A study of terrorist attacks would show that a lot of in-depth planning goes into each major attack. Selection of the target in each case would be based on the needs and objectives of the terrorist organization. Then there is the selection of the operatives who would carry out the attack, the modus operandi, the explosive device or the type of weapons to be used in the attack, information required about the target, its accessibility, security of the target, training and motivation of the operatives required to carry out the attack successfully, planting the operatives in the vicinity of the target to make use of the opportunity, whether they can rely on local support, and so on.

In this connection, the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a human bomb, Mumbai serial terror attacks of March 1993, former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination, attack on the Indian Parliament, serial attacks on Mumbai trains in July, 2006 and the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks of November, 2008, readily come to mind. Of these major attacks, this essay examines the manner in which the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and the 26/11 attacks were planned and carried out by the LTTE and the Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT) respectively.