Mumbai attackers used technology as tool

NEW DELHI, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The heavily armed attackers who headed for Mumbai by sea navigated with global positioning system equipment represent terrorism in the digital age, police say.

The killers carried BlackBerrys and multiple cell phones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track. They spoke by satellite telephone.

Emerging details about the 60-hour Indian siege suggest the attackers had made sophisticated use of high technology in planning and carrying out the assault. At least 174 people died and more than 300 were hurt, The Washington Post said.

The flood of information about the attacks -- on TV, cellphones, the Internet -- seized the attention of a terrified city. But, it also was exploited by the assailants to direct their fire and cover their origins.

"Both sides used technology," G. Parthasarathy, an internal security expert at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi told the Post. "The terrorists would not have been able to carry out these attacks had it not been for technology."