Steps to counter terrorism

Terrorists have perfected the art of their violence. There have been increased cases of terrorists storming hotels, universities, and shopping malls killing tourists, students and shoppers. This should not happen at this time. Here are my reasons;

Our nation should shift from physical protection to a more intelligence led approach. The hotel industry, property developers, and institutions should make use of counter-surveillance, terrorist behavior analyses, stronger relationships with local community, and collaborative relationships with the authorities and emergency response teams, strategic use of risk intelligence providers and visibility of security measures.

The model for a terrorist attack includes but is not limited to the following.

Preliminary selection of targets; this is the first stage to attack cycle and it all depends on terrorist group objectives. We know terrorist prefer attacking assets of symbolic value that will maximize possible damage and create media buzz.

Intelligence activities; Terrorists will evaluate their target through basic research, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Final Target Selection: Intelligence gathered in the previous cycle is used to evaluate target criteria such as resources and capabilities necessary to carry out an attack.

Operational Planning; this stage decides the target, the personnel to carry out an attack, training required, funding, supply and logistics.

Dry-runs: Before terrorists make their final operation they may rehearse in stimulated conditions in order to determine possible flaws.

Asset Deployment; this stage involves the logistic unit preparing and placing all the supplies near the target. This may include safe houses in the neighborhood.

Attack; this is the stage where the attack is carried out. It is usually a stage of no return. The terrorist involved might be suicide bombers.

Closure and exploitation; The terrorist organization after accessing the damage through the media, claims responsibility.

Looking back in history physical security measure alone were not able to avert terrorist attacks in shopping malls, hotels and universities but good intelligence on entire process can be disrupted before the final stage.