Attack in Mumbai

[Guest]

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<b>Terrorists speak Punjabi, pretend to be from Hyderabad: Army</b>


Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) More than 10-12 terrorists are still hiding in the three places where fierce fighting is raging on with security forces and the attackers ere conversing in Punjabi language, a senior army officer supervising the operations here said Thursday evening.He said one arrested terrorist is from Faridkot in Pakistan. He also said the men feigned their identity by pretending to be from Hyderabad.

“We believe that 10-12 militants are still inside the buildings,” Major General R.K. Hooda, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area, told reporters. “Five-six militants could be in the Taj Hotel and three-four in Oberoi Trident hotel. The rest five could be in Nariman House.”

“In the message intercepted by us when the terrorists were interacting between Nairman House and the Taj Hotel, we found that they spoke in Punjabi language. They were trying to pretend to be from Hyderabad,” Hooda said.

The senior army officer said the gunbattle was still on between the security agencies and terrorists at the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and Nariman House, which are under siege since Wednesday night.

Asked if the terrorists are from any foreign country, he said: “All we can say is that one arrested terrorist is from Pakistan’s Faridkot.”

He said at least 35 people, who had locked themselves in their rooms at the Oberoi Trident, have been rescued.

[Guest]

Now expect hijacking or more terrorist attack to release these Paki jihadi.

After investigation, just kill them along with Afzal.

[Pandyan]

Are you kidding? Arundhoti Roy, Teesta, Turdesai, will do fast until death unless they are all released.

[Guest]

<b>Naval sources unhappy with chaotic situation</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->MUMBAI: Naval sources say they are unhappy with the chaotic situation near both the hotels with civilian bystanders and television media crews  severely impeding operations. According to these sources, the state police was completely unprepared to provide even support functions in such a situation.

For instance, people exiting the hotels were not properly screened thus making it likely that terrorists themselves may have abandoned their weapons and mingled with hostages who were using the various fire escapes. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&:furious--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Pandyan+Nov 28 2008, 02:58 AM-->QUOTE(Pandyan @ Nov 28 2008, 02:58 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Are you kidding? Arundhoti Roy, Teesta, Turdesai, will do fast until death unless they are all released.
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Till Hijra Singh is PM not possible, that is my dream.

Another titbit-
There was a time when Hijra Singh used to dry his hair on roof top, with bibi sitting next to him eating peanuts in their white color Amar Colony corner house. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Do you know he became gunja by washing his hair by salt water? Somebody told me this part.

[Guest]

<b>Family in Israel prays for relatives held hostage at Nariman House</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->JERUSALEM: Anxiously waiting to hear about the well-being of their dear ones taken hostage by terrorists at Chabad house in Mumbai, the Rosenbergs 
in Israel are ensconced in prayer at their house in the northern town of Afula.

Rivka, 28, and her husband, Gabriel Holtzberg, 30, a Chabad emissary in Mumbai, are among a number of Israelis being held hostage by armed terrorists who have stormed into the Nariman House, a building owned by the religious Jews' 'Chabad' movement, the Israeli radio reported.

<b>The family has received reports indicating that the terrorists have released their two-year-old son Moshe Tzvi and their caretaker, Rivka's father Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg told the Radio. </b>

"We speak with them every day and [yesterday] morning was no different. Everything was alright. In the evening, I gave a lesson in Kabbala and just after 9 pm I got a call telling us to listen to news of terrorists attacking in Mumbai. We tried to get in touch but all the systems went down and later we heard that the terrorists stormed the building and they were being held hostage," the Rabbi said. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

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<b>India’s Islamic Militants Shift Target to Foreigners, Economy </b>
By James Rupert

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The terrorist attacks in Mumbai show India’s home-grown Islamic militant movement is aligning its campaign with those in the broader Muslim world, while seeking to hit economic interests, intelligence analysts said.

Gunmen who stormed hotels and other tourist sites in India’s financial capital -- leaving at least 101 dead and 290 injured -- displayed a greater degree of organization, sophistication and determination than in strikes of recent years, said B. Raman, the former counter-terrorism director of India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.

The violence “seems to be part of a chain of attacks dating back to last year” by a domestic militant group called the Indian Mujahideen, which in recent statements has “made references to the ‘war of civilizations,’” signaling a mindset close to international groups such as al-Qaeda, Raman said.

<b>After years in which Indian Muslim extremists have focused on the country’s Hindu majority, the militants’ targeting of Americans and Britons gives them common cause with global Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and at the same time strikes the international links that have helped India’s economy grow at 9 percent or more for each of the past three years</b>.

Previously, their aim was “to incite communal strife between Hindus and Muslims,” said Reva Bhalla, director of geopolitical analysts at Stratfor, a private intelligence company in Austin, Texas. The latest attacks were aimed at “spreading fear to Western tourists and businesspeople, hitting at India’s economic lifelines,” Bhalla said.

Riskiest Country

On the night of Nov. 26, militants armed with grenades and rifles stormed into the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel and the Oberoi Trident complex, singling out foreign nationals and taking hostages. The attack has added a new dimension to a wave of bombings that rocked Indian cities this year, killing more than 300 people in markets, theaters and at religious sites.

Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd.<b> rates India the riskiest of 14 Asian countries, not including Pakistan and Afghanistan, it analyzed for the coming year</b>.

“One of the reasons was the threat of terrorism,” said the firm’s managing director, Robert Broadfoot, in a telephone interview. “<b>Between January 2004 and September 2008, deaths from terrorist attacks were second only to those in Iraq</b>.”

While “no immediate, definite evidence” showed which group attacked in Mumbai, “this seems driven by the same mind” as the past year’s bombings claimed by the Indian Mujahideen, Raman said.

Spreading Fear

The Indian Mujahideen came to public attention after militants used that name in a video sent to news organizations claiming responsibility for bombings on May 13 in the tourist city of Jaipur. Since then, “the Indian Mujahideen have authenticated claims by including photographs of their explosive devices” and other evidence in their messages, Raman said.

A group called the “Deccan Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the attacks, an official of India’s Home Ministry said.

The Deccan region of India includes Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital. The group’s message appeared to include no authenticating evidence, Raman said.

While the scale and ferocity of the Mumbai attack shocked Indians, Broadfoot predicted a limited long-term effect on its economy, which “doesn’t depend on tourism for its livelihood,” he said. “I don’t think it will be more than a temporary disadvantage. They’re already security conscious. Terrorists tried to blow up Parliament already.”

Pakistan Accused

In terms of political stability, it may be “much better that they targeted foreigners in hotels rather than Hindu temples -- the backlash from that would have been horrendous,” Broadfoot said.

Religious riots that killed 2,000 people in Gujarat in 2002 were sparked by the burning of a railcar carrying Hindu activists, allegedly by Muslims.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a televised speech yesterday that the Mumbai attackers were “based outside the country,” without saying where or offering any evidence. India has accused Pakistan’s intelligence services of abetting some of India’s deadliest terrorist attacks, including bombs on Mumbai trains that killed at least 200 people on July 11, 2006.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned the Mumbai attacks yesterday.

While Pakistan has backed extremist groups fighting India’s rule in the disputed territory of Kashmir, the Indian Mujahiddin are drive<b>n “mainly by local reasons, local anger</b>,” said Raman.

More Attacks

Islamic militant groups operating in India “may assume different pseudo names but are driven by the <b>same set of grievances</b> and external abetment,” said N. Manoharan, a senior fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

Now, “India’s close relationships with the U.S. and European countries seem to have made them target foreigners for the first time,” he said.

India may not have seen the last of such terror, warned Suba Chandran, the deputy director at the <b>Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies in New Delh</b>i.

“These men are not poor and illiterate,” he said in a phone interview. “They are highly motivated <b>youngsters with grievances real and imagined</b>. There may be more such attacks <b>until we address their grievances</b> and improve intelligence gathering.”

<i>To contact the reporter on this story: James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net.</i>

Last Updated: November 27, 2008 14:02 EST
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What about Hindu grievances? As long as these elite, analysts, thinkers, commies are justifying it, will they support and advise to resolve hindu grievances too?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Suba Chandran, the deputy director at the Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies in New Delhi<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
another clueless Babu.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What about Hindu grievances? As long as these elite, analysts, thinkers, commies are justifying it, will they support and advise to resolve hindu grievances too? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hindu should just cremate their dead and go back to business.

[Pandyan]

Suba Chandran needs some real grievances, lets see if he resorts to terrorism.

[Pandyan]

Napunsak Indian Army which fired on Hindus this year during Amarnath controversy can't do its job, so they have to bring in Israelis to protect the Jews.

[Shambhu]

I recently asked Webster's what a "soft" target was. They said "Any target that is attacked is a soft target. If it was not soft, how was it attacked onlee, I ask you. Therefore, any target that is attacked is then called soft."

[Guest]

soft target
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->a target that can be attacked easily because it does not have military defenses ▪ hospitals, schools, and other soft targets —often used figuratively ▪ elderly people who are a soft target for criminals<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Politicians are not soft target, they are miltary target.

[Guest]

Link

<b>Patil goof-up, TV cameras ‘compromise’ rescue</b>
Posted online: Nov 28, 2008 at 0044 hrs
Manu Pubby and Anubhuti Vishnoi

New Delhi : A goof-up late Wednesday night by Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the airing of live footage by television channels on Thursday compromised rescue operations at the Trident and Taj hotels in Mumbai by giving terrorists prior information, security forces have said.

The Army and the National Security Guards (NSG), which started search and rescue operations early on Thursday, are <b>fuming over a statement by the Home Minister on Wednesday night that revealed that 200 commandoes are leaving for Mumbai from the capital</b>.

<b>The live coverage of the operation by television channels was curtailed after objections by the armed forces that it was hampering operations.</b> The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) issued an advisory for ‘self-regulation’ and ‘self-restraint’ in coverage to enable smooth functioning of security agencies and safety of those caught in the terror attacks.

The Home Minister, who was talking to television channels, drew flak after he said that the team of NSG commandoes would leave for operations in Mumbai <b>and even revealed the exact time of departure from Delhi, compromising, security forces say, the surprise element in the planned assault</b>.

“It is difficult to believe that the minister did not know that the size and time of arrival of an assault team should never be revealed. Such a disclosure has compromised the security of the operation,” a senior officer said, adding that live coverage by television channels was giving terrorists holed up inside the buildings specific inputs about the assault and movement of security personnel.

<b>An internal advisory by the NBA to 30 channels and 14 broadcasters was send out, with its secretary general Annie Joseph appealing to all news channel editors to exercise due self-restraint and self-regulation in its coverage.</b>

Terming the situation in Mumbai as a national issue and ‘an unprecedented episode that is required to be covered by all members as part of their bounden duty’, the NBA advised that this ‘extremely precarious situation’ should be covered with responsibility. It has asked members to resist from anything that would in any way ‘affect the operation being conducted by the security agencies to control the situation or that would endanger the safety of persons who are involved in the terror attacks’.

During the course of the security agency operations at the Taj and Oberoi hotels in Mumbai which are still continuing till the filing of this report, security agencies had asked the media to stay away from the site several times and were worried that relaying of all details about their positions and movements could inadvertently warn the terrorists. NBA, however, said the advisory sent out to all channels was their own decision and not done on the behest of security agencies.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Terrorists highly-trained and motivated: Naval authorities</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | Mumbai
Terrorists who have caused mayhem in the metropolis are not run-of-the-mill militants as believed earlier, but are "highly-trained and highly-motivated professionals".

This was the observation of the elite Marcos Naval Commandos which had the first confrontation with the terrorists at the city's landmark Taj Hotel.
<b>
"The terrorists are highly trained, motivated with where with all to mount a prolonged campaign," </b>Vice-Admiral JS Bedi, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command said here.

He said that these observations were conveyed to him by his Marcos commandos.

<b>In the operations, Marcos seized stun grenades, hand grenades and other
sophisticated ammunitions and ATM cards, plus US dollars from the terrorists.</b>

<b>The terrorists were also found to be carrying huge loads of almonds, which can be used as food in long siege. </b>
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Enough is enough</b>
Pioneer.com
Ashok K Mehta
This is India's worst hour. Infinitely worse than the 1962 Himalayan disaster that broke the morale of the country. The war against Mumbai is war against India. The moral can be that psychological scars will endure.

<b>Forty-five years after that fateful event with the world's fourth largest military, a bountiful economy, a disorganised but working democracy and an impressive information technology knowledge power status, India with both hard and soft powers is still imminently vulnerable and emphatically undefended against terrorism, indeed all threats to internal security. The oldest victim of terrorism is also the most unprotected and doing little to correct it. Otherwise why would any Government worth its salt tolerate a terrorist attack a month spread all across the country, losing more lives to terrorists than to enemies across the border?</b>

India's reputation as a soft state, to turn the other cheek if you like, has been reinforced. Added to it is the conviction among jihadis of all colours that you can travel to Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad or anywhere in India, mount terror attacks, and escape scot-free. Impunity attaches now to terrorism committed in India.

This is not a new war on Mumbai but the continuation of the 1993 serial bombings to cripple the commercial capital of the nation and to destablise rising India. The terrorists's commando-style operation is a masterly plot as sophisticated as 9/11 - striking 11 targets ironically routed through the Gateway of India. The first non-state actor, the British East India Company, used this landing site as one of its entry points to subjugate India. The route appears to have been reopened to terrorists, aided and abetted by local sympathisers.

The response to the terrorist attacks has been confused and feeble which is not surprising. The terrorists have created a unique and unprecedented situation of hostages in three places. Our people have very little expertise in negotiating in hostage situation. Dealing with this will be tricky for the security forces. We need to be cool and firm to tide over the multiple crises largely of our own creation.

No further dithering will do in meeting the terrorist challenge. India needs a Patriot Act or National Security Act forthwith, coupled with a Department of Homeland Security under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. It is time to appoint a professional National Security Adviser with a military background. All this must happen in 100 days as announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

<b>National political consensus on national internal security is a must. This is not only India's last chance to act but also to be seen to be serious about it. The nation's credibility is at stake.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories ... 911900.htm
<b>Caught in the crossfire, 9 foreign nationals killed </b>
Australian, Japanese, British citizens among the victims

END OF TRAUMA: Two foreign nationals come out of the Trident Hotel on Thursday after being caught inside for almost 24 hours.

Mumbai: Nine foreigners were killed and 11 injured in the multiple terror attacks here, hospital sources said on Thursday. The dead included an Australian, a Briton and a Japanese who have been identified with their nationality while four have been identified without nationality, they said. However, three others were yet to be identified, sources said.

The Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said among the dead was an Italian national, identifying him as Antonio de Lorenzo.

All Italians who were in hotels or other areas attacked in Mumbai have been contacted “except for one or two people,” the country’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a local TV channel.

Japanese national Tsuda, who was working with Mtsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Co, died at a hospital after being shot in the leg, stomach and chest at the Trident hotel, the company’s vice-president Hajime Tamaki said in Tokyo. Another of its employees, 44, fell and suffered light injuries as he fled the scene, he said, without identifying the injured by name.

The Australian, Braid Gilbert Taylor (49) was brought dead to St. George Hospital in south Mumbai, sources added.

Among the 60 injured admitted to the Bombay Hospital, 11 foreigners were from different nationalities, Ashish Tiwari of the hospital said.

The injured foreigners are from Australia, U.S., Norway, Spain, Canada and Singapore.

Seven Britons injured


Seven British citizens were injured in the attacks, British High Commissioner in India Sir Richard Stag, said.

Britain would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with India in countering terrorism, he told reporters outside the Taj hotel. Sir Richard described the attacks as “appalling and unjustifiable.”

2 MEPs escape


A London report said two European Parliament members escaped indiscriminate terrorist firing at the Taj hotel, but their whereabouts were not known.

Conservative member Sajjad Karim and Erika Mann, a German Socialist, were part of a delegation of European parliamentarians from a trade committee staying in the Mumbai hotel for meetings ahead of an European Union-India summit.

Karim, 38, spoke to Sky News by mobile phone of his ordeal and attempts to hide from the terrorists in the basement of the hotel until his mobile phone battery ran out.

Mann, 57, was reportedly hiding in the hotel’s kitchen from where she told a colleague who called her on her mobile: “It is too dangerous to talk.”

Mr. Karim told Sky News that he and others had fled from machine-gun fire and had no idea why the hotel was targeted.

“I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me. I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room and we have barricaded all the doors. It’s really bad. There was a lot of commotion in the main lobby, and then another gunman came right in front of us and started shooting. I saw a number of people go down, but I was fortunate enough to get away.”

German killed


A German national has been confirmed killed and several injured in Mumbai, the Foreign Ministry said in Berlin.

“We have to assume that other Germans have been affected,” a spokeswoman said.

While the Ministry did not name the victim, a spokesman for a Munich-based firm called CAMP TV said the victim was its co-owner Ralph Burkei.

Munich newspaper Abendzeitung reported that 51-year-old Burkei fell from the Taj hotel while trying to escape and died on the way to hospital.

Russians safe


A Moscow report said that all its nationals staying in the Taj and the Trident were “safe.” Expressing Russia’s support, President Dmitry Medvedev “unconditionally” condemned the terror strikes as “heinous.”

The Foreign Ministry said the Russian Consulate-General was in close contact with the Indian authorities in Mumbai. A spokesperson for the Russian airlines Aeroflot Irina Dalenberg said that eight crew members staying in the Trident have been safely shifted to the Sheraton, while two airhostesses were safe in their rooms in the Trident as the authorities advised them to remain where they were.

French nuclear physicist M. George Vendryes, 88, and his wife, who were staying in the Taj, have been brought out safely, official sources said in Mumbai.

The scientist was in Mumbai to receive the Indian Nuclear Society’s Eminent Scientist Award and was staying at the five-star hotel, Department of Atomic Energy sources said.

A Warsaw report said a Polish citizen was holed up in the Trident, a Polish diplomat in India, Piotr Opalinski, told the Polish rolling news channel TVN24 over telephone.

An Ankara report said three Turks were holed up in their rooms in the Trident, the Anatolia news agency reported quoting the Turkish Ambassador to India.

“There were eight or nine Turkish citizens in the hotel, but most of them saved themselves and are now in a safe area in Mumbai,” Levent Bilman told the agency.

All Spanish nationals in Mumbai had been located, with about 20 having taken refuge inside the Spanish Consulate premises.



Pakistani cricketers Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir, who were to play for Rajasthan Royals in the Champions League Twenty20, are safe in their team hotel in Mumbai.

Both the players have told their relatives in Pakistan that they were out of harm’s way. “After hearing the news, my father called me and I told them I was safe,” Akmal said. — Agencies

Japan expresses solidarity

P.S. Suryanarayana reports from Singapore:

Countries across East Asia, especially those whose nationals were killed or wounded or trapped at the sites targeted by terrorists in Mumbai, have expressed solidarity with India and offered anti-terror cooperation. A Japanese businessman was killed on the spot and his associate wounded at a hotel as they were about to check in. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, expressing shock over the carnage, said Japan was “willing to work together with India” in taming terrorists.

Speaking immediately after news trickled in that two Australians were injured, Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean, described the terrorist strikes as “an appalling assault on the people, and the stability and the democracy in India.” <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[dhu]

India Under Terrorist Siege
Brahma Chellaney

[Guest]

Finally, NSG had started action in Nariman House.
smoke is coming out of Nariman House top.
Lot of firing from Nariman House.

Lot of explosion from Nariman House.
Black cat had moved into house from ground.

They are showing commandos descending from Helicopter.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Nov 27 2008, 09:45 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Nov 27 2008, 09:45 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Finally, NSG had started action in Nariman House.
smoke is coming out of Nariman House top.
Lot of firing from Nariman House.

Lot of explosion from Nariman House.
Black cat had moved into house from ground.
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The anchor was asking if the people inside can see this coverage. The reporter said she didnt think so since the area did not have any power. But she left it hang saying it is possible they had cellphone. So someone could have been watching live and informing the terrorists that some x (their number) NSG commandos have been dropped from chopper. so why say it?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Nov 27 2008, 10:01 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Nov 27 2008, 10:01 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->No gunfight anymore, it means some success.
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Or worse. Also why the anchor keeps saying "there is action here" "there is no action there" wtf? people dying is action for these jerks to report?