Possible Indian Military Scenarios - XII

[k prasad]

I was just about to post a comment suggesting that Vivek hold back his posts and release them one by one to ensure constant flow, rather than the burst mode firing that i thought was happening... but that was until I realized that the last post was yesterday!!!

On a more serious note, you know you're getting addicted when you start trolling through the old mil. scen. threads to get your fix .... GOO VIVEKJI!!!

[vivek_ahuja]

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER
FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
DAY 4 + 1120 HRS (L)

The Indian Major was sitting silently in the rear seat along with the Royal Bhutanese Army Lt-Colonel as their three jeep convoy drove by the frozen waters of the large high altitude lakes near the foothills of the peaks surrounding the massive Chomolhari peak range. The ride was bumpy and uneven as they drove on, reflecting the fair-weather nature of the 1-tonne track that had been recently constructed to support the remote Royal Bhutanese Army units stationed in the region on border security duty.

The reason the Indian Major attached to the Indian Military Training Team or IMTRAT, for short, was here was because of the precarious nature of this section of the Tibet-Bhutan border. Sitting between the truly massive Chomolhari peaks to the south and other sister peaks to the north, the border along this sector did not follow the traditional watershed principle of boundary delineation. In this sector alone the Bhutanese territory extended like a semicircle, jutting into Tibetan territory beyond the foothills of the peaks. Beyond the foothills behind it, this sector sat on the classic plateau of Tibet and was flat and easily traversable. But to get here, the RBA units had to cross the ridges and peaks behind them.

On the other side of the border here sat the People’s Liberation Army. Their crucial highway from Gyantse to the Sikkim border near the Chumbi valley passed less than a dozen kilometres at the closest point with this sector of the Bhutanese border. As such, it was far easier to access this side of the border than it was from the Bhutanese side, and that made the local Bhutanese Army positions vulnerable. But it had been so since decades. It was only in the recent history that the Bhutanese had changed the status quo somewhat...

They had built a fair-weather 1-tonne road starting from the foothills right up to the perimeter of the semicircle that jutted into the Tibetan plains. Once RBA soldiers crossed the peaks behind them on foot or via helicopters, they could use these roads to move around in vehicles on their side of the border. This had allowed the Bhutanese Army to station more units in the sector than before to improve its security. Nevertheless, to put things in perspective, the RBA never had more than two Companies of infantry supported by mortars in this semicircle sector. By comparison, the PLA across them had an entire Battalion supported by heavy artillery and light armor units devoted to guarding the perimeter of the semicircle. If a battle was fought, it would be no surprise what the end result was going to be.

For the Indian Major riding along with the Bhutanese Battalion 2IC, the directives from his CO at IMTRAT HQ were clear. With a war underway along the entire Indo-China front, and with a Corps level battle about to begin in this sector of the front, the threat to Bhutan had to be ascertained. The Chinese had been looking to secure their left flanks in the Chumbi valley for some time now. Luckily for them, they held all the dominant features along most of the Tibet-Bhutan border.

Except this one...the Major corrected to himself. The Chinese had never really underestimated the threat to their left flank from Bhutan, given the influence of the Indian Army there. It was a flank that neither the Indian nor the Chinese High Commands had overlooked. The question was: what was to be done about it? From where they were driving now, the Major could see the outlines of the hills surrounding the Dochen Tso to the north and the long convoys of Chinese vehicles moving along the highway to the south. This sector was a gold mine for information on Chinese activities in the Chumbi-valley sector...

The three jeeps came to a stop just west of the freezing lakes that made up the region. The Bhutanese Lt-Colonel stepped out of the second jeep along with the Indian Major and walked over to the RBA Captain standing near the edge of the road along with two of his soldiers in winter uniforms. He handed the two new officers a pair of binoculars. The Indian officer removed his sunglasses to see through the binoculars properly and could easily make out the type of light armour vehicles moving south on the highway from Gyantse. The RBA Captain then pointed out the Chinese units across the borders that were facing his Company in this sector. A few seconds later the Lt-Colonel and the Major lowered the binoculars.

“So what do you think?” the Lt-Colonel asked the IMTRAT Major.

“It’s too valuable for us and therefore they will try and deny it to us. They are very vulnerable here. What they fear is that we will use this sector as a staging area to launch operations against their only arterial route to the south from Gyantse.”

“But that’s impossible. We cannot stage anything from here other than a few Battalions at the most!”

“And properly supported by heavy artillery from near Linghzi and air support, those few Battalions would be all that would be needed to capture and hold that section of the highway over there and cut off the supplies to their Divisions to the south. I agree, it’s probably something remote to consider from our side, but the real question is whether the Chinese will take that risk.” The Major continued dryly.

“So what are you saying, Major?” the RBA Lt-Colonel asked.
“You are going to get attacked in this sector before we get attacked at Nathu-La.”

“Then the Royal Bhutanese Army soldiers will fight for their territory to their last breath and their last round and prevent China from taking it away from us.” The RBA Lt-Colonel asserted strongly. The Indian officer listened silently and then looked away to the east before speaking:

“Then Bhutan will get dragged into this war with China as well.”

[disha]

Cool! Thanks Vivekji.

[rkhanna]

How about Deploying the SFF to the Tibet-Bhutan Border with mobile ATGM Crews. Hit and run warfare while the RBA do their best in their Defensive Positions?

Time for SpecOps to go offensive behind enemy lines?

[jamwal]

Good writing Vivek ji. I thought you were too busy with your work and book to post more often. This scenario is going well.

[Shankar]

THE DAY OF THE TIGER-1

Mumbai jihadists' prime target was Jewish center
"When asked during interrogation why Nariman House was specifically targetted, Ajmal reportedly told the police they wanted to sent a message to Jews across the world by attacking the ultra orthodox synagogue."
"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans" -- Qur'an 5:82
"Nariman House, not Taj, was the prime target on 26/11," by Somendra Sharma for DNAIndia, January 5 (thanks to Pamela):
Think 26/11, and images of the carnage at the Taj come to mind. But the terrorists themselves were in no doubt that Nariman House was the prime focus. For this was the place which housed a Jewish centre, and the fanatics from Pakistan were clear that they wanted to send a message to the world from there.
The Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating the terror attacks, has found that the terrorists’ handlers in Pakistan were clear this operation should not fail under any circumstances. The rest of the operations — at the Taj, Oberoi and Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus — were intended to amplify the effect.
A senior police official, told DNA on condition of anonymity, that the interrogation of Mohammed Amir Iman Ajmal (aka Kasab) revealed as much. Just before entering the city, the terrorists’ team leader, Ismail Khan, briefed them once again about their targets. “But Khan briefed Imran Babar, alias Abu Akasha, and Nasir, alias Abu Umer, intensely on what to do at Nariman House,” the officer said.
When asked during interrogation why Nariman House was specifically targetted, Ajmal reportedly told the police they wanted to sent a message to Jews across the world by attacking the ultra orthodox synagogue.
According to the statement by Ajmal, Khan told Babar and Nasir that even if the others failed in their operation, they both could not afford to. “The Nariman House operation has to be a success,” the officer said, quoting from Ajmal’s statement.
“Khan also said that as far as Nariman House was concerned, there should not be even a minimal glitch in finding it and capturing it,” the officer quoted Ajmal as saying.
After the dinghy carrying the 10 terrorists reached Mumbai at the Macchimar colony opposite Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade, it was decided that no bombs would be planted in the taxi to be used to reach Nariman House.
“The idea,” according to the police officer, “was that if Babar and Nasir got delayed in locating and entering Nariman House, the bomb in the taxi may explode even before they entered their target.”...
“Ansari told us that he did not divulge this information earlier because it would have jeopardised the most important operation of the LeT. He had also been warned by the LeT that Nariman House was their most secret operation and must not be compromised at any cost,” the officer said.
Posted at January 6, 2009 3:18 AM
**************************************

op Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Zarar Shah captured in the crackdown on militants earlier this month in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the terror attacks in Mumbai, a media report said
on Wednesday.

Shah has also implicated other LeT members, and had broadly confirmed the confession made by the sole captured
militant Ajmal Kasab to Indian investigators--that the 10 assailants trained in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and then went by boat from Karachi to Mumbai ], the Wall Street Journal reported quoting a senior Pakistani security official.

The paper said Pakistan's own investigationof terror attacks in Mumbai had begun to show substantive links between the LeT and 10 gunmen who took part in the Mumbai mission.

Pakistani security officials were quoted as saying that a top Lashkar commander, Zarar Shah, has admitted a role
in the Mumbai attack during interrogation. The paper quoted a person familiar with investigation as saying that Shah also admitted that the attackers spent at least a few weeks in Karachi, training in urban combat to hone skills they would use in their assault.

The disclosure, it said, could add new international pressure on Pakistan to accept that the attacks, which left 183 dead in India, originated within its borders and to prosecute or extradite the suspects.

That raises difficult and potentially destabilising issues for the country's new civilian government, its military
and the spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence--which is conducting interrogations of militants it once cultivated as
partners, the Journal said.
"He is singing," the security official said of Shah.

The admission, the official told the paper, is backed up by US intercepts of a phone call between Shah and one of
the attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, the site of a 60-hour confrontation with Indian security forces.

A second person familiar with the investigation was quoted by the Journal as saying that Shah told Pakistani
interrogators that he was one of the key planners of the operation, and that he spoke with the attackers during the
rampage to give them advice and keep them focused.

Shah, the paper said, was picked up along with fellow Lashkar commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi during the military camp raids in PoK.

The probe, the Journal said, also is stress-testing an uncomfortable shift under way at Pakistan's spy agency -- and
the government -- since the election of civilian leadership replacing the military-led regime earlier this year.

Military and intelligence officials, it says, acknowledge they have long seen India as their primary enemy and Islamist extremists such as Lashkar as allies.

But now the ISI is in the midst of being revamped, and its ranks purged of those seen as too soft on Islamic militants.

That revamp and the Mumbai attacks are in turn putting pressure on the civilian leadership, which risks a backlash
among the population -- and among elements of ISI and the military -- if it is too accommodating to India.

" "Don't fight the ISI. It can make or break any regime in Pakistan," retired General Mirza Aslam Beg, a former army chief, was quoted as saying.

The delicate politics of the Mumbai investigation, the Journal said, have given the spy agency renewed sway just when the government was trying to limit its influence. A Western diplomat told the paper that the question now is what Pakistan will do with the evidence it is developing.

The big fear in the West and India is a repeat of what happened after a 2001 attack on India's parliament, which led
to the ban on Lashkar.
Top militant leaders were arrested only to be released months later, the Journal noted. Lashkar and other groups
continued to operate openly, even though formal ISI links were scaled back or closed, the diplomat was quoted as saying.

"They've got the guys. They have the confessions. What do they do now?" the diplomat said. "We need to see that this is more than a show. We want to see the entire infrastructure of terror dismantled. There needs to be real prosecutions this time."

A spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari , Farhatullah Babar, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that he
wasn't aware of the Pakistani investigation yet producing any links between Lashkar militants and the Mumbai attacks.

"The Interior Ministry has already stated that the government of Pakistan has not been furnished with any evidence," he said.

The Pakistani security official, it said, cautioned that the investigation is still in early stages and a "more full picture" could emerge once India decides to share more information.

Pakistani authorities didn't have evidence that LeT was involved in the attacks before the militants' arrest in
PoK, the security official claimed. They were captured based only on initial guidance from US and British authorities.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/...ai-attacks.htm



TOP ARTICLE | The Clock Is Ticking
14 Jan 2009, 0010 hrs IST, K Subrahmanyam

The ‘New York Times' carried an article on Sunday titled 'Obama's Worst Pakistan Nightmare'. The timing of the article by David Sanger,nine days before the Obama inauguration, is highly significant. The national security adviser of the outgoing administration, Stephen Hadley, in an earlier interview said that Pakistan was the biggest foreign policy challenge to the incoming Barack Obama administration.
At the end of George Bush's term, his aides are reported to have handed over to Obama's transition team a lengthy review of policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, concluding that the US has far more at stake in preventing Pakistan's collapse than it does in stabilising Afghanistan or Iraq. According to Sanger, the author of the transition report has recorded that "only one of those countries has a hundred nuclear weapons. For al-Qaeda and other Islamists this is the home game... For anyone trying to keep a nuclear weapon going off in the United States, it is our home game too".
Sanger has written about Pakistan's command and control over its nuclear weapons after a detailed session with General (Retd) Khalid Kidwai, head of the Strategic Plans Division. Kidwai has been doing this job since 2002, interacting extensively with the American media, think tanks, the Pentagon and State Department to persuade them that Pakistani nuclear weapons were quite safe and there were no risks of them falling into the hands of jehadis. But the Americans are not convinced. Sanger narrates how Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told President Bush during a meeting in Washington about the crackdown on a major madrassa even as American intelligence had the transcripts of the Pakistani army giving advance warning to the madrassa about impending raids.
In these circumstances, American officials have doubts about two kinds of vulnerabilities of Pakistani nuclear weapons. The first, according to one of the most senior officials in the Bush administration, is what happens when the Pakistanis move their weapons. The US fears that some groups could try to provoke a confrontation between Pakistan and India in the hope that the Pakistani military would transport nuclear weapons closer to the frontlines where they would be more vulnerable to seizure. When the 26/11 attacks occurred in Mumbai, officials told Sanger that one of the attackers' motives might have been to trigger exactly that series of events. The second, according to the officials, are the steadfast efforts of different extremist groups to infiltrate the nuclear labs and put sleepers in there. This American fear can be traced back to A Q Khan's proliferation record and the uncovering of links between Bashiruddin Mahmood, a pioneering Pakistani
nuclear scientist, and al-Qaeda.
The article discloses that US spent $100 million in aiding Pakistan to improve the safety and security of its weapons. But the Pakistanis are extremely suspicious of the Americans and have refused to accept direct technological help because of the fear that any electronic locking mechanisms from the US could have devices to disable their weapons. The Pakistanis are also unwilling to allow US special forces to operate against jehadis in their territory because of suspicion that Americans may develop capability to use special forces to seize their weapons.
The American worries are mostly about the jehadis. In the last year of the Bush administration, the directors of National Intelligence and CIA undertook several trips to Pakistan to convince Pervez Musharraf and General Ashfaq Kayani that the militants in the tribal areas were now aiming to bring down the government in Islamabad. Sanger says, "The message was simple and direct. The Pakistani leadership needed to forget about India and focus on the threat from within". President-elect Obama echoed similar sentiments in interviews.
The NYT report clearly conveys the concerns of Washington about Pakistan as the Obama administration is about to assume office. There will be sceptics in India who will insist that in this situation the US is likely to succumb to Pakistani blackmail and sacrifice India's security interests at the altar of trying to maintain Pakistan's stability, as they have been doing in the last eight years. On the other hand, there can be views that Americans are no longer likely to accept the degree of risk vis-a-vis Pakistan conveyed in this article and continue to be taken for a ride.
It is obvious that Obama is taking this challenge seriously. Vice-president-elect Joe Biden visited Pakistan just days before the inauguration. Following the Mumbai attack, diplomatic interaction between India and the US has intensified. What is needed today is a strategic understanding at the highest leadership levels between India and US on the international threat arising out of Pakistan.
The US Congressional Bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in its report last month concluded, "Were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan." The US is concerned about Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists and becoming a threat to them. Pakistanis assert that their nukes are India-specific. Therefore, there is a mutuality of strategic interest between the two countries on the developments in Pakistan.

[Shankar]

Dawood directly involved in Mumbai attack: Russia intelligence
18 Dec 2008, 1346 hrs IST, Times Now
NEW DELHI: The Russian government has issued a statement saying that it believes that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was directly involved in the

Mumbai terror attacks and his network was used by the terrorists to carry out the multiple attacks. ()

Moscow, which has been sharing intelligence with India, further believes that Dawood's drug network, which runs through Afghanistan, was used to finance the terror attack.

Russia has also gone public with its intelligence inputs that point to the involvement of Dawood Ibrahim, who is believed to be operating his vast network from Karachi, in the Mumbai terror attacks.

“The gathered inputs testify that regional drug baron Dawood Ibrahim had provided his logistics network for preparing and carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks,” Russia’s federal anti-narcotics service director Viktor Ivanov said in an interview to Russian government daily Rossiskaya Gazeta. He had further said that the Mumbai attacks were a ‘burning example’ of how the illegal drug trafficking network was used for carrying out terror activities.

Special representative of the Russian president for international co-operation in the fight against terrorism, Anatoly Safonov, who led the Russian delegation at the meeting of the joint working group, has said that the drug network, which finances the terror network, was a joint problem for India and Russia and that the two countries co-operate more closely in the area.

This was reflected in a joint statement released after the talks. The two sides have agreed to work together to track terror funds. “The two sides noted that curbing financing of terrorism is a key component of the counter-terrorism strategy and agreed to strengthen bilateral interaction in this field,” the joint statement said.

Safonov has said that Russia is willing to work with India to “inject new dynamism” in the convention that has been held up over the definition of terrorism. The Russian side had also offered to explain to Indian officials the steps taken by Russia after the Beslan school terrorist attack.

First Published : 12 Jan 2009 11:48:17 AM IST
Last Updated : 12 Jan 2009 11:53:56 AM IST
WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama today voiced fear that Mumbai-type attacks can be replicated by terrorists in other parts of world, including the US and said his administration will focus on putting more pressure on "our major target" al-Qaeda.
Asked about 26/11 terror strikes in an interview to ABC News, Obama said the "danger is always there" to have a Mumbai-type attack in an American city.
"When you see what happened in Mumbai, that potentially points to a new strategy, not simply suicide bombings but you have commandos taking over...," he said.
"I think you have to anticipate that having seen the mayhem that was created in Mumbai, that there are going to be potential copycats or other terrorist organisations that think this is something that they can replicate," Obama said.
At a Congressional hearing on Mumbai attack this week, top US intelligence and police officials had expressed similar fear and said that this makes all the more necessary to ensure that those responsible for such an attack are brought to justice, given that US cities are always on top of the hit list of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
"So we're going to have to be vigilant in terms of our intelligence, we're going to have to make sure that we are more effective in terms of anticipating some of these issues, and we've got to continue to put pressure on al-Qaeda, which is our major target -- that's something that I talked about extensively during the campaign," Obama said.
"That has to be one of our primary areas of focus when it comes to our international security."

[sunilUpa]

AoA Shankar dada..has cosen to pulverize porkis on the eve of Republic day! Thank you.

I knew it, 2009 is going to be much better than 2008.

[karadi]

Eagerly waiting for the next installment!

kaRadi

[Shankar]

[quote]Pakistan upset with US over warning

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 5:01 pm Under World News Buzz up! 25 views

Pakistan on Wednesday (Jan 21) reacted to Obama’s warning on conditional aid saying Pakistan will review its options if US doesnt adopt a positive policy. Though the Obama Administration has begun arm-twisting Pakistan into prosecuting the war on terror as of now Islamabad seems to be in no mood to listen.

Pakistan Ambassador in US, Hussain Haqqani said that if Obama administration didn’t adopt positive policy towards Pakistan, then Pakistan would also review its options.

However, Haqqani hoped that Barack Obama as compared to Bush will believe in holding talks and hoped the he (Obama) would give more patient hearing to Pakistan’s views. He further hoped that Barack Obama in relation to war against terrorism would also pay attention to the political, foreign policy factors and socio-economic matters.

Though the government in Pakistan may not welcome unsolicited intervention from the Obama Administration there is an recognition in Pakistan that Islamabad has to take drastic steps to turn off the terror tap.

Talat Masood, security analyst said, “I think government really has to really act. It just cannot just be a silent spectator to what is happening, otherwise the state will collapse and you will have a generation of highly uneducated people who will have nothing else to do except to fight, and Pakistan’s future is doomed if we give into this.”

Pakistan’s military has also issued a blunt call for outside powers to stop demanding it do more to prove its sincerity in the campaign against militancy. Pakistan’s Chief of staff General Tariq Majid said that repeated rhetoric by some of the external players asking Pakistan to do more and prove sincerity must stop.

Majid didn’t refer to any country or US Central Command Chief General David Petraeus but he said international players must come out for the coercive mindset and instead start delivering on the promised capacity assistance. Majid said that Pakistan did not need to prove its sincerity considering the sacrifices it was making which cannot be matched by those players making these demandas.[/quote]

[p_saggu]

Shankarda,
This is wonderful read. Hope you are planning this as a prologue to your scenario. It should be wonderful to follow it, even participate in whatever way you feel is appropriate.
But one feverant and humble request - please try to make it as real as possible - NO SUDDEN DEATH ENDINGS - The blue forces have to fight it out and see their own guts and blood spilled before victory comes - victory does not come at all times.
One Su-30 MKI can't realistically take out 10 F-16s (Even though it may come close). India can do a lot of things on its own - This doesn't require the Israelis or the Americans or the Russians to fly in their airforces.

Wonderful wonder so far what ever you have put up!!!
Godspeed

[Shankar]

Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 05:01.
•
Islamabad - At least four people were killed and nine injured as a US drone attacked a house in the border area of Pakistan with Afghanistan, news reports said Wednesday.
Quoting Pakistani security officials, GEO TV television reported that a US pilotless drone fired missiles at a house near the town Mir Ali in North Waziristan.
Two other drones were shot at earlier, the report said.
North Waziristan is regarded a haven for Taleban militants and members of the al-Qaeda terrorism network.
Tension increased between the United States and Pakistan after a series of incidents in the border region, as the US stepped up strikes into Pakistani territory.
GEO TV and CNN news reported the death of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of Pakistan's Taliban. GEO TV said Meshud, who is said to be responsible for the murder of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, suffered from high blood pressure and kidney illness.
Mehsud's death was confirmed by Pakistani military officials, CNN said, while Taliban sources dispute the authenticity of the report. Mehsud, said to be in his 30s, denied his involvement in Bhutto's murder. (dpa)
Islamabad, Apr 3: The new Pakistan Government has maid it clear that it would not allow US forces to operate unilaterally from its soil.
New Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the right of hot pursuit to attack targets within Pakistan couldn’t be granted to Washington.
“We cannot allow any other country to take action inside our territory. This is a matter of sovereignty and we cannot compromise on it,” Qureshi said.
During a meeting with the military commanders, the new Government reiterated that it would like to pursue dialogue to contain the militancy in the country rather than the US-endorsed military tactics used by President Pervez Musharraf.
The Pakistan Government also maintained that it would look to political engagement with the militants and would simultaneously go for “economic development backed by a credible military element,” The Australian reported.
According to a majority of analysts, this represents a major change not just in the war against the al-Qaida and Taliban-linked insurgency in Pakistan, but also in the global war against extremism.
Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani is said to have briefed the government about all aspects of the nuclear-armed nation's security situation and its battle with jihadi militants, according to reports.
Sources close to the meeting said there was “a consensus in both the political leadership and the military top brass that Pakistan will not tolerate any direct action from America or any other state in its territorial limits, and all operations and dealings in troubled areas would be dealt with by the Pakistani authorities.”
There was also “unanimity of view that a political solution to the problem of extremism and terrorism in tribal areas would be sought, while the military option would be used as a backup measure and that too would be solely managed by the country's armed forces,” the reports said. (ANI)
Pak-Afghan border terror threat top of Obama Biden ageda
Se
Washington, Dec. 22(ANI): The US Vice President elect Josep Biden has described tackling terror safe-havens in the lawless Pak-Afghan tribal areas as the top challenge for the Obama administration in the first six months.
Terming the issue as the number one challenge for the Obama administration, he said: First and foremost, I think if you want to talk about immediacy, I think that the Afghanistan-Pakistan track is a very immediate concern.
Biden said that the issue becomes more important because of the fact that it implicates India too.
I think what is clear from the outset here is that we have a situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is urgent. It implicates India. It also implicates a whole lot of other very complicated issues, The Dawn quoted Biden as saying.
Pakistan stands as an important ally of the US in South-Asia, as a significant proportion of supplies to troops in Afghanistan depended on the stability of Pakistan. (ANI)

WASHINGTON: Pentagon says US is going to pursue terrorists wherever they operate, plan their operations, try to seek safe harbor,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
U.S. commandos attacked an al-Qaeda target in Pakistan this week in an operation that could signal more intense American efforts to thwart militant attacks in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The raid follows growing frustration among U.S. officials, who said Pakistan has not done enough to combat militants operating in the shared border area despite a recent increase in Pakistani operations that have drawn violent reprisals.
While U.S. officials would not comment on either the commando raid or the missile strike, which occurred as Pakistan prepared to elect a new president on Saturday, the Pentagon said the United States would pursue its enemies.
By hitting militants in Pakistan, officials and analysts said the United States hopes to inhibit their activities by subjecting them to an atmosphere of constant threat.
“You get a change in behavior because they have to move constantly, there’s no security. The sanctuary aspects of Pakistan are very sharply reduced,” said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office in four months, both of his would-be successors, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, have stressed the need for Pakistan to focus on security.

As th new US government came to power the equation between US and Pakistan started changing dramatically and so did america"s strategic relations with India . The terror attack in Mumbai consolidated the understanding that a India could no longer avoid a direct role in the global war on terror . The cancer of terror was spreading too fast .As the political rhetoric continued un- abetted on both sides of the border the military synergy between the two greatest democracies in the world crystallized into a new found alliance .Nothing about this new alliance was mentioned in the press but away from public gaze the most powerful counter terrorist military machine on earth, was quickly taking shape . The new found alliance had strange bed fellows in the form of Israel and Russia as China distanced itself from pakistan's doomed policy of using terror as an instrument to gain global recognition.

In the dark depths of real politik the plan to exterminate the vermins of terror were being finalized and ope rationalized

Pakistans nuclear bluff was about to be called

[Nitesh]

gr8 work shankarda.

Hope something interesting is coming

[Shankar]

please some one tell me how to upload pictures step by step

[p_saggu]

1. The picture has to be on the internet for it to appear on the forum
2. If it is not on the net go to http://www.imageshack.com
Click Upload image and select your image from the dialogue box - then click upload.
3. The image will appear as a small thumbnail on imageshack, with numerous links. Click the thumbnail and the image will appear in its full size on imageshack.

4. Now this image in the internet - you can bring it into any forum page.
Right click on the image > Copy image location (Mozilla Firefox)
5. On the BRF Post a reply page, click the Img tab.
6. [img] [ /img] will appear on the page.
7. paste the link location between the two img's eg: [img] [ /img]
(PS you can even write [img] [ /img] if you want from your keyboard)
8. Submit the post on to the forum, the image will appear on the forum page.

[Shankar]

The hope of more considerate approach from the new US government was soon put ot rest . The new US president sent a clear message to the terrorists a day after he took over office

US drone attacks kill 14 in Waziristan: First Obama-era strikes in tribal areas



Dawn Report


MIRAMSHAH / WANA, Jan 23: Missiles fired by suspected US drones killed at least 14 people, including some Arabs, in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan on Friday.

(AP news agency quoted security officials as saying that 18 people had been killed and at least five foreign militants were among them).

The attacks came three days after US President Barack Obama took office and a day after he had appointed a veteran diplomat as his special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to local people, three missiles hit a guesthouse of Khalil Khan Dawar in Zeraki village in North Waziristan, killing him and eight others on the spot. The compound was completely destroyed.

Khalil Dawar was reported to be associated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan of Baitullah Mehsud.

A security official told Dawn that four Arab militants and another four from Punjab were among the dead.

Soon after the attack at around 5.10pm, Taliban militants surrounded the area and stopped locals from coming near the destroyed compound. They retrieved the bodies of their comrades from the rubble and took them to an unspecified place.Villagers claimed that at least nine bodies had been pulled out of the rubble.

They reported hearing the sound of drones before the explosion.

In the other attack, two missiles fired by a Predator hit the house of pro-government tribal elder Malik Deen Faraz in Gangikhel area of South Waziristan, killing him, his three sons and a grandson.

According to local people, the missiles were fired at about 8.45pm and a large portion of the house was destroyed.

Soon after the attack, electricity went off and the area plunged into darkness. Drones continued to hover over the area preventing local people from carrying out rescue work.

At least six people, some foreigners among them, were killed in two drone attacks in South Waziristan on Jan 1 and 3.

Dozens of such attacks by unmanned US planes have taken place in tribal areas since August last year.

About 16 people have been killed by the Taliban on charges of being US spies in North Waziristan since the start of the year.

[Shankar]

[Shankar]

Thanks sagu - by the way this is my photo taken at soesterberg air force base -netherlands a month back

[Shankar]

sagu how to reduce size

[Shankar]

The nature and magnitude of Islamic terror was changing in more ways than one particularly in the years 2006-2009. As US under Bush got more and more involved in the fruitless war in Iraq egged on by the Oil multinationals, Taliban entrenched and consolidated their position along the Afghanistan border and more particularly the state of Waziristan .The true state of terror was being born out of the dismembering state of Pakistan ,totally powerless to stop the emergence of new reality on its northern border having supported the developments in the early years and handicapped by the presence of increasing number of fundamentalist supporters in its military and intelligence community.This new rality was reflected in a number of publications advocating a new more radical approach to the growing problem.

" the fact that Jihadistan has gradually become an empirical reality is borne out by the fate of Pakistan's efforts to return the region to its sovereignty. The turning point came in 2006 when President Pervez Musharraf, in Ashley J. Tellis' words, ordered 'major formations from the Army XI Corps and elite Special Services Group into the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas)' ostensibly to root out the Taliban and Al Qaeda and remove them once and for all from Pakistani soil. The undertaking was a dismal failure, which cost the army over 600 lives. 'The core members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership survived and remain active antagonists,' Tellis concludes. (Carnegie Policy Brief, December 2007).

Arnaud de Borchgrave goes further and declares that the 'Taliban and Al Qaeda have reconstituted their strongholds with virtual impunity; and a chaotic Pakistan, which many terrorists call home, should be the new US geostrategic priority.' (Commentary, Nov 8, 2007). Bill Roggio, in the Long War Journal Sep 13, 2006, is even more emphatic: 'South Waziristan fell some time in the spring of 2006 (I suspect sometime in late March). On March 6, I referred to South Waziristan as 'Talibanistan'. Shariah Law was instituted ... at this time and the Taliban began to rule openly. A single political party was established in South Waziristan, a party loyal to the Taliban. It is said a secret accord was signed between the Pakistani government and the Taliban around this time...'

Bill Roggio came closer than the other two to drawing the obvious conclusion: The outcome of the US failure at Tora Bora to eliminate Osama bin Laden, thereby allowing him to redeploy his forces and resources in Waziristan, enabled him to merge his followers with the remnants of the Taliban in a region which for all practical purposes has long constituted a political vacuum as far as viable Pakistani suzerainty is concerned. 'While the fighting continues in Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have set up the 'Islamic Republic of Waziristan' much like Al Qaeda in Iraq did in Haditha an Qaim...' (Ibid, Feb 7, 2006).

Given the nature of the Pathan cultural communities occupying this social space, it proved possible for Al Qaeda and the Taliban to infuse them with their ultra-fundamentalist Islamic ideology and establish a nexus of personal relationships with local structures of power into which the region is subdivided at the grassroots level. The nature of these local structures of power and their relationship to encompassing political authority was depicted by Frederick Barth in his classic study of the Swat Pathans. (1959). 'The Pakhtun chief,' he declared, 'is the nucleus around which form a corporate following and field of political influence.' (p. 89) Because these local systems were so highly individualised and fluid in composition, Barth concluded that the encompassing state, if it was to succeed, was compelled to exercise a limited writ. The central system presupposes and superimposes itself upon the local systems without materially altering them. This allows the latter to continue following their own internal l gic, maintain their special identity, while the encompassing state bargains for whatever material and intangible resources it can retrieve from this loosely integrated interrelationship.

The Swat model, in essence, prevails throughout Waziristan and FATA; it is this model, which the Taliban and Al Qaeda have successfully, indeed instinctively, adapted to their larger purpose. They have gradually assembled the Mahsud, Wazir and other tribal groups into a loosely integrated confederation, which acknowledges Mullah Omar (the Taliban) and Osama bin Laden (Al Qaeda) as their spiritual and political 'Emirs'. It is no accident that Baitullah Mahsud, the person who ordained and orchestrated the execution of Benazir Bhutto, has been designated the 'Emir of Taliban in Pakistan' and 'second in command after Mullah Mohammed Omar...' (de Borchgrave, Feb 29, 2008). He exemplifies the powerful position that the Mahsud tribe occupies in the coalition of tribes that now forms the body politic of 'Jihadistan'.

The Afghan National Directorate for Security clearly describes the recruitment techniques through which the Taliban and Al Qaeda have built their state within a state in the Hindu Kush: 'They approach tribes, sub-tribes and communities in the villages.' They induce them to sever their relationship to the government 'and also preach to the population to support jihad against the Americans and the government which they consider infidel'. In this fashion they integrate the tribal-rooted local structures of power into their political nexus. 'Those who (contend) that the region is a state point to the facts that the federal authority is little to nonexistent and that the area is ruled mostly by tribal elders.' (James Rupert, Newsday, 2006-02-09.)

This provides the Taliban/Al Qaeda leadership with an extensive demographic base from which they can extract the 'resources' needed to pursue their political and ideological agenda. It provides them a domain within which they can propagate Shariah Law and maintain the rudiments of a legal system (Shoora) that is empowered to render judicial decisions, ranging from resolving property disputes to the death penalty. It gives them an 'educational system' (madrassas) through which they can indoctrinate the young with their ultra-orthodox, 9th century version of Islam, and then recruit the brainwashed 'graduates' into their military formations which relentlessly attack the forces of the Afghan government, the US and the UN.

Their effectiveness was recently demonstrated when militants attacked a main prison in Kandahar province. 'They used suicide truck bombs loaded with about two tonnes of explosives to blast holes in the mud brick walls of the Soviet-era prison,' CNN reported, and freed more than 400 of their incarcerated brethren. It is also attested to by the rising death toll they are inflicting on the coalition and NATO forces deployed against them; the most recent report declares that in June there were 40 deaths, the highest monthly toll in seven years!

'The Taliban reportedly control most of the region with its own authoritarian rule, including beheadings and other violent punishments which the Pakistan government has been unable to stop,' declares Mansoor Ijaz (Wall Street Journal, Sep 19, 2006).

Al Qaeda/Taliban have also established a viable narco-based agricultural economy within their domain which makes up for the personal fortune that Osama bin Laden originally used to fund the jihad until American and Saudi interdiction dried it up.

What then are the policy implications for the United States, for Pakistan, for Afghanistan, and for India of the rise of this terrorist state in Waziristan which with impunity carries out military attacks, political assassinations and a relentless ideological offensive against its avowed enemies in every direction? The US and its allies must henceforth pursue policies which treat al Qaeda/Taliban as more than merely a collection of disparate terrorist bands; rather it must deal with them as a hostile state against whom all-out war and systematic diplomacy must be waged. To accomplish this, the US must divert forces from its stalemated misadventure in Iraq in order to increase its military and political presence in Afghanistan, in concert with Afghan and coalition forces, until it is capable of breaking the back of the Waziristan Emirate and returning its tribal societies to Pakistan sovereignty. This must be done with or without Pakistani acquiescence, but hopefully with the former, not only for Pakistan's sake but also for the interest of the region as well. Valuable time is slipping by and action is required which recognises the political reality that jihadi state formation in Waziristan has wrought."

[k prasad]

4 days from Vivek's last scenario!!!!!

[asbchakri]

4 days from Vivek's last scenario!!!!!

Viviek bhai must be mesmerized by Shankar Da's build up for his new scenari, which i say is WHOOPA!!.

But vivek bahi we still are looking forward to u'r scenrio which is shaping up brilliantly. Please continue

[vivek_ahuja]

PLAAF REGIONAL COMMAND CENTER
KASHGAR
DAY 4 + 1120 HRS (L)

“This is not working.” Colonel Feng said quietly. Lt-Gen Chen nodded silently as both watched the massive screen inside the air operations centre showing the ongoing battle between four SU-27s and four J-8IIs and a mixture of Indian SU-30s and Mirage-2000s. Losses had been registered on both sides as the BVR engagement had disintegrated into a melee at close range. On both sides the battle was being watched by an IL-76 based AWACS. In case of the Chinese it was the KJ-2000 flying hundreds of kilometres to the north of the LAC and a similar distance south of it sat the Indian Phalcon.

Three Indian aircraft including two Mirage-2000s and one SU-30 had been destroyed so far. In return, all four J-8IIs had been lost during the initial stages of the BVR engagement itself while the SU-27s had suffered two losses. The last two SU-27s were currently trying desperately to disengage from the battle by pulling the battle closer and closer to the northern LAC sector where the few surviving S-300 batteries could provide cover. But for the two senior PLAAF officers watching the battle force on their side disintegrate in front of the Indian heavy fighters, the battle had been lost in other ways already...

The role of the PLAAF during the ground offensive of the PLA into Laddakh that had started since morning had been to provide air cover against Indian air attacks. Unfortunately, the powerful S-300 belt in the Aksai Chin had been chopped in half by the elaborate attacks of the IAF under the auspices of Operation Phoenix. The other major air battles between the Leh based Mig-29s and their major SU-27 Regiment two days ago had failed to annihilate the IAF’s ability to interfere with the Chinese ground actions. Cruise missile attacks against Indian airbases had only achieved limited gains. Leh had been made inoperable only for short periods of time, as were Thoise and Avantipur airbases. The only significant gains were the complete disabling of airbases at Daulat Beg Oldi, Chushul and Fukche. Other tactical Advanced Landing Grounds or ALGs had been made inoperable but they only affected the Indian Army, not the IAF.

As it stood now, therefore, the PLAAF’s ability to defend the PLA Divisions surging into Laddakh was critically reduced. In fact, IAF Jaguars were striking deep and hard into Chinese territory even inside south-western Tibet. The war for the skies of Laddakh was close to being lost for the Chinese and the PLAAF senior commanders knew it. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before the PLA began to feel the real heat of the adverses in the skies above them and then the ground war would begin to shift into the Indian’s favour. That was unacceptable.

“So what are our options, Feng?” Chen asked as they watched the last two SU-27s successfully disengage from combat after entering the S-300 defensive belt in northern Aksai-Chin. The Colonel’s response was neutral:

“Not many, sir. It’s only a matter of time now for this sector. We can remedy this situation by bringing in massive reinforcements from those units facing Taiwan and the north to plug the gaps in our defences. But that will denude the Taiwan sectors rapidly. Besides, we don’t have nearly the kind of airbase infrastructure needed to base the numbers of fighters that would be needed. This was exactly why I had proposed the S-300 defensive belt supported by the SU-27s. One S-300 battery supported by carefully placed SU-27s on CAP could hold off fleets of Indian fighters. Once we lost the SU-27s in Maj-Gen Xhigao’s failed attempt to face the Indian fighters head on two days ago, we lost a crucial piece of our defensive wall.”

“Indeed. That fool will pay for this! Had it not been for him, we would still be maintaining control of the skies in this sector. But that is for later. What are our options now?” Chen continued.

“The Indians are concentrating for a major battle in Laddakh. It would be foolish of us to try and engage them at the moment. We need to spread them out and thin them out. They cannot be everywhere at the same time. It would be advisable for us to prod the Pakistanis into upping the stakes, perhaps. Also, the PLA Divisions in the east are anyway about to jump off...”

“Yes. It’s time the skies over the Indian northeast caught fire from the dragon’s breath!” Lt-General Chen smiled as he walked to pick up the phone to his operations centre in Chengdu.

[p_saggu]

Use Irfanview - one of the most wonderful freeware softwares around!!!

Download it form: Download Irfanview
and then its plugins : Plugins / Addons

Click and install Irfanview; then click and install plugins.
Make Irfan View the default image viewer and associate all image files with it.

Now whenever you open an image, it will open with Irfanview.
On Irfanview, click Image > Resize/Resample (Or press Ctrl+R)> Select image size that you want > Click OK
Now for BRF, the image width must be less than 770 pixels so that the image does not destroy page formatting. So when you are selecting the size of the image just enter 770 into the Select New Size "Width" - the height will be put in automatically (Make sure preserve aspect ratio is ticked)

[vivek_ahuja]

PHALCON AWACS (CALL SIGN: EAGLE EYE FOUR)
AIRSPACE OVER NORTHEAST ASSAM
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1420 HRS (L)

“Inbounds! Inbounds! We have inbounds! Twelve inbounds approaching on vector three-one-seven at angels thirty, speed...nine-one-seven kilo-mike-hotel. Type...” The radar console operator pushed one of the buttons near the screen itself and his computer went into the type diagnostics mode by checking radar and flight profiles with existing enemy databases. It spit out the results on screen a moment later and the operator read it off screen to his Mission Controller: “...Jolly-Sevens. Possibly the Beta variants...”

The Mission Controller pondered that piece of information for the moment. The J-7Bs coming down from the said vector made them out to be the forward deployed elements of the 130TH Air Regiment of the 44TH Air Division as per the IAF intelligence. The 44TH AD had been expected to be the first Air Division to become involved in the battle for the skies of the Indian northeast. And rightly so. It was the forward deployed unit designed for combat in the region. Having said that, the 44TH Air Division was not the one armed to the teeth with high performance aircraft. It had amongst itself the J-7 series aircraft that were Mig-21 knockoffs. Since the Division was almost always forward deployed and therefore well within reach of the IAF fighters and cruise missiles, the PLAAF had long since decided against arming these units with very costly aircraft.

The other Division of the PLAAF in the region was the 33RD Air Division. This was the second echelon force that was armed with higher performance fighters including the 99TH Air Regiment armed with SU-27UBKs designated for air combat training but which were also designated to change quickly into the fighter role when required. The strike element of the region was made up of a J-10 regiment independent in command from the 33RD and the 44TH Air Divisions.

Facing this force from the Indian side was a combination of Operational Conversion Unit or OCU Mig-21FLs based at Tezpur, a detachment of Mig-21 Bisons at Chabua and Mig-27s at Hashimara and Kalaikunda. In addition, the temporary detachments based in the region were the SU-30s from Bareilly based No. 8 Squadron. A detachment of No. 24 Squadron SU-30s on AWACS protection duty were also on call and available in case the situation turned dire.

The reason the IAF had not deployed more fighters into the region yet was the inherent vulnerability of all Indian airbases in the region from Chinese missile attacks. This had been proven since the last few days when all major airbases had been coming under consistent missile attacks launched from large number of remote locations in China. It was not so much the airbase denial as was the nuisance factor that affected air operations. In some cases however, such as had been the case at Jorhat and Chabua a day before, the Chinese attacks proved lethal on the basis of probability catching up with the Indian side. Two Mig-21 Bisons had been lost at Chabua when their Hardened Aircraft Shelter or HAS had been destroyed by a direct strike of a Chinese cruise missile in what must have been an absolute one in a thousand chance. But these things happen in times of war. Luck is a factor that must always be factored in operational planning.

But the IAF top brass did not believe in luck. They had vacated all unnecessary aircraft and equipment from these airbases with the idea that units can be surged forward when needed. That idea was about to be put to test now...

“Second set of inbounds detected! Twelve inbounds approaching on vector two-five-seven at angels thirty-five, speed...seven-three-five kilo-mike-hotel. Type...SU-27s!” the second console operator shouted. This time the MC got into his operations mode:
“Launch the OCU Migs from Tezpur and the Bisons from Chabua. Vector them towards the J-7 group. Tell them to leave the SU-27 group for the 8 Squadron Sukhois. Alert the EAC ADGES Control of our action plans. Last thing we need is fratricide amongst the confusion. Bring the Mig-27s on readiness and send out a warning to all Army Aviation units to keep low while we deal with the threat. Alert our escort leader of the impending threat as well. We might need his help today...”

“We are noticing electronic interference here! Possible EW aircraft trailing the attackers! Attempting burn-through!” the EW console commander shouted over the headphones. A minute later the EWCC came back online: “Okay. We have burn-through. Suggest passive tracking of possible Tupolev EW aircraft assisting attackers.” The MC’s response was quick on that one:

“Do it!”

[vivek_ahuja]

TEZPUR
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1440 HRS (L)

The klaxons were ringing around the airbase even as the pilots of the Mig-21s on the operational readiness platform or ERP were strapping themselves into their seats. Other ground crews were rushing to get the other aircraft out of their HASs and onto the tarmac outside for immediate takeoff. There were ten available Mig-21FLs at Tezpur for immediate operations. At Chabua there were four Bisons that were already taking to the skies. A few moments later the glass windows around Tezpur shuddered as the flurry of Mig-21s took to the skies on full afterburners and streaked eastwards at low level...

[Shankar]

India is sponge that protects us all... Lashkar No 2 threat after al-Qaeda’

Amitabh Sinha Posted: Jan 29, 2009 at 0232 hrs IST

New Delhi: The US Senate was today told that India “unfortunately” had become the “sponge” that was protecting America and the western liberal world from the hate unleashed by Lashkar-e-Toiba which had emerged as second only to the Al-Qaeda in being a threat to global security.
As the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs concluded its hearings on “Lessons from the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks,” two influential policy advisors testified that despite better preventive and response systems in the US, a Mumbai-like attack on America by LeT was “not inconceivable”.
“It would be a gross error to treat the terrorism facing India — including the terrible recent atrocities — as simply a problem for New Delhi alone. In a very real sense, the outage in Bombay was fundamentally a species of global terrorism not merely because the assailants happened to believe in an obscurantist brand of Islam but, more importantly, because killing Indians turned out to be simply interchangeable with killing citizens of some fifteen different nationalities for no apparent reason whatsoever,” said Ashley J Tellis, Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, a prominent think-tank.

The testimonies — the first since Barack Obama took over on January 20 — come at a time when the new administration is in the process of unveiling its foreign policy priorities for South Asia, having just announced a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan in Richard Holbrooke.
Tellis, who in his previous role as senior advisor to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs had been closely involved in the negotiations for the civil nuclear agreement between India and US, said the fact that LeT had not mounted any direct attacks on the American homeland was not because of want of motivation.
“Given the juicier and far more vulnerable US targets in southern Asia, LeT has simply found it more convenient to attack these in situ rather than over extend itself in reaching out to the continental United States,” he said.
“India has unfortunately become the ‘sponge’ that protects us all. India’s very proximity to Pakistan, which has developed into the epicenter of global terrorism during the last thirty years, has resulted in New Delhi absorbing most of the blows unleashed by those terrorist groups that treat it as a common enemy along with Israel, the United States, and the West more generally,” he said.
Brian Michael Jenkins, senior advisor with the RAND Corporation, another policy group that recently came out with a report on the Mumbai incident, said the attacks in Mumbai showed that the global struggle against the jihadists was far from over.

Karimullah sings: ex-Pakistan Armymen guard Dawood house
Mumbai, August 22: Karimullah Khan Osan Khan, a wanted accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case who was arrested from Nallasopara by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday, has told the police that fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s residence in Karachi is guarded by retired Pakistan Army officials and that he is “extremely well connected” in Pakistan’s political circles. In what could be significant evidence to back these claims, Karimullah has also allegedly provided the Crime Branch some incriminating photographs.
According to the Crime Branch, Karimullah has also revealed that Dawood has invested heavily in the Karachi stock market, and that 1993 serial blasts mastermind Tiger Memon is now one of the biggest real estate players in Karachi with several projects to his name.
“Karimullah has told us that Dawood lives in a two-acre bungalow in Karachi’s Clifton area, and that the residence is provided protection by retired Pakistan Army officials. He has also told us that Anees Ibrahim lives in a residence nearby, while other influential members of the D-gang live in the Defence Colony area of the city. He has told us that all the absconding accused in the 1993 serial blasts case live in Karachi. He has given us some photographs to back his claims,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deven Bharti, who did not wish to elaborate on the nature of the photographs.
.
Its name dates from the British Colonial rule, and its market is posh areas of Karachi. 70 Clifton Road is a famous residence, belonging to late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, President of Pakistan in the early 70's which was later used as a sub-jail for his daughter Benazir Bhutto, who later became a prime minister of Pakistan in the late eighties and then in the mid nineties for a second time. Mir Murtaza Bhutto, the elder son of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also lived there and was killed near the main gate of 70 Clifton Road by the police in the late 1990s.

INDO –US JOINT GROUP ON TERROR – WASHINGTON D.C
The mood was somber yet casual. With the political clearance from the highest level of respective governments in hand the unanimous team was ready for some definitive action without thinking of consequences .Down in the basement of Pentagon they checked the strategy and then the list of targets which when neutralized will meet the strategic objective .
It was important to send an unequivocal message to Pakistan and to the underworld of crime and terrorism that the patience of civilized world has just about run out
That national boundary cannot be used any more to protect the guilty, responsible for mindless acts of terrorism
And to re assure the world –the power of civilized world still is supreme, the few thousands un educated fanatic terrorists are no match for the combined will of democratic and civilized global population

12A CLIFTON ROAD –KARACHI

He lived in the security of Pakistani military protection, far from the long arms of Indian and world laws, relaxed at the satisfactory execution of another of his dream projects . It was business as usual this Sunday morning. The collection figures from Mumbai real estate builders were low as expected due to recession in the world market, the collection from movie music rights and overseas marketing rights were surprisingly high, particularly after good showing of some of the low budget films in the world market . He hoped the real estate business will pick up soon as he picked up the Sunday edition of DAWN .Outside the Pakistani rangers on security duty were alert as ever and day was sunny and clean

INS RAJPUT – NORTH ARABIAN SEA – 75 KMS FROM KARCHI

Captain Vishal Sodhi looked at the flash signal from naval head quarters. He read it twice and then a slow smile appeared in his face as he took out the locker key and opened his strong box containing the missile launch authorization code. It would be a simple and routing operation, something he has done a number of times of the coast of Andaman .Only this time it will be for real.
As the microprocessor scanned his palm print and took in a quick retina scan the authorization code flashed on the screen , Sodhi had to smile at the irony of the robotic brain as he looked and memorized the code

RAT KILL 2509 SODHI

[Shankar]

INS RANJIT –DDG 53 –NORTH ARABIAN SEA – 1130 HRS

Captain Sodhi briskly walked into the combat information centre deep in the bowels of the Kashin class destroyer. A missile launch is always a tense affair on board any warship ,particularly when you are about to launch a missile tested only a couple of times before and first time at a live target based on real time intelligence on ground .Timing had to be perfect to the minute if not second.As he bent down to confer with the Lt commander Saikia in charge of offensive systems over the dimly lit weapons console and whispers the necessary command ,Saikia tensed up for a second and then relaxed into practiced motion as years of training took over .

The Indo-Russian BrahMos is the first operational supersonic missile in the world and the Indian Navy, which has always been missile savvy, is the first to carry any supersonic cruise missile.
The range and payload though are limited deliberately in line with the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which India has observed throughout – albeit without signing it – and to which Russia is a signatory and treaty-bound.
The Indian Navy has always been ‘missile savvy’ and ‘pro missilery’ since both its historic attacks on Karachi on 4th Dec (Op Trident) and 8th December, 1971(Op Python) were path breakers in missile warfare for the world to emulated.
Over a decade ago, the DRDO under Dr Abdul Kalam – later President of India – got in touch with NPO Mashinoshtroinie (Mach), the Russian missile maker of the very versatile Yakhont PJ–10 missile. The firm was cash-strapped due to the weakening of the post-Soviet Russian economy. India offered money and the Russian firm its engine technology to collaborate in producing an under water launched missile for India’s nuclear submarine project, codenamed Advanced Technology Vehicle, or ATV.
At the same time, the Indian Navy has fitted the Indo-Russian supersonic missile BrahMos on board the INS Ranvir, D 54 of the Kashin class, making it the first with the indigenous vertical launch missile capability. This was done during refit at Vishakapatnam Naval Dockyard.
This is very important development for the Indian Navy, the nearly 50:50 Indo-Russian BrahMos partnership, the Indian defence industry, and of course, the Defence Research and Development organization (DRDO).
All future Naval platforms are slated to be armed with the BrahMos missiles and indeed, there would be periodic trials to prove and improve the capability further.
Then for the first time, the missile was launched from a universal vertical launcher fitted in a ship. All earlier launches of BrahMos missiles were carried out from inclined launchers,” a spokesperson at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said here on Thursday. The successful test in the Bay of Bengal is a significant milestone because most present day ships are fitted with vertical launchers.

The successful launch of the missile means even existing battleships can carry the missile after some refurbishments. The launch, carried out from a vertical launcher on board the destroyer, INS Rajput, met “all mission objectives”, he said. The ship has already been armed with incline-launched BrahMos missile in 2007.
The next ship fitted with the same class of BrahMos missile was INS Ranjit. As per the original plan, Indian Navy planned to arm eight battleships with this missile but with the availability of vertical launch version of the missile, the choice will be wider.

- clear deck for missile launch ,blared the public address system on deck, as the agile destroyer slowed down to optimum launch velocity and updated its position automatically from the on board GPS system .
Technicians on deck did a quick check of the launch canister for any fuel leakge or loose electrical connection, everything was as expected in a combat ready warship ,ship shape and needed no attention .
The deck officer reported to bridge quickly
-Bridge – officer on deck- ready for weapon launch –deck clear
- all clear on deck –CIC clear for missile launch – on my command
Captain Sodhi was cool as he waited for the confirmation from the HUMANIT source on ground that target is in place .
That confirmation came in after another 20 seconds as Abdul Reza cleaning the roads in Clifton road keyed in his mobile and sent a pre recorded SMS to an unlisted number which was agin patched back to INS Ranjit via naval tactical net
“ Rat in hole “
- CIC –Captain – weapon launch authorized –launch authorization code SODHI --------“ acknowledge –over
- Captain CIC –weapon launch authorized –weapon type PJ10 – target co ordinates as programmed in –authorisation code ----
Expect launch in 90 seconds .
Lt commander Saikia turned in his key and entered the launch authorization code and pressed “auto” . The robotic brain of Brahmos fire control computer took in the launch authorization, quickly digested the target co ordinates,checked the wind speed on deck and its relative position with respect to target ,decided on the most optimum flight trajectory and one by one the launch confirmation parameters turned green on the flat panel display
- missile launch in 10 seconds -9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The flat steel cover on the vertical launch canister opened up as the spring lock eased open on electrical command and at the same time the solid booster igniting pyros ignited. The sleek missile lifted out of the canister vertically in a plume of smoke and thunder followed by a pillar of bright orange flame reached an altitude of 300 ft and then tipped over as the ram jet engine kicked in and black dense smoke replaced the bright orange exhaust of solid booster.
The missile streaked low over the inky blue surface of the ocean on a pre programmed radar evading mode,flying barely at 100 ft over sea level it took an elongated S path to target entering Karachi airspace from north west as the terminal guidance system kicked in and made the final course correction and then climbed up to 500 ft right over the target building on Clifton road and then dived flat out .
The 250 kg high explosive warhead was designed to take out an aircraft carrier; the small and posh villa of the terrorist could not even contain the shock waves of explosion. The building with its occupants disintegrated in a blaze of heat and fire. All that was left was the memories of a gangster and few splotches of blood and tissue on the walls of a nearby building and the crater on the ground .

The first shot definite reply to Mumbai terror attack was delivered -without warning and without remorse

[parshuram]

Excellent Thinking Shankar Paaji .. Took the biggest of all the villans in first strike . rather then starting it from POK .. keep the good work up .. whle i was wondering why would we not launch simulataneously for other terrorists leaders . In karachi and Muzafarabad .. Just getting a bit greedy .. But surely no disrespect ...

[Nitesh]

hurrey

shankarosky is here

now the kick a$$ party begins

[mdhoat]

Vivek, you are doing an awesome job with your scenario so far. I believe I have read all of your current scenario, tried my best to find an explanation but for the life of me, couldn't find a sure answer as to why China is not bringing her Su30 fighters into the fight and how come time and again pitting inferior Su27 against far superior Su30 MKI's and that too on home turf. China should have learnt a lesson from battle for Tibet skies...

[Shankar]

DAY OF THE TIGER – DAY 2

Strangely world’s media reaction to Indian strike on underworld Don at Karachi was muted just like it was to the on going US strikes in Waziristan. Pakistan reacted angrily however; a strong diplomatic protest was lodged with Indian High commission and along with a warning that Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate at a time and place of its own choosing.
The warning was coolly ignored; Indian armed forces did not even change its alert status..One day gone, 14 more to go for the first phase to be declared successful.

IAF STATION ADAMPUR -1400 HRS

Wing commander Rawat checked his flight of six Mig 29 s recently upgraded to almost Su-30 avionics standard in Russia. While two of the air craft was equipped with standard air defense missiles (2 R77 +4 R-73 s) the strike aircraft all carried a pair of 1000 kg TV guided bombs (KAB 1000) along with a pair of –R-73 s for self defense. He waited for the final go ahead from the air head quarters.

JAMAT UD DAWA HEADQUARTERES –MURIDKE –(LAHORE) –PAKISTAN

Muridke is a major commercial city near the city of Lahore, Pakistan, it is located at 31°45'35N 73°50'16E and has an elevation of 205m (675ft)[1] and is situated on the famous Grand Trunk Road and at the crossroads to Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Narang Mandi. The economic and social life of the city, which has three police stations and a rail station, mainly depends on Lahore.
In 2005 Muridke became the headquarters of the newly created Muridke Tehsil of Sheikhupura District.Muridke was the birthplace of Iqbal Masih, and the home of cricketer Imran Nazir and chairperson P M R F Rana Abrar Hussain..

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government on Sunday took over the sprawling headquarters of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organization of the LeT blamed for

the Mumbai attacks, near Lahore amid tight security.

Khakan Babar, recently appointed by the government of Pakistan's Punjab province as the chief administrator, took over the JuD's Markaz-e-Taiba headquarters at Muridke, about 30 kms from Lahore.

The process was completed in the presence of Lahore's commissioner, the district police chief, an official of the Auqaf or religious affairs department and a police contingent. Babar will supervise and monitor all activities at the JuD's headquarters, Dawn News channel reported.

Babar, his eight-member staff and about a dozen policemen will be housed in the Markaz-e-Taiba complex that includes a school, a college and a hospital.

A spokesman for the Markaz-e-Taiba described the appointment of the administrator as a "takeover" done under international pressure.

Pakistan's interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said the JuD was banned shortly after the UN Security Council declared it a front for the LeT in December last year.

However, diplomatic sources said that the Pakistan government had not yet issued any formal notification banning the group.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa, without dispute the best-funded and organised far-Right Islamist formation in Pakistan, represents the Lashkar-e-Taiba online. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa, named thus after its earlier incarnation, the Markaz Dawat wal Irshad (MDI: Centre for Proselytisation and Preaching), was proscribed in 2002, is based on a 160-acre (64-hectare) campus at Murdike, near Lahore, of which al-Dawa University is a part. Formed to train mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union's forces in Afghanistan, the MDI in turn gave birth to a jehadist organisation, the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lashkar-e-Taiba cadre have fought not just in India but also in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Somalia, Eritrea, the southern Philippines and West Asia.
By most accounts, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa today commands a formidable empire, using education as a tool to propagate its world-view and recruit cadre for the Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to the Pakistani expert Mohammad Amir Rana, it controls over 200 schools, 11 seminaries and two colleges of science. If this infrastructure is at some distance from the traditional Islamic seminary, so too is the education it imparts. For example, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa English alphabet primer emphasises military skills: "Instead of the concept `c' for cat and `g' for goat," the Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Zafar Iqbal told one interviewer, "we introduced the concept of `c' for cannon and `g' for gun." Jamaat-ud-Dawa teachers, appropriately enough, must have participated in a jehadist military campaign at least once.
Prior to the India-Pakistan military crisis of 2001-02, the MDI made no secret of its role as a facilitator of jehad. At a November 1997 conference held by the MDI, it called for an end to democracy in Pakistan, arguing that "the notion of the sovereignty of the people is anti-Islamic". Pakistani newspapers noted that the venue was festooned with signboards proclaiming that the appropriate response to democracy was through grenade and bomb explosions (jamhooriyat ka jawaab, grenade aur blast). Notwithstanding the designation of the MDI as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the then-Director-General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant-General Mahmood Ahmad, attended its April 2001 convention, where a resolution was passed calling on cadre "to capture Hindu temples, destroy the idols and then hoist the flag of Islam on them".
Although the Jamaat-ud-Dawa has, since 2002, denied that it has any connection with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and indeed that it is involved in terrorism, most scholarly and media investigations of the organisation dismiss this assertion. For example, Muhammad Amir Rana, the author of an encyclopaedic book on Islamist terror groups in Pakistan, has recorded that the offices and cadre of both organisations are in practice interchangeable. Moreover, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa is frankly supportive of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. In the Jamaat-ud-Dawa vision, the "only ray of our hope is mujahideen. demolished superpower Soviet Union and again it is them who are showing lions teeth to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The only superpower of today is on its last legs. Our leaders should keep this in mind: if properly helped these mujahideen have the spirit to break India's neck and back."
But, there have been reports that Saeed and other JuD leaders were allowed to move out of their homes on several occasions.

The Pakistan government has claimed that a total of 124 members of the JuD and other banned extremist groups have been detained while dozens of JuD offices have been sealed across the country.

However, the government has said it can take legal action against the JuD leaders only if India provides proof of their involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

As expected nothing really changed on ground after the official “ban” .Its activities continued as before and toady an important “meeting” was scheduled to discuss the ramifications of Indian strike on Karachi.

IAF STATION ADAMPUR -1830 HRS

The green light on air traffic control tower started flashing .Wing commander Rawat tightened the straps of his 36k ejection seat as he signaled the ground crew for engine start. As the shrill whine of air compressor followed by the full throated roar of twin engines filled the air, the signal light on tower changed to continuous green. One by one the six fulcrums taxied into take off position.

The single 9000 ft runway was more than enough for the purpose intended .The Mig 29s did not even use one third of the available length as one after another they took off ,retracted undercarriage immediately after getting air borne and retracted flaps as they settles down into a westerly heading at an altitude less than 300 ft from ground level .

The international border came up quickly .Rawat noted the flight position on the moving map display and made a slight course correction which will take him straight to weapon launch co-ordinates barely 10 kms inside Pakistani air space.

The fulcrum flight crossed the international border just north of Lahore and radar warning receivers started buzzing as one after another surface to air missile batteries pf PAF got automatically activated and started tracking the flight.
On the head up display the cursor diamond locked on the sprawling building ,that will be the administrative head quarters of the terrorist group though Wing commander Rawat as he switched on the port navigation light and switched it off .

Exactly 15 kms from the target the four KAB 1000 TV guided bombs were released and the six aircraft banked out of the strike zone and headed home on full military power .Crossing back into Indian air space about the same time the heavy bombs struck the target -one by one .

The bombs came in a slow parabolic arc with a sharp whistling sound. The TV cameras on the nose compared the target building image with that stored in its microprocessor brain and armed the fuse. The first bomb hit the drive way and started a massive fire in the parking lot .The second crashed through the roof of convention centre and exploded killing almost everyone inside in an instant. The third and fourth bomb was really not required ,as they sailed in through the shattered roof and blew up the underground weapons store and the adjoining satellite terminal .
About a dozen surfaces to air missiles were launched at the Indian aircraft. One Mig 29 was hit but managed to return to base with damaged vertical stabilizer even though the the pilot was give the option to eject. For the rest it was all in a days work.

[Nitesh]

yesterday karanchi today muridke

wonder what is next on store

[nits]

Fast and Furious...

[ovein]

Vivek,

There is some info on tezpur airport. This airport is under renovation and there will be a SU 30 Sqardon on this. Probably 2010 onwards. I think the RHINO sqardon will relocated. There is no existance of Mig operational flying training school is shifted from tezpur.

So the chinese should face SU 30's from TEzpur in a 2010 upward scenerio.

And ofcourse i will grab the opportunity to congratulate you on your writing. You are one of my fav.

Thanks

[Rupesh]

Great posts by Vivek and Shankar Dada..... can't wait for more

[Shankar]

IAF STATION SRINAGAR – DAY 3 -0000 HRS

Latitude: 33.15 Longitude: 73.65
Latitude (DMS): 33° 8' 60 N Longitude (DMS): 73° 39' 0 E

The night outside was cold and foggy as group captain Lal finished uploading the target co-ordinates into his mission computer. The 4 Mirage 2000 s that were to take part in this mission all fuelled up and ready for a 0200 take off. Like all covert air strike missions this will also be totally radio silent mission .The 2000 kg laser guided bombs were all the offensive system they carried along with a pair of Mica missiles for self defense. TWO Su-30 MKI shave been promised for are defense over hostile territory and expected to take of from a forward airbase once the Mirages commence taxi run that is around 1350 hrs .

As part of the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960, India gained rights to the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers, while Pakistan, in addition to waters of the above three rivers within Pakistan and some monetary compensation, received the rights to develop the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus river basins through construction of the Indus Basin Project. Until 1967, the entire irrigation system of Pakistan was fully dependent on unregulated flows of the Indus and its major tributaries. The agricultural yield was very low for a number of reasons, the most important being a lack of water during critical growing periods. This problem stemmed from the seasonal variations in the river flow due to monsoons and the absence of storage reservoirs to conserve the vast amounts of surplus water during those periods of high river discharge. [

The Mangla Dam was the first development project undertaken to reduce this shortcoming and strengthen the irrigation system. The dam was damaged partially during an Indian Air Force bombing in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 when the hydro project was hit by the bombs.[4]

The Mangla Dam is the twelfth largest dam in the world. It was constructed in 1967 across the Jhelum River, about 100 miles (160 km) south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad in Mirpur district of POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir), Pakistan. The main structures of the dam include 4 embankment dams, 2 spillways, 5 power-cum-irrigation tunnels and a 1,000 MW power station.

The main dam is 10,300 feet (3140 m) long and 454 feet (138 m) high (above core trench) with a reservoir of 97.7 square miles (253 km²). Since its first impounding in 1967, sedimentation has occurred to the extent of 1.13 million acre feet (1.39 km³), and the present gross storage capacity has declined to 4.75 million acre feet (5.86 km³) from the actual design of 5.88 million acre feet (7.25 km³). The live capacity has declined to 4.58 million acre feet (5.65 km³) from 5.34 million acre feet (6.59 km³). This implies a reduction of 19.22% in the capacity of the dam.

The power station of mangla dam consists of 10 units each having capacity of 100 MW.
In order to remedy the storage capacity decreases, the Pakistani government has decided to raise the dam by 40 feet (12 m), to 494 feet (151 m) high. This will increase the reservoir capacity by 18% and provide an additional 644 MWh of power, but will displace 40,000 people currently living near the reservoir.
The project was designed primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. Its secondary function was to generate electrical power from the irrigation releases at the artificial head of the reservoir. The project was not designed as a flood control structure, although some benefit in this respect also arises from its use for irrigation and water supply. The Government of Pakistan had agreed to pay royalties to the Government of POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) for the use of the water and electricity generated by the dam. Over 280 villages and the towns of Mirpur and Dadyal were submerged and over 110,000 people were displaced from the area as a result of the dam being built. Some of those affected by the dam were given work permits for Britain by the Government of Pakistan, and as a result, in many cities in the UK the majority of the 'Pakistani' community actually originated from the Mirpur area of Disputed region Jamuu Kashmir.
Mangla Dam is approx 100 miles (160 km) south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad while Tarbela Dam is 60 miles (100 km) northwest.


INDIAN AIRFORCE HEAD QUARTERS NEW DELHI -0015 hrs -DAY 3

The situation room in the basement was humming with activity. On the main wall mounted display the feed back from Phalcon in the are was being updated automatically on a real time basis . A side screen showed the air defense radars active along the ingress path and around the target .After last two days strike PAF was not taking any chance . Two F-16 s were on constant combat air patrol just 10 kms inside line of control along Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Another pair could be seen taking off from Lahore to join the existing two.
At least 4 separate air defense radar signature could be identified one of them mobile type .around the target area. It could be expected at least an equal number are lying dormant. So before any strike can take place these had to be neutralized before the strike window is created
AOC in C western air command walked in briskly ,one look at the tactical map and he ordered back up sukhois to joint the initial SEAD mission and the mirage should follow within 2 minutes to prevent any standby system coming on line and aquiring the bomb laded air craft at low altitude . The necessary orders went out to air battle commander, on voard Phalcon and was acknowledged. A secondary alert was also issued to all forward air bases for a surprise retaliatory strike expected within hours of the target being hit .

[Shankar]

[Shankar]

MANGLA DAM TERROR CAMP -0030 HRS -DAY 3

Inhabitants of the sprawling terror training camp on the dried out river bed was secure in the knowledge that Pakistan army will protect them against any eventuality. Located next to Mangla dam military airbase they could hear the periodic take offs in the distance as the paired F-16 took off and landed every two hours . All the anti aircraft gun and missile batteries were on full alert after Indian warning of a possible surgical strike at terror infrastructure . All most 3 months have passed and nothing has happened except lot of hot talk on the television. They were sure this tension will also pass in a stream of empty rhetoric.

On Wednesday 11/26/2008 at about 23:00, a series of coordinated attacks, in the Southern luxury suburb of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killed at least 195 people and injured 350 more. The horrendous terror attack, naturally, led to a massive investigation in India and abroad. 23 of the dead were Western foreigners, 17 policemen, 1 Indian commando soldiers, 9 terrorist perpetrators and 145 ordinary innocent Indian civilians.

The chain of events, which led to the Mumbai carnage, as it emerged through the investigation, was as follows:

* In 02/2008 the Indian police arrested in Mumbai
The trainer of Faheem Ahmed Ansari as a suspect of providing logistical support to the Mumbai Trains Bombings and of being a Lashkar-e-Toiba operative. Faheem Ahmed Ansari had in his possession layouts drawn up for the Taj Mahal hotel and Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji main railway station, both prime targets of the Mumbai Carnage. He admitted he was handled by Yusuf Muzammil from Muzaffarabad, that he provided Yusuf Muzammil with sketches of different locations in Mumbai and of going through military training at a camp at the Mangla Dam, located between Pakistani Punjab and Pakistan-held Kashmir.

* In 05/2008, according to Ajmal amir Kasav, a 21 year old native of Faridkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan and the only surviving perpetrator, who was captured near the Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, the preparations for the Mumbai carnage began when he and his fellow terrorists, all ordinary Pakistanis in their 20th, without any special background, gathered at Mangla Dam camp for training. Ajmal Amir Kasav implicated the Indian fugitive - Daoud Ibrahim, as the financier and logistical organizer of the Mumbai Carnage.

All the recruits were trained in marine warfare along with the special course "Daura-e-Shifa" conducted by Lashkar-e-Toiba. Ajmal Amir Kasav identified his associates as Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bada) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota) – They were motivated by strong anti-Indian and anti-Hindus feelings, hatred toward Jews and Judaism and probably also by resentment to their own new Pakistani civilian and democratic regime, but not necessarily by devotion to Islam [/b

* In summer 2008 eight of the future Mumbai Carnage perpetrators, including Ajmal Amir Kasav, visited Mumbai as tourists. They rented a room not far from Nariman House, the Jewish ‘Habad’ center in Mumbai and another prime target in the planned attack, in order to learn their objectives.

* Two weeks before the attack, on 11/12/2008, the terrorists sailed to the Arabian Sea from Karachi with a boat owned by Daoud Ibrahim named Al-Husseini.

* While at sea the hijackers used a Satellite phone and kept in contact with leading figures of Lashkar-e-Toiba in Muzaffarabad; Yusuf Muzammil, the chief Operational coordinator of Lashkar-e-Toiba operations in Indian Kashmir; Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the Indian commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba’s recruiting and training apparatus, and Asrar Shah, a senior Lashkar-e-Toiba operative. The American electronic and communication intelligence service, NSA (National Security Agency) noticed the unusual conversation between a ship in the middle of the Arabian Sea and Muzaffarabad, in the heartland of Pakistan over 1,200 km away from any sea shore. Soon NSA managed to identify some of the people who used the Satellite phone as senior Lashkar-e-Toiba operative. NSA issued, on 11/18/2008, a terror alert of a possible maritime terror attack on or near Mumbai, India, including the right location of ‘Al-Husseini’.

* On 11/23/2008 the assailants hijacked an Indian fishing boat named ‘Kuber’. The terrorists decapitated four crew members and left the captain alive to navigate the hijacked boat back to Mumbai (the Captain was killed before landing on Mumbai coast on 11/26/2008 night).

* on Wednesday 11/26/2008 at about 23:00, all ten terrorists landed with a rubber speed boat from the ‘Kuber’ at the Gateway to India monument, near the Taj Mahal Hotel. The assailants split to two men squads and scattered toward their targets. The squad that attacked the Leopold restaurant then retreated to the Taj Mahal Hotel to reinforce the other squad operating there. Some of the squads moved from place to place by hijacked or stolen cars.

* The tactic was to move and change position all the time and not enable the Indian military or police to flank them or push them to the corner and in order to create maximum damage and confusion. Therefore the terrorists did not take hostages for bargaining and killed all captured on the spot, since heaving hostages limits severely the maneuverability of the hostage takers and their ability to move from place to place, to change position and to operate as two men squads in huge compounds such as the luxury Hotels.

* Indian Intelligence has proofs that at least two SIM cell phone cards were used in Mumbai during and after the attack to report and update the headquarters of the assault in Muzafarabad, Pakistan

* With Ajmal Amir Kasav Police found also a cell phone. The Indian national television station showed photographs of a phone's log which showed calls had been placed from this phone to Jalalabad in Pakistan.



Summary

The outcome of the Mumbai Carnage investigation clearly established the responsibility of Lashker-e-Toiba, based in Pakistan, in committing the attack. If fact it was the same infrastructure that already executed the Mumbai Trains Bombings, on 07/11/2006, two years earlier and on which Pakistan was already warned.

http://www.globaljihad.net/view_news.asp?id=668

[Shankar]

IAF FORWARD AIR BASE SOMEWHERE IN WESTERN SECTOR-0130HRS
-RED EYE FLIGHT - 4XSU-30MKI

Squadron leader Lal waited for the permission to motor start .The moon less night was ideal for the mission he had in hand. His specific task was to take out the surface to air missile search and track radars along the ingress path of Mirage 2000s to follow at 3 minute interval and then provide air defense cover over the strike zone .His three other flight mates had similar task cut out ranging from but in adjacent sectors. The whole object was to get the Mirages in and out without causality from one of the most well defended air space in the world.

The Phalcon was already in air and the air battle commander will take over as the flankers reach cruise altitude. He was carrying 4 Kh 31 anti radiation missiles apart from a pair each of R-73/R-27 along with 150 rounds for his Gsh 30-1 cannon.

Lal was one of the pilots who took part in the recently concluded Red Flag exercise and specifically trained for “mud moving “ roles as his American friends termed all suppression of enemy air defense missions –the most risky and called for maximum pilot skill compared to any other combat mission.
Red eye lead –tower – acknowledge over
- Tower –red eye lead –copy-ready to start motor
- Red eye flight –cleared to start engine and taxi to hold point on runway 19 –over
- Tower – cleared to start engine – holding short runway 19 –over

Squadron leader Lal leaned against his straps as he quickly closed the series of overhead circuit breakers and powered up the avionics console. Outside the ground crew started up the auxiliary power cart and Lal closed the ignition switch on port engine which started with a belch of black un burnt aviation fuel from the exhaust manifold and then settled down to a steady roar .It was time to start the starboard engine and get the ground cart off the way .

The main multifunctional display (central) was configured to navigation mode for the time being and showed the planned ingress path .It was not a straight line but rather a series of v shaped projections designed to prove the enemy air defense radars to light up and expose their position .

- Red eye flight lead – taxi to hold point on runway 19 –over
- Roger that lead –red eye flight members acknowledged the command and followed the lead Sukhoi in a single file along the taxi way to the hammer head.


The unnamed forward air base had a single 8000 ft runway with a parallel taxi track .The control tower was in fact a mobile unit placed at a distance under a camo netting. The ring of surface to air missile launchers and the 4 barrellled shilkas were the only indication that this was an operational air base .

- tower –red eye lead – holding short of runway 19- request immediate take off clearance
- stand by red eye –tower –
- red eye lead-tower – you are cleared for staggered take off – fly runway heading – climb to 5000 meters –Hawk one will have command – data link frequency DELTA 12 – communication frequency CHARLIE 17 –over
- tower –message understood –tning to Delta 12 and Charlie 17 now- cleared for take off –rolling now

The four flankers turned into the runway. Squadron leader Lal scanned the multifunctional display panels quickly. The small air craft symbol on GPS panel showed correctly to be on the white on pink runway and the left MFD configured to artificial horizon showed level orientation.

In the distance the night was dark and windy. Take off will be tricky thought Lal as pushed the power lever all the way forward and twin engined roared in unison accelerating the flanker across the long bumpy runway in a matter of seconds .Behind him his wing man turned into take off position .The strong cross wind tended to push the accelerating aircraft off the centre line and Lal applied slight pressure on the rudder to correct the drift as he crossed V1 (210 kms/hr) quickly followed by V2 and pulled the stick forward gentle rotating the flanker off ground into ink black sky .Behind him F/L Sukhinder started his take off roll .The headset crackled as the Phalcon came on line

- red eye lead hawk one –I have control –climb to 5000 meters –make course 285 – climb rate 1500 meters per minute –over
- Hawk one –red eye lead – read you 5/5 – turning to 285 –climbing to 5000 meters
0ver

One by one the four su-30 mkis formed and reached their cruise altitude .The line of control was just under one hundred km and target zone beyond hat .

IAF PHALCON –HAWK ONE – 0140 HRS

Group captain Mayur Bijlani cliked on the mouse as the Pakistani radars came on all along the Punjab international border and along the southern part of line of control as expected . He marked out the ones which can pose threat to the mirage flight and the on board computer quickly calculated the best route for the sukhois to follow .Another click on the mouse and the data were on their way to the Sukhoi flight already on air

IAF STATION SRINAGAR- 0145 HRS

The four Mirage 2000s took off on an easterly heading and then dropped to 500 ft above ground level as they switched on their auto pilot linked to terrain following radar . Then they changed course and took on a south westerly course which will take them parallel to the line of control for most of the way before veering of sharply as grid sector delta to cross into Pakistani airspace and onwards to strike zone .For the time being there was no communication between them and the air battle commander on board the Phalcon ,that will happen just before entering “bandit country”