Terror Attacks on Mumbai-II

[Dmurphy]

Six hostages killed at Oberoi Trident: NSG

No No No

Edit: why aren't the codes working? have the mods disabled it?

[SSridhar]

TimesNow reporting NSG has recovered 30 bodies are so from the Taj.

Thousands of US dollars recovered from rucksacks of the killed terrorists at the Taj.

[Aditya_V]

Any news from interogation on how the terrorists were transported uptil they Hijacked the Gujarat fishing Vessel. We should make it clear to US, UK nuclear war is being risked unless the transporters are handed over

[anishns]

Vilasraoji arrives at the Trident!!!

Looks like he is strolling in the park.....no sense of purpose
I feel ashamed that he is the CM of Maharashtra

Whats wrong with the body language of our leaders????

[Eshwar]

NDTV reporting a really strange case of a hostage. A person is waiting for his wife to come out of the Trident. The last message he got from her was a SMS saying that she was in the bathroom. After that there is no communication. Airtel tried to locate her cellphone and trace it to Raigad which is quite far from Mumbai!! Really strange. He is saying either the NSG must have taken the cell or terrorists.

[SSridhar]

TimesNow reporting that the terrorists knew the layout of the Taj extremely well. They were holdingf 200 or so as hostages.

[Singha]

another forum frequented by mil-ish types. as expected a lot of sympathy and few of the CNN tricks.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... p?t=146858

another huge thread:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... p?t=146823

[milindc]

Any news from interogation on how the terrorists were transported uptil they Hijacked the Gujarat fishing Vessel. We should make it clear to US, UK nuclear war is being risked unless the transporters are handed over

Why bring US, UK ? Lets take our course of action ....
The action should make clear to anyone concerned about the repercussions

[anishns]

Vilasrao says that there is no Hostage situation
If there is no negotiation then there is no hostage situation...

He says that people were locked in their own rooms and they were simply freed.

[milindc]

NDTV reporting a really strange case of a hostage. A person is waiting for his wife to come out of the Trident. The last message he got from her was a SMS saying that she was in the bathroom. After that there is no communication. Airtel tried to locate her cellphone and trace it to Raigad which is quite far from Mumbai!! Really strange. He is saying either the NSG must have taken the cell or terrorists.

This case relates to ToI editor Sabina Shaik who someone was alluding to earlier. Let me dig out the earlier message.

[A Arun]

DDM journo asks Deshmukh why he allowed Modi to visit Mumbai.

[Sudip]

i dont know about its implications but i think hearing modi made me feel good

[SSridhar]

Interview with the MARCOS going on in TimesNow

[milindc]

Harish wrote:
Folks: there was one mention of some high-up female (an editor no less) who was said to have disappeared after aiding the terrorists in some way from inside one of the hotels. Unfortunately I did not see the item which got pulled within minutes. But someone in my family did. Name uncertain. Muslim, female and from ToI for sure. This is extremely serious and I wonder if anyone else has any further information. Dont know which channel.
..

I also heard that One TOI lady muslim editor is missing. She had gone to taj at around 11 PM last night. I don't know whether she was involved or not

This is earlier quote from sohamn on the ToI lady. Now the phone signal from Raigad ? Did she escape. Pure speculation on my part. She might be just an innocent victim.

[R_Kumar]

Vilasrao says that there is no Hostage situation
If there is no negotiation then there is no hostage situation...

He says that people were locked in their own rooms and they were simply freed.

This was my guess, but I was afraid and I am still afraid that there may be at least few Hostages taken from Hotel lobby.

[Singha]

OMG - thats a hidden card.

[shynee]

Modi is definitely putting pressure on the government to take stronger action, otherwise it will end up with the same fate as other bomb blasts.

i dont know about its implications but i think hearing modi made me feel good

[amol.p]

Naval commander giving interview on IBN LIVE and MARCOS shown standing behind him....Chief of MARCOS next in line answering to media

[SSridhar]

The MARCOS commander is saying that they didn't know the layout. One employee of the Taj accoimpanied them everywhere trying to help them. I really salute the bravery of that employee.

[Jagan]

End of the road for terrorists at Chowpatty
28 Nov 2008, 0027 hrs IST, Vijay V Singh, TNN

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 766752.cms
MUMBAI: At around midnight on Thursday, the D B Marg police received an assignment they will never forget. "We were asked to set up an emergency italic">nakabandi and were informed that a Skoda car may be coming our way from Nariman Point.
So we put up barricades on the road outside Girgaum Chowpatty and took up our positions,'' said inspector Varpe.

After some time, they noticed a Skoda approaching them and signalled for it to stop. Officer Bhaskar Kadam remembered, "The vehicle stopped about 40 to 50 metres away. We asked the occupants to switch off their headlights, but they refused. They poured water onto the windscreen and started the wipers. We were not sure who was inside. Suddenly, the car took a small right towards the divider and stopped. The left front-door opened and, using it as a shield, a man inside bent and looked out from under it. He then started firing at us.'' The other occupant, the Skoda's driver, also started firing at the police, through the open left window.

The police realised they were in the midst of no ordinary encounter. They shielded themselves behind the iron barricades and began firing back at the Skoda. The terrorist firing from below the door, crawled out onto the road and, laying on his stomach, kept firing at the police.

The exchange of gunfire between the two sides went on for about five minutes. The Skoda's driver was finally felled by bullets inside the car. The police then began moving the barricades towards the terrorist firing from the road, so they could get nearer to him. The cops approached him from three different directions, surrounding him. While his attention was on the police approaching from the front, cops approaching from another direction finally pounced on him.

However, the police paid a price. One head constable was killed and three policemen were injured.

Earlier, the terrorists had struck at Cama hospital. Vilas Rawal, who lives in the Cama staff quarters, said, "After gunshots at CST, several people went to the road. A police vehicle came by and fired in the air to send us indoors. We went in and after some time heard the terrorists jump over the gate and enter the hospital grounds. They shot a woman standing in the window.'' Deputy superintendent of the hospital, Sobha Tehra, said, "They shot two hospital guards, Bhanu Narkar and Baban.''

The terrorists took hospital employee Chandrakant hostage and injured him, additional commissioner of police Sadanand Date and others with a grenade. Later, they killed two people at a nearby chawl. "My brother was having his food with his son when a man opened the door and shot him dead.''

Three top police officers__encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, ATS chief Hemant Karkare and additional CP Ashok Kamthe__also fell to the terrorists' bullets before the duo stole the police car the officers were in and went to the Metro junction.

The multiplex had stopped screenings after the firing at CST and convinced patrons to sit still till the situation was under control.

Security in-charge of Metro multiplex, Kiran Thorat said, "We heard gunshots from Xavier's college and were standing on the road outside the cinema. There were several other people standing on the opposite side of the road. A police vehicle emerged from the Xavier's side and came to us. Everyone standing on the road and constables tried to move to the middle of the road to guide the vehicle. Then we heard a gunshot. A few more shots came from the jeep. One person died on the spot.''

After that the terrorists went to Vidhan Bhavan, where they stole a Skodat at gunpoint from a hotelier and sped to Chowpatty.

[tsarkar]

Quick note to those wondering slow pace of operations

1. Forces have been ordered extreme caution to minimize collateral damage – They don’t want a Moscow theatre or Beslan type situation where rescuing forces inadvertently killed hundreds.

2. This directive extends to property – hence they can’t break down walls using RCLs/explosives. No heavy weaponry being used. A thermobaric Shipon will take out terrorists and are readily available at the venue, but will cause significant collateral damage.

3. Room to room searches being carried out that is extremely time consuming with each hotel having hundreds of rooms.

4. Highly trained militant using cross fire tactics – one militant will do the initial destruction while the other militant would take a covering position and stays quiet. When police pinpoints the first terrorist and starts attacking him, the hidden passive militant (called sleeper) hits the cops. ATS chief Hemant Karkare was probably killed this way. This was first seen at Kargil where they had multiple covering sangars/bunkers.

5. Militants keep moving between floors and are never static. Hotels have multiple access points like stairways/elevators that makes this easier. They have stashed weapons and ammo at different places. This is again a repeat of Kargil where they had built multiple sangars/bunkers. It’s like chasing a rat through different corners of your house. As per unverified information, at the Taj, 1/2 sleeper militants dressed as hotel staff became active using stashed weapons and ammo AFTER the area was cleared. It seems two militants had earlier checked in as guests and two joined as temporary staff at the Taj.

Lastly before we start blaming police/government, we need to remember that both are people like us. The world’s second most populous country has a shortage of 20,000 officers in its army. Because we want to work in IT/Banks. Same for our children. Its foolish of us to expect Army/Police to defend us and not develop a fighting spirit ourselves.

I am reminded of 9/11 United Airlines Flight 93 where the passengers, on learning via cellphones other hijackers were hitting buildings, overpowered their hijackers and deliberately crashed their plane.

[SSridhar]

MARCOS are saying that the way the terrorists handled the weapons and threw the grenades shows they had been well trained. They also found some plastic explosives with them. The terrorists were remorseless and simply shot down anybody they came across.

[Austin]

Nice post tsarkar , worth introspecting

[Raju]

how about showing the aam janta some dead bodies of these terrorists shot dead at Taj and Oberoi.

[negi]

Lastly before we start blaming police/government, we need to remember that both are people like us. The world’s second most populous country has a shortage of 20,000 officers in its army. Because we want to work in IT/Banks. Same for our children. Its foolish of us to expect Army/Police to defend us and not develop a fighting spirit ourselves.

Thats one lousy excuse... if an institution finds it difficult to select right candidates from world's most populous country in the (18-25 age group) the fingers should point elsewhere.

[Singha]

indeed, the comfortable posture of the guys even in CST shows they were highly proficient. not some low level "spray and pray" wild eyed types.

[Singha]

Raju - thats a long shot. today is friday and showing dead innocent misguided muslim youths could lead to riots. I can hear loudly the maulvi in the ghetto next to my office addressing his flock after a period of shouting his prayers.
he seems agitated and shouting and moaning - probably about
why "innocent muslims" are again being blamed.

methinks UPA will give them a burial in jama masjid led by the patriotic shahi imam ofcourse.

[anishns]

According to TimesNow
IB reports categorically that Al-Keeda involved

[gandharva]

AQ link accepted by IB: Timesnow

[Eshwar]

Timesnow: IB saying that the conspiracy has links to countries beyond our immediate borders.

[Raju]

Timesnow: IB saying that the conspiracy has links to countries beyond our immediate borders.

that is very convenient. Because our johnnies can then take it as perfect pretext to do nothing.

@Singha: momentarily forgot that it is Friday.

[Philip]

It is true that we all have to fight this terror against India together,but it does not absolve those at the top who have been even in the eyes of experts like B.Raman,Vikram Sood,Brahma Chellaney and Co.,that the current govt. is guilty of gross dereliction of duty in combating terrorism.They have failed to take decisions in revamping RAW (look at its heads who have no experience in counter-terror,experience of Pak,Afghanistan,the terror region etc.,but have served in the Vatican!); revamping the IB and other investigative/intel agencies;failed to set up an equivalent of the NSA;failed to collate, coordinate and centralise all intel from military and other govt. agencies.The NSAdviser is conspicuous by his silence and ridiculed for his inability to combat terror while being more active in politicking for his master,MMS .Their guilt and culpability at failing to defend India from repeated terror atrocities will be seen shortly when they are dumped into the bin of history.Even the BJP suffered after doing very little depite Parliament being attacked and Pak got off scot free.Here one must realise that India has been under severe US pressure to forgive and forget its favourite "rent boy" Pak,from punishment for its sins,as it has its own vested interests in the Indian subcontinent,which are totally against India's interests.In the Bombay terror,the US is also guilty for protecting and supporting the terrorist regimes in Pak like Gen.Musharrat, his predecessors and now his successors too,as it is doing trying to make us "work" with the impotent Zardari regime.MMSingh has been the most impotent Indian PM ever and makes by comparison the "Gujral doctrine" look like something practised by the Nazis!

A Good report.It exposes the utter ruthlessness of the terrorists who diabolically mowed down guests in the hotels.The captured terrorists should be castrated after interrogation before execution.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38848.html

How terror unfolded: They came by boat to kill their enemies

Andrew Buncombe reports on how a band of militants brought death and mayhem to the streets of Mumbai

Friday, 28 November 2008

Grief, relief and fear as the battle of Mumbai still rages
Tycoon who described horror of attacks named as British victim
The Investigation: India's nightmare: were the killers home-grown?
Anil Dharker: In Mumbai's teeming history lies the hope for our recovery
Dipankar De Sarkar: Love of freedom will see Mumbai through
Leading article: A terrorist atrocity with tangled regional roots
Tourism: Images that threaten a flourishing trade
US reaction: First international crisis for the President-elect
Jeremy Warner: Atrocities highlight fragility of India's economic miracle

They came heavily armed and utterly determined. Weighed down by automatic weapons and bags of gear, the men who brought chaos and horror to the streets of Mumbai apparently started their mission in black and yellow rubber dinghies.


The 20-somethings disembarked near the Gateway of India monument on Wednesday evening and began to fan out across the city, embarking on their rampage and showing no mercy to anyone who crossed their path.

Over at the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, a regular haunt of India's elite and wealthy tourists, the evening was in full swing. Patrons at the hotel, with its dome silhouette and imposing red, white and grey-brick façade, sweeping staircases, onyx columns and chandelier-laden ceilings, had little idea of the carnage coming their way. Some were tucking into a first-class curry in one of Mumbai's top eateries, while others gathered around the pool to discuss important business matters.

Dalbir Bains, a lingerie shop owner who moved from Britain to Mumbai three years ago, was finishing just such a meeting about 9.45pm when gunmen, described by some as "young boys" dressed in black shirts and jeans, stormed into the seafront hotel and opened fire indiscriminately.

"To begin with, we thought it might be fireworks or wedding celebrations but very quickly people started running towards us," Ms Bains recounted.

"We went into the main lobby and there was a man who had been shot in the leg. He was screaming 'help me, please'. It was only then that we truly realised we were under attack."

Separated from her friends, she was ushered into a first-floor room by staff, "They were incredibly calm, they locked the doors and turned off the lights, then put furniture – chairs, desks, whatever they could find – against the door".

Little did the Taj Mahal patrons realise the attack on their hotel was anything but an isolated incident.

By 11.10pm, Indian media began broadcasting details of a large-scale shooting at the city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station. The assailants were also young, sporting black T-shirts and blue and black rucksacks that were slung casually over their shoulders.

But there was nothing casual about the way they mowed down passengers in the waiting hall. They turned the 19th century design gem with its heritage-protected architecture into a killing zone, stopping to reload their automatic weapons and shoot again.

Afterwards, the terminus, formerly known as Victoria Station, would be a bloodstained mess. Piles of abandoned luggage, spattered with red, were the eerie legacy of the many wounded, while the corpses of those who had not been so lucky littered the floor, their legs bent awkwardly underneath them from the force of the fall under a hail of bullets.

Then came a flurry of security alerts. An explosion at the Mazagaon Docks, one of India's largest ship-building sites; and shooting at a hospital where some victims were caught up for a second time. Another expat institution, Café Leopold had also been hit.

The popular bar-cum-restaurant on the Colaba causeway, the nerve centre of Mumbai, has always been popular for its cheap beer and greasy snacks and is known as the place for tourists to visit should they want to land a Bollywood role. In recent years, it has developed new-found fame because of its immortalisation in the best-selling novel Shantaram by the Australian author Gregory David Roberts.

David Gross, the boyfriend of an Australian soap star was among those soaking up the ambience on Wednesday night. Until, that is, the gunmen stormed in. Soon, the militants were engaged in a firefight with the police, bullets riddling the walls. Mr Gross hid with other customers as best he could in an upstairs room, before eventually climbing out of a window.

"There were grenades going off, we started breaking the windows and ripped down curtains to make a rope ... people were sliding out, like you're taught to do," he said. "It was a one-storey drop on to broken glass."

By then, India's emergency services had a struggle on their hands and explosions at the Taj Mahal and Trident-Oberoi hotels had made matters worse, starting fires in the lobbies.

By 11.52pm, the flames had begun to spread. People were being evacuated from the two buildings, with the injured and incapacitated wheeled out on golden luggage trolleys.

Steve Loschko, an American backpacker, was staying in a hostel across from the hotel. He watched, stunned and horrified, as the fire spread.

"On the top floor I could see a man, who was standing there shouting, 'help me, help me'. The fire brigade hosed him with water. I presume that he had been on fire." The silhouettes of some of the guests trapped inside could be seen at windows of the hotel. Fists were raised against the glass, lights were flicked on and off to attract attention, one couple took turns to wave a white flag while another guest banged a large lamp against the pane.

By midnight, reports began to emerge of another deadly twist to the terror – the gunmen had been specifically looking for British and American tourists.

"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans," said Alex Chamberlain, a British sports writer who had been dining in one of the hotel's restaurants before managing to escaping.

"My friend said to me, 'Don't be a hero. Don't say you are British'." The segregation by nationality was a bitter irony for a hotel built in 1903 by Tata founder Jamsetji Tata, after he was snubbed at another plush establishment because he was Indian.

With hostages now feared to be in the hands of the militants, the state's anti-terrorism police began to close in on the attackers. It was a deadly undertaking and, by 1.35am, Hemant Karkare, Mumbai's anti-terror chief, was reported dead, killed in a gunfight with the militants that had taken his specialist team unawares. Exchanges of fire and explosions continued to rock this shaken city throughout the night, as images were beamed around the world of Mumbai's landmark buildings under siege. At 2.35am, a group called the Deccan Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attacks, but that only added to the confusion, given no one had ever heard of a such a group before.

An hour later, thick clouds of black smoke could be seen rising from the top of the Taj Mahal hotel. Some guests decided to make a bid for freedom, removing their shoes so that the terrorists could not hear them escape. Firecrews battled to rescue guests who were trapped inside by the smoke rather than by the hostage-takers, plucking the shell-shocked men and women from the balconies.

Ms Bains was among those rescued. "At about 4.30 in the morning, I saw a sight that I will never forget – it was the face of a fireman," she said. "It was the happiest moment of my life. He smashed the window and we climbed down a ladder to freedom."

VS Naipaul once famously said "Mumbai is a crowd". But as dawn broke on Thursday, the city was eerily quiet, pulsing not with hoards of Mumbaikers going about their hectic daily business, but with one unanswered question. Why on earth had this happened?

Survivor's story: 'I was incredibly lucky'

British MEP Sajjad Karim

"At one point we had a gunman with amachine gun standing right in front of us, and he just started to point the gun and to shoot right at us. People in front of me started to fall. And a few of us were lucky enough and managed to get away from the lobby to a restaurant area where we could barricade ourselves in, so we were relatively safe. We just had to wait for the army to get in and come and rescue us. Today the situation is very tense. Mumbai is a city that's normally full of life... today it's a different city, it's no longer Mumbai."

Survivor's story: 'I prayed someone would find us'

Businesswoman and shop owner Dalbir Bains

Ms Bains moved from the UK to Mumbai three years ago to set up a lingerie shop.

"When the attack began we were sitting around the poolside at the back of the hotel discussing business. We heard rapid gunfire break out. At first we thought it might be fireworks. Staff ushered us into a room, locked the doors and turned off the lights. They then put furniture against the door. The gunmen were running up and down the corridor firing indiscriminately. It was terrifying. The gunfire was continuous. We heard a series of explosions. At one point a bullet came through the wall and hit a water pipe. A couple of hours later we could smell smoke. We just kept absolutely silent and prayed. At 4.30 in the morning I saw the face of a fireman. He smashed the window and we climbed to freedom. It was the happiest moment of my life.

PS:It is true that we all have to fight this terror against india together,but it does not absolve those at the top who have been ,even in the eyes of experts like B.Raman,VIkram Sood,Brahma Chellaney and Co.,that the current govt. is guilty of gross dereliction of duty in combating terrorism.They have failed to take decisions in revamping RAW, (look at its heads who have no experience in counter-terror,experience of Pak,Afghanistan,the terror region etc.,but have served in the Vatican!) the IB and other investigative/intel agencies,failed to set up an equivalent of the NSA,failed to collate, coordinate and centralise all intel from military and other govt. agencies/.The NSAdviser is conspicuous by his silence and ridiculed for his inability to combat terror while being more active in politicking for his master,MMS.

[Nesoj]

NDTV Reports

All diners at Tiffins Restaurant in Oberoi (including kids) have been shot - most dead, few seriously injured

[A Arun]

India TV: 4 terrorists start firing at CST.

[Rahul Shukla]

The west can ignore the Mumbai massacre and cover for Pakistan but only at its own peril. The same organizations and 'al-lies' located in Pakistan are plotting their next hit on the USA/Europe as we type. The bad karma of ignoring innocent lives lost in a 'third-world' country will cost them many of their own. Zawahiri is not known for bluffing. Who will they blame then? Fundamentalist domestic Christians? The klan?

No sir! You're going to be hit from Pakistan. It is inevitable. And that's because you're still feeding the snake (Pakistan) instead of killing it. A snake only knows one thing to do - bite!

May God bless the innocent people who lost their lives in this massacre! I pray for India. Jai Hind and Vande Mataram!

[SSridhar]

TimesNow saying that IB & RAW have come to independent confirmation that Al Qaeda was involved in planning and LeT has executed. The arms & ammunition had been smuggled into the Taj much before.

[Nesoj]

NDTV Reports

Shots again heard at CST Station (VT) just now - guy was seen running into the station firing

What's happening ???????? wave 2 ?????????? guy was hiding somewhere since yesterday ?????

[SSridhar]

TimesNow saying that VT area is seeing firing once again.

[anishns]

Kudos! to Arnav from TimesNow

He says lets not spread news without confirmaton about the firing at CST....he cut short his field reporter on the field until he has confirmation

India TV: 4 terrorists start firing at CST.

[Nitesh]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Turk ... 766609.cms
Turkish couple let off by terrorists for being Muslims