India was on Osama Bin Laden’s attack radar in 1998, CIA files reveal

The Central Intelligence Agency on Friday released 71 President’s Daily Brief products, containing more than 100 pages of previously classified intelligence, to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The documents cover intelligence assessments from the years leading up to the attacks and the day after.

One of the documents, dated August 28, 1998, and titled “Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat,” mentions India among several countries that bin Laden wanted to attack.

India among countries listed

The 1998 intelligence assessment identified India alongside Pakistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uganda and possibly Nigeria as countries that could face attacks.

The document does not identify a specific target in India, an intended date for an attack or any detailed operational plan.

Parts of the brief, including information about the source of the intelligence, remain redacted.

The disclosure therefore indicates that India was part of the threat picture being assessed by US intelligence at the time, rather than establishing that a specific attack on India had been planned.

Bin Laden’s global network under watch

The brief warned that bin Laden's terrorist infrastructure had established a presence across North America, Europe and East Asia, lending credibility to reports that he could target US interests in those regions.

It also assessed that bin Laden and other terrorist leaders based in Afghanistan had survived US strikes against their camps and that their communications network remained intact.

According to the assessment, al-Qaeda had resumed training at some camps, while operations at others were being relocated.

The document further warned that bin Laden could draw upon a network of individuals and allied groups operating across at least 60 countries to conduct attacks.

Warnings came years before 9/11

The newly released records show that US intelligence agencies had been tracking bin Laden and his network for years before the September 11 attacks.

The CIA's collection includes a series of increasingly specific assessments from 1998 through 2001, including warnings about potential attacks inside the United States, aircraft hijackings and bin Laden's determination to strike America.

Among the documents released are a July 1998 brief on reports that bin Laden was planning attacks inside the US, a December 1998 assessment on preparations to hijack US aircraft, and an August 6, 2001 brief titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.”

CIA releases 71 intelligence briefs

The CIA described the release as its largest-ever release of declassified analysis related to 9/11, saying the documents provide insight into how analysts' understanding of al-Qaeda evolved in the years before the attacks.

The material spans the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and includes intelligence assessments on bin Laden's network, weapons capabilities, planned attacks and his relationship with the Taliban.

The documents provide a historical record of the warnings available to US policymakers before al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks.

What happened on September 11

On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda hijackers seized control of four passenger planes.

Two aircraft were deliberately flown into New York's World Trade Centre towers, causing both buildings to collapse.

A third plane struck the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, which fundamentally altered US counterterrorism policy and triggered the US-led war in Afghanistan.