India second worst terror-hit country, says NGO

India is the second most worst terrorism-hit country - behind only war-ravaged Iraq - facing eight terror attacks in 2008 alone and losing over 3,500 lives in the last few years. Quoting a recent United States report, city-based NGO--Bombay First--said India follows Iraq in the number of lives lost in various terror attacks last year.

"According to the report, terror attacks in India have increased in the past few years and claimed 3,674 lives, which is second to that of Iraq," NGO Chairman Narinder Nayar said yesterday at a security summit organised at Hotel Trident, one of the sites hit by the terrorists in last November. Nayar said India, battling terrorism for nearly three decades now, has been attacked from outside and within.

The summit saw global security experts, including those from the US and United Kingdom, discussing various aspects of terrorism and sharing their experiences. "The 26/11 terror attacks, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, was an attack on the aspirations and dreams of making Mumbai a global city," Nayar said. He stressed the need to modernise the police and review the criminal judicial system. Besides Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi were also among terror targets last year.