The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Mumbai

The devastating attacks on Mumbai show that the Indian financial capital urgently needs a more modern police force and better intelligence resources, according to former officers and security experts.

The Indian intelligence community has faced outspoken criticism in the wake of last week's attacks, which left at least 188 people dead, amid allegations that warning signs were ignored and anti-terrorist forces were slow to respond.

"There has been a complete deficiency of local and police intelligence," said Ajai Sahni, executive director with the Institute of Conflict Management, a non-profit internal security group based in the capital New Delhi.

"National intelligence is paper-thin, and despite repeated attacks, we have not learnt our lessons," Sahni told AFP.

Some experts have questioned whether Mumbai's understaffed and under-resourced police should even be used to tackle militant attacks, arguing that regular officers lack the training required to take on armed extremists.

Maharashtra state has a 125,000-strong police force for a population of over 100 million, according to official figures, or one officer to every 800 people.

And where previous assaults involved bombs being left in public places, as in 2006 when Islamist militants staged serial attacks on Mumbai's trains that killed 186 people, this time the militants engaged directly with police.