Mumbai Attacks

[smeaglegolum]

Flickr photostream of Mumbai attack

Flickr: Vinu's Photostream

 

[fatman17]

Mumbai attacks have al-Qaida echoes, but tactics differ

While the terrorists seem to be Islamist militants they are not simply the usual suicide attackers

Richard Norton-Taylor

guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 27 2008 11.35 GMT

It must be linked to al-Qaida. That was an immediate, simplistic - and probably misleading - response to the attacks on big hotels, seen as western targets, in Mumbai.

Certainly, the terrorists appeared to be Muslim extremists. Although they must have assumed they were going to be killed even though they took hostages, the attackers were not suicide bombers, overt martyrs of the kind we have witnessed elsewhere - in London, Iraq, and now in Afghanistan - since the 9/11 attacks on the US.

A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, which some analysts describe as an al-Qaida affiliate, claimed responsibility for these latest attacks. The group appears to have named itself after a plateau in central south India.

Unlike al-Qaida-inspired extremists, they have made more traditional and more straightforward demands, namely the release of "Muhajideens" held in Indian jails. However, one similarity with al-Qaida tactics is that there was a number of simultaneous attacks.

Two groups, the Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-i-Taiba (Army of the Pure) have claimed responsibility for attacks in India over the last 12 months, But most of these have been aimed at such vulnerable targets as commuter trains and market places. Those responsible for the latest atacks have different tactics. They had "western" targets in their sights, and they went in fighting - not simply planting bombs and the leaving the area.

One expert was reported today as comparing the attacks to the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on September 20.

Professor Richard Bonney, the author of Jihad: From Qu'ran To Bin Laden, said the difference was that in Mumbai there were coordinated attacks and westerners were singled out as hostages. He said: "This attack looks more dangerous and better planned, though not directed against possible government targets but economic ones and of course the 'western allies'."

The Indian Mujahideen, described as "home grown miltants", has previously declared "open war" against what it says is 60 years of Muslim persecution in India. Lashkar-i-Taiba has claimed responsibility for attacks protecting at what it calls the Indian occupation of Kashmir.

Dominic Armstrong of Aegis Defence Services, a London-based security firm, said: "Recent attacks by Hindu extremists (some of whom have reportedly been arrested) have been unsubtle and largely against mosques. These attacks look very much to be the work of Islamists, and not Muslims of the more traditional Indian sectarian type, but of a more sinister international flavour, with distinct hallmarks of al-Qaida, although probably at subsidiary/affiliate level".

One issue will be how Pakistan responds, not least to Indian populist accusations that Pakistan is behind all attacks in India, and how much sympathy the new government in Islamabad extends to Delhi.

 

[third eye]

I want evidence that can be presented and checked by 3rd party.

Without all these, what your PM talks are just some propaganda.

I want ... ?

The PM of India was addressing the ppl of India..relax , don't take youself so seriously. Being a democracy, he has to ans the Parliament. Not you

 

[Nihat]

This will take some time - the buildings are huge structures with very big rooms.
NSG is doing a bloody brilliant job by rescuing so many hostages (indian and foreign) and limiting casualties.

Those terrorists can probably see approaching death now.

 

[sunny_aus]

Mumbai attacks have al-Qaida echoes, but tactics differ

Even Mr Musharraf has retired after lauding “Hamne Bhi Churiyan Nahi Pahan Rakkhi Hain” for 6-7 years but he couldn’t prove his “Mardangi” till the end

if there is an attack then there will be a cost.

remember even during kargil war, all of the terrorist were removed from indian territory before any sympathy type word could be used, just 8-10 years before, In spite of best involvement of Pakistani military and a visit by pakistani PM Nawaj Sarif to china during the war for help also

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There were also fears of the growing Islamisation of the Pakistani Army and its links with fundamentalist groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Osama bin Laden breed of militants. It was for this reason that China took a neutral stand on Kargil. It has its own fears of Muslim fundamentalism in its Xinjiang autonomous region and last week even had a Pakistan militant executed for subversion. So when Sharif sought China's help during his visit to Beijing on June 28, he was bluntly told by China that he could not count on its support. The Pakistani prime minister even cut short his visit claiming pressing concerns back home. Earlier in India, with casualty figures mounting, the government began to come under public pressure to act more decisively.

Cover Story: Kargil War-- Pakistan: Face-Saving Retreat

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Mumbai attackers had external links: PM


NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday made yet another "never again" pledge and pointed the accusing finger at the neigh-bourhood. Mr Singh said the attackers had external linkages.

"The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with exter-nal linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners," Mr Singh said in an address to the nation.

Mr Singh said his government will not countenance a situation where the safety and security of the citizens are violated with impunity by terrorists. "It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determina-tion to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country," he said.

In his address, the prime minister also took care not to hurt the easy-to-offend types by steering clear of speaking about terror laws.

He said the existing instruments like the NSA will be employed to deal with the situations of this kind. "Existing laws will be tightened to ensure that there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law. Most importantly, it is essential to immediately set up a Federal Investigation Agency to go into terrorist crimes of this kind and ensure that the guilty are brought to book," he said.

Mr Singh said his government will take up "strongly with our neigh-bours" the issue of aiding terror activities aimed against India. "The use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them. We will take a number of measures to strengthen the hands of our police and intelligence authorities," he said.

Mr Singh attempted to assure the citizens that the government would do everything required to tackle the menace. "We will curb the flow of funds to suspect organizations. We will restrict the entry of suspects into the country. We will go after these individuals and organizations and make sure that every perpetrator, organizer and supporter of ter-ror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people," Mr Singh said.

He also played glowing tributes to the officials who laid down their lives while saving people from the terror outrage. "I salute the courage and patriotism of the police officers, including the chief of the Anti-Terror Squad, Shri Hemant Karkare and men who have laid down their lives in fighting these terrorists," he said.

Mumbai attackers had external links: PM- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

 

[shrivatsa]

true army style operation,they came through inflatables struck swiftly and accurately.Question is if they are homegrown from where did they get such sophisticated training .

 

[pkpatriotic]

Terrorists have no religion and yes I support killing of terrorists!

^^^^^ yes Neo you are very true........terrorist have no religion........as non of religion preach terrorism.........while each religion teach humanity.........so here 1st i strongly condemn such inhuman act of terrorism in Mumbai.......and I really wish Indian govt should explode all of these basta**s whos hard-hitting makes peoples lives tougher then never ever before, who are causes to jeopardize the peace of the globe.

 

[Vinod2070]

Cowards. The swamp producing these cowardly insects needs to be cleaned up, no use killing just the individual coward insects.

They will just keep on breeding unless the dirty marsh where they mushroom is cleaned and dried up.

 

[Zaheerkhan]

Cowards. The swamp producing these cowardly insects needs to be cleaned up, no use killing just the individual coward insects.

They will just keep on breeding unless the dirty marsh where they mushroom is cleaned and dried up.

YES, AND NOW IT IS TIME TO GO FOR THE SWAMP!!!

 

[Nihat]

Cowards. The swamp producing these cowardly insects needs to be cleaned up, no use killing just the individual coward insects.

They will just keep on breeding unless the dirty marsh where they mushroom is cleaned and dried up.

No need to clean up the source - the inside locals assist these so we need to murder them first. As far as the source is concerned , there is only so much they can do if we seal our borders instead of crying for "soft" ones

 

[batmannow]

Was this your explanation during the Marriott Hotel Blasts?

donrahul; sir
i guss its about time to cleanout , extermists from both, ISI & RAW.... i guss most of the problums are , comming from there?
they are runing thier own agend's!
we have to take them, out for the better future our nations?
at the same time, yes there are crazy people out there too!
we have to take them out, step by step, with unity among us, on every level...?

 

[Nihat]

A neutral source for anybody who one.

Mumbai: PM blames 'outsiders' as hotel battles rage - CNN.com


http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/11/27/arena.india.terrorist.cnn?iref=mpvideosview

 

[Flintlock]

- A fishing boat has been found abandoned off the Mumbai coast, with a decapitated body on board.

- IT is being considered that this boat was used to bring the terrorists.

- The LeT is being blamed, and the Intelligence sources say that the LeT had been conducting Marine Terror Training off the coast of karachi for quite some time.

- The Mumbai underworld might have helped in the attack.

 

[Nihat]

Amanpour: Attack comes at crucial time for region


(CNN) -- The Indian city of Mumbai exploded into chaos early Thursday morning as gunmen launched a series of attacks across the country's commercial capital, killing scores of people and taking hostages in two luxury hotels frequented by Westerners.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour says India and Pakistan might be warming toward each other.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour says India and Pakistan might be warming toward each other.

Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour spoke about the situation.

CNN: An attack this large, this sophisticated, and carried out with no warning could have come from inside India, maybe, maybe outside, maybe a neighboring state could be involved. We turn to Christiane Amanpour. What do you hear?

Christiane Amanpour: Well, Tom, Islamic militants have been stepping up their assaults on Mumbai, which is not just the center of its filmmaking, but the economic and financial hub of India.

They have often blamed terror attacks on Islamic militants based in Pakistan. Some, they say, are concerned about, for instance, Indian rule over Kashmir. Al Qaeda also has threatened to attack India in revenge for its policies.

Very, very interestingly, this comes at a time when the new president of Pakistan has, in fact, gone further than any previous Pakistani leader in saying they want to improve relations with India, in saying they want to jointly combat terrorism together. The Pakistani president even went so far as saying he would consider renouncing a nuclear strike on India.

This is a very confused situation. Although some group has claimed responsibility, nobody knows the motive yet.



Amanpour: This is the ongoing situation. Certainly, Kashmir is a flashpoint for India and Pakistan, and really back in 2006, there were Islamic militants blamed for recent attacks. About 180 people were killed there.

The one that came closest to pitting India against Pakistan was in 2001, when Islamic militants attacked the Parliament. Only 12 people were killed, but not compared to what's happened now, and that almost led to a war between India and Pakistan.

Whatever happens in this region is so, so difficult and dangerous because of the flash point it centers on. As I say, though it has come at a time right in the aftermath of the warmest outreach by Pakistan to India in decades.

...

CNN: What is, in all of this world picture, Christiane, what is the significance of this?

Amanpour: Well, this is deeply significant, obviously, because it is such a complex and coordinated attack on multitudinous targets, multitudinous locations. Obviously, a large number of militants or terrorists who have taken part in this, and they have engaged the Indian forces, the police and security forces. It's not like they just put bombs somewhere and allowed them to go off, and either they were suicide attackers who got killed or they were able to remotely detonate their bombs.

What they've done is not just attack, take hostages, but engage also with the security forces.

So this really ratchets it up a very significant level. And it's been coming for about 20 years, these attacks. Small in the last couple of decades, but in the last 10 years or so, particularly since 9/11, there have been a number of very significant attacks blamed by the Indian forces on Islamic militants.

...

This is very, very dangerous in this part of the world. Mumbai is India's not just gateway to the nation; it's its economic and financial hub, and it's its cultural hub as well, having the Bollywood and the other film production studios there.

Nobody quite knows who it is and why they have done it. This is the thing that is very difficult and dangerous at the moment. This little-known group, if it's true that they exist, have claimed responsibility, although that has not been confirmed, so-called Deccan Mujahedeen, and what is the motive?

There has obviously for many, many years been a type of feelings by India that, say, 150 or so million Muslims who are in the minority are feeling sort of hard done by in terms of the Hindu majority. There are also complaints by Indian Muslims about the way Kashmir is progressing, that enclave, and that is a huge, huge flashpoint.

But what's really amazing is that often, it's blamed on tensions with Pakistan. And yet, this comes at a time where the president of Pakistan has -- the new president -- has really made an unprecedented overture to India in terms of trying to warm up relations, trying to secure a lasting peace. And just today, Indian and Pakistani officials were having meetings, and they ended it with a joint declaration that they wanted to cooperate on ending terrorism and combating terrorism.

CNN: Christiane, do you see any connection with the recent American elections and this?

Amanpour: Well, it's hard to tell. People would say that it takes a lot longer than a few weeks to plan something like this. It's difficult to tell. I'm sure there will be a huge amount of analysis in the upcoming days and weeks.

What is going to be vital is whatever information the Indian security forces can get from some of these terrorists, militants, who've apparently some may have been captured alive. Obviously, there apparently have been some who have been killed as well. All of this will provide some of those missing pieces of the puzzle. Who are these people? What is their motive?

Just today, there is an interview with the U.S. Marine Corps commandant as basically saying that al Qaeda's focus now is Pakistan. There had been some thought that maybe al Qaeda was in the past trying to launch its attacks also in India, but the Indian secret services and the security services say that they don't have a presence there. But Pakistan is a very, very big worry. It's a failing state. Afghanistan is practically a failed state right now, even after the U.S. in 2001 sent al Qaeda and the Taliban packing.

There's a very difficult and dangerous situation on this subcontinent that really has been the focus of a lot of attention right now, and indeed, the incoming president has said that he wants to step up the number of U.S. forces. U.S. commanders want more forces in that region as well, not just Afghanistan, but to cope with Pakistan as well.

CNN: As you said, there have been a lot of incidents since the year 2000 in India. Why is this one getting so much particular attention? There was one with over 200 deaths.

Amanpour: Well, about 180 in 2006. But those were sort of multiple bombings in trains and railway stations. But this is one night with, so far, according to our sources, at least 87 people killed, and it's a brazen attack on the most visible elements and symbols and structures of the economic, the cultural, the tourist, the international hub, as I said, the gateway to India -- which is the world's largest democracy -- which is not a failed state by any stretch of the imagination. Which has a unified political structure, which has an army and security forces. India is not Pakistan or Afghanistan, and yet this has been able to happen here.

And why is it getting so much attention? Because so many more people than ever before have been killed in one fell swoop, and it's ongoing, and these people launched pitched battles with the security forces, and they still have hostages, and it appears they deliberately targeted Westerners.

CNN.com....

 

[Nihat]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/no ... -terrorism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/no ... -terrorism

Mumbai attacks: domestic Indian terrorism with a global twistWhile terrorism is common in India, the Mumbai attacks suggest a group with outside influences – and careful planning
Julian Borger
guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 27 2008 10.20 GMT

The claim of responsibility came from a group no one had heard of before, the Deccan Mujahideen. The Deccan plateau is a huge area of central and southern India, and mujahideen is the Arab word for Islamic holy warriors.

The name suggests a domestic agenda with foreign inspiration. The claim may of course be bogus, or the name could be a cover for another group, but it looks a fair guess at this early stage that this represents home-grown terrorism with an imported twist.

India is one of the principal targets of terrorism. According to the US state department, 2,300 people died in terrorist attacks in the country during the course of 2007. There are Maoist groups in the east and centre and nationalists in the north-east.

In this case it looks like Islamist extremism, for which Mumbai has been a particular target. More than 250 people were killed there in a series of 13 bomb blasts in 1993 blamed on Muslim militants. Two years ago more than 200 people were killed by bomb attacks on trains and railway stations. The police charged about 30 suspects belonging to a Pakistan-based group called Lashkar-i-Taiba and a northern group called Students Islamic Movement of India.

The violence is fuelled by longstanding ethnic tensions that were inflamed by riots in Gujarat State near Mumbai six years ago. Nearly 2,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. The most serious attacks followed those riots.

But there is clearly something different about this attack. It has relied not on bombs, but a coordinated assault by men with rifles who seem to have arrived at some of their targets by boat. They appear to be on a suicide mission. In at least one instance they singled out Britons and Americans, and one of their targets was a Orthodox Jewish centre. Clearly there is outside influence on their strategy and ideology.

It is too early to say whether there is an al-Qaida connection, and such links can take many forms, from active training and assistance in planning and logistics to simple inspiration from the internet.

What is likely is that the attacks will get blamed on Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), as have previous Islamist atrocities. US counter-terrorism officials believe some ISI members played a role in an attack this year on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan.

Mumbai may be the latest of many outrages that have their roots in recent Indian history – but the targeting of westerners suggests this is becoming globalised, intertwined with a brand of violent extremism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan.