The Friday the 13th massacre in Paris was the worst attack in Western Europe since Madrid in 2004, leaving well over a hundred people dead. Responsibility has been claimed by the Islamic State and French leader François Hollande has promised 'merciless' retribution. In this episode I look at the context of the terror in Paris, offering a comparison with Mumbai in 2008 where Islamist militants carried out a very similar attack under the guidance of American spy David Headley. I also examine some of the questions that have already emerged: about the fake passport of a Syrian refugee found at one of the bomb sites; about possible foreknowledge on the part of the French security services; and about a little-reported bomb threat hours before the attacks that led to the evacuation of one of Paris' major train stations.(Read more...)
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