They equipped themselves with fake identification and wore Western clothes with clean-shaven faces, indicating they probably did not view the attack as a suicide operation, Kilcullen said. "The fact that they lost nine out of 10 identified attackers killed doesn't necessarily indicate that it was intended to have all those people dying," he said.

"The Indians said there were 10 attackers, based on the fact that they captured one and killed nine -- you have to assume there are more out there," he said.

He noted, however, that there was no short-term follow-up attack on a target such as a hospital treating victims -- a characteristic of some Iraqi insurgent strikes.

The fighters had high-level professional training, Kilcullen said. They entered the city by sea, launched diversionary strikes, and seized two hotels and a Jewish center, where they held off authorities and rampaged for three days.

"A Seal team would have had trouble mounting this operation," Kilcullen said, referring to U.S. Navy commandos regarded as among the most skilled Special Forces.