Paris attack similar to 2008 Mumbai carnage: Experts

Over 120 people were killed as terrorists attacked sites throughout the French capital and at Stade de France stadium during a friendly football match between France and Germany. French President Francois Hollande was also present at the stadium when the attack occurred. John Miller, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism of the New York Police Department told CNN that the Paris attack resembles the Mumbai terrorist attack in terms of low-cost and low resources and it carried the various features of the 26/11.

Bruce Hoffman, head of the national security programme at Georgetown University, referred to a call given by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden five years ago to carry Mumbai-type attack across Europe. "The attacks show a level of sophistication we really haven't seen in an urban area since 2008 in the attack in Mumbai," Michael Leiter, former director National Counter-terrorism Center, was quoted as saying by NBC News. "This will be a game changer for how the West looks at this threat," Leiter said.

Retired Air Force General Michael Hayden said the Paris violence was "certainly a terrorist attack" and that "our fears have been realised" because the assaults greatly mirror the 2008 terrorism in Mumbai that killed at least 166 people, including six Americans. After the Mumbai attack, carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, intelligence agencies around the world had studied the carnage to prevent a repetition of such incidents.

"We had great fear that we would see copycat versions of that attack — and now, I fear that our fears have been realised, and we're seeing that carried out tonight in Paris," Hayden said. "It shows the fragility of free societies. It shows the great danger that international terrorism presents to all of us," he said.