian diplomat in New Delhi from 2000 to 2003. (ANI)