Jihadi fighters have changed method of war

They may call the next several years the "Era of Mumbai Terror". An increasing number of counter-terrorism specialists say the nature of the attack is clearly different from the south Asian norm and possibly even by any global measure.

And because it was so successful - a score of armed men holding an entire country to ransom for three days - it may become a model for the next wave of jihadi fighters. Colonel Jonathan Fighel of Israel's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism is among those who has pointed out that the Mumbai attacks are "unusual not only for India, but also on the international scale".

The subcontinental norm has been a "series of explosions undertaken simultaneously by radical Islamic organisations aiming to kill masses of people". This was an "all-out offensive, with clear military hallmarks".

The military nature of the attack is striking. Indian commandos have been interviewed as saying it was like fighting regular soldiers whose training was not unlike their own. And contrary to the common perception, the militants largely avoided the taking of hostages or using civilians as shields. The innocents were either executed or got caught in the crossfire.

Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and its ilk have over the years developed a jihadi-making process that churns out ideologically-driven cannon fodder. This attack indicates they, probably with the aid of al Qaeda grey matter, have shifted to quality over quantity. US intelligence sources say they rate the Mumbai attack as being more sophisticated and logistically complex than even 9/11.