Foreigners targeted in coordinated Bombay attacks

[ZDL]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5240126.ece

[RogerinTPA]

I'm watching now on FOX. I have a buddy there that's a red head and will stick out like a sore thumb. I just shot him an email telling him to lay low for a few days, get a tan and dye his hair!

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

This is the kind of thing that I fear could happen here. Terrorists on student visas or up from Mexica buy AW at a gun show or a straw buyer, mod them for full auto and go to town. Lots of people dead, a political split left-right on a new AWB.

Prayers for the victims and their families.

[Rev18]

Agreed. I think that's the exact knee-jerk reaction that would result from a similar situation here.

[Charlie Golf]

Does anyone know if Indian citizens have a right to own firearms and defend themselves?

[unknownsailor]

They do not. Near total ban started by the British after a particularly bad uprising in the 1800s, and it has carried over since independence.
Link by one of the few who can own one in India (http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india/)

[Left Sig]

This is the kind of thing that I fear could happen here. Terrorists on student visas or up from Mexica buy AW at a gun show or a straw buyer, mod them for full auto and go to town. Lots of people dead, a political split left-right on a new AWB.

Prayers for the victims and their families.

Don't you think it would be easier for them to smuggle FA AK's over the border than buy them here and modify them? The drug cartels smuggle LOTS of drugs and guns across our southern border, and we don't seem to be very good at preventing it...

[NoBody]

Deleted.

[Left Sig]

And now they've found a hijacked boat with a dead captain that was used to enter Mumbai. All the did was float up to shore, get off the boat and start the attack.

And they've found cell phones on the boat that were used to call Pakistan. Once they trace all the calls, they will have a better idea where the terrorist came from and who they are working with. I'm not sure if there will be record of what cell tower was used on the other end of the call, but I think they should be able to get pretty close...

[threefeathers]

If NSA has the phones they've already got the end number. Now will Bush do something about it before Obama gets in office and won't.

[Left Sig]

This is kind of India's issue for now until they ask for our help. Pakistan better get their act together and go after these guys or there will be hell to pay...

[NoBody]

Deleted.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

The Indian police didn't engage the Terrorists, the just hid. Imagine if this photogapher had a barrel under that lens.

Mumbai photographer: I wish I'd had a gun, not a camera. Armed police would not fire back (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article14086308.ece)

Makes me want to carry a carbine in my trunk.

[chadbag]

And now they've found a hijacked boat with a dead captain that was used to enter Mumbai. All the did was float up to shore, get off the boat and start the attack.

And they've found cell phones on the boat that were used to call Pakistan. Once they trace all the calls, they will have a better idea where the terrorist came from and who they are working with. I'm not sure if there will be record of what cell tower was used on the other end of the call, but I think they should be able to get pretty close...

They were Satellite phones according to the news articles I read and they already know which numbers were dialed in -- in Pakistan. Known numbers of a Kashmiri terrorist leader or something like that.

[Mjolnir]

Something's not right; reports that some of the guys were "white"; photos of one deranged little guy with an AKM with a red cord on his right hand which from my experience with the Indian Community spells HINDU.

Here is an article from The Belfast Telegraph:

India Uncovers Hindu Terror Group that Carried out Bombings Blamed on Islamists
By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi
Sunday, 23 November 2008

India is in something of a state of shock after learning from official sources that its first Hindu terror cell may have carried out a series of deadly bombings that were initially blamed on militant Muslims. The revelation is forcing the country to consider some difficult questions.

At least 10 people have been arrested in connection with several bomb blasts in the Muslim-dominated town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra in September, which left six people dead. But reports suggest that police believe the cell may also have carried out a number of previous attacks, including last year's notorious bombing of a cross-border train en route to Pakistan, which killed 68 people. Among the alleged members of the cell are a serving army officer and a Hindu monk.

Bomb attacks are not uncommon in India – there has been a flurry in recent months – but police usually blame them on Muslim extremists, often said to have links to militant groups based in either Pakistan or Bangladesh. As a result, the recent cracking of the alleged Hindu cell has forced India to face some difficult issues. A country that prides itself on purported religious and cultural toleration – an ambition that in reality often falls short – has been made to ask itself how this cell could operate for so long. India's military, which prides itself on its professionalism, has been forced to order an embarrassing inquiry.

The near-daily drip of revelations from police has also caused red faces for India's main political opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of state polls and a general election scheduled for early next year. The BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Lal Krishna Advani, have long accused the Congress Party-led government of being soft on terrorism that involved Muslims. However, the BJP has refused to call for a clampdown on Hindu groups, and last week Mr Advani even criticised the police over the way they questioned one of the alleged cell members, a woman called Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, phoned his rival to ask him not to politicise the issue or the investigation. "There is a strong case so let the police do their job," he told Mr Advani. While some commentators have expressed surprise about the discovery of the alleged cell, others have pointed out that there has been growing concern about the possible threat from Hindu extremists. In the summer, two members of a right-wing Hindu group were killed while putting together a bomb, and two other suspected members of the same group died in similar circumstances in 2006.

Meanwhile, senior right-wing leaders have made no secret of their wish that Hindus should form suicide squads to protect themselves against Muslim extremists. Bal Thackeray, leader of a group called the Shiv Sena, which has been responsible for communal and regional violence in Mumbai, wrote recently in the party's magazine: "The threat of Islamic terror in India is rising. It is time to counter the same with Hindu terror. Hindu suicide squads should be readied to ensure the existence of Hindu society and to protect the nation."

Observers say the fact that the police have arrested the alleged cell members amid considerable political pressure suggests the growing professionalism of its security forces. "It's the first Hindu cell and it's the first time Hindus have been shackled and taken to jail," said Professor Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at Delhi's Jawarlahal Nehru University. "I'm quite pleased with the way the police have done their jobs."


And this one is more odd:

Mumbai Terrorists Had Been Staying at the Nariman House in a Guest House for 2 Weeks Prior to the Attacks
Published on 29-11-2008

In a telephone interview with CBC News from outside the centre, freelance journalist Arun Asthhana said there are reports that some of the militants had stayed at a guest house there [Nariman House] for up to 15 days before the attacks.

"They had a huge mass of ammunition, arms and food there," Asthhana said.

There are reports that contradict this, however (listing six killed instead of two).

Another odd report from The Guardian:

From the Guardian:

"One police officer who encountered the gunmen as they entered the Jewish centre told the Guardian the attackers were "white" (All of them? How many of them), although this could mean they were paler-skinned Indians from the country's north.

"I went into the building late last night," he said. "I got a shock because they were white. I was expecting them to look like us. They fired three shots. I fired 10 back."

Then the reports of the local LE officials not firing back, for whatever reasons.

Then this:

“They had purchased around two crates of chicken and liquor worth Rs25,000 from two shops in Colaba,” another resident Joseph D’Mello said. “They then entered the Nariman House building and took the Israeli family captive.”

There's more to this story than being reported.

At any rate, Obama's desire to have peace in Southeast Asia has just gotten significantly more difficult as well as the pipeline opportunity for Pakistan, India and Iran that was promulgated by none less than Henry Kissinger. [Source: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=182992 ]

[chadbag]

Something's not right; reports that some of the guys were "white"; photos of one deranged little guy with an AKM with a red cord on his right hand which from my experience with the Indian Community spells HINDU.



FWIW, a report today from an Indian newspaper claimed, based on reports from Indian Intelligence agencies

* They have the satellite phone found on the fishing trawler that was hijacked and used to help ferry the guys ashore. It had been used to call a known Kashmir terrorist leader in Pakistan several times in the days before the attacks. They had intercepted the satellite phone calls and had stepped up patrols of the area based on the nature and content of the calls and it is speculated that that is one of the reasons that the fishing boat was hijacked -- the increased patrols by Indian navy and coast guard were in the area and they needed to blend in with what was expected to be seen by the Navy and CG

* They have at least one of the Mumbai bad guys captured and he is a known muslim.

* That reports that at least 2 of the bad guys were British citizens were thought now to be false (whether this was white guy British or Pakistani British was not said)

* The bad guys came ashore in a small boat launched from the fishing boat and were wearing the red arm bands of the Hindu as a form of camouflage so that they would blend in with the fishermen at the wharf etc.

This wast the report in an Indian newspaper. I cannot say what is true or not but they did say that some of the initial reports were wrong

[armakraut]

Disturbing stuff, had relatives in one of those hotels in August. Among the nicest hotels they'd ever stayed in.

Not sure about Kashmiris, but 50% or more of Pashtuns would easily pass for a European, you can find a few that are downright albino. I'm guessing there's still a bunch of Chechens on the pak/afghan border too.

[Rev18]

The Indian police didn't engage the Terrorists, the just hid. Imagine if this photogapher had a barrel under that lens.

Mumbai photographer: I wish I'd had a gun, not a camera. Armed police would not fire back (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article14086308.ece)

Makes me want to carry a carbine in my trunk.

Reading that story must be excruciating for the victims families.

Did anyone else see some of the earlier footage when the military/police were first arriving on the scene en mass? I think it was around Thursday morning when I turned on the news and saw a video of some troops climbing out of the back of a transport truck. They were holding their rifles as if they were tennis rackets. I saw several of them sweeping each other with their muzzles, some even across the back of their heads. That particular unit at least, didn't strike me as having been trained very well.

[HK45]

Well I expect we will see more of this. If we do then India and Pakistan are going to go at it which is not good at all in an already unstable region. I see Dell and some other big outsourcers of U.S. jobs are already forbidding travel to the region...