Heroes of Mumbai
Nov. 30th, 2008 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyBy now all of you have heard of the shocking events in Mumbai, India where a team of highly trained, heavily armed terrorists set out to kill as many people as possible before being destroyed by security forces. The tangos infiltrated by trawler, landed by inflatable boat, and carried automatic rifles, grenades, combat electronics including Blackberries and satcom phones, plenty of ammunition, and even dried fruit and almonds as snacks to sustain them through their atrocity. They warned government forces that they had taken hostages in the main ballroom of the Taj Mahal hotel . . . then for their own convenience, murdered them all.
I choose to recognize the heroism of many involved persons. There is a time and a place to question tactics, methodologies and responses. Not so much, not yet.
1) Mumbai Police
Many of the Mumbai police were poorly armed, many equipped only with handguns and in some cases just batons. This did not stop them from responding and defeating one terrorist attack -- the one on the railway station, involving two terrorists with automatic rifles -- without external support.
It is particularly worthy of note that Mumbai police ARE NOT TRAINED FOR DEADLY FORCE. As is traditional with Indian police, and quite common around the world, police are authorized to carry firearms but the only training takes place on a shooting range. Training in active shooter response, gunfight survival, shooting simulators, realistic roleplays, the continuum of force, access to longarms, and other essentials that every American police department takes for granted is simply not available to the line police officer.
Their heroism is even more notable for overcoming their lack of equipment and minimally adequate training.
2) Mumbai Fire Brigade
Firefighters are neither trained nor equipped for high intensity urban combat operations. This did not stop the brave men of the Mumbasi fire brigade.
Tourists -- including two Americans -- were rescued by high angle ladder and rescue platform from the Taj Mahal hotel rooms they were trapped inside by Mumbasi firefighters. On occasion the firefighters were shot at by terrorists, but this betrayed the terrorist locations to Black Cat countersnipers. Elevated platforms were used not just for rescue but to position countersnipers and provide cover fire.
The terrorists intentionally set a number of fires in the Taj Mahal hotel to slow down the counter-terrorist response. Mumbasi firefighters used both unmanned monitors and manned hose lines to help knock down these fires. It is clear that the building would not have been left standing if it were not for the exceptionally brave efforts of the Mumbasi fire brigade.
3) National Security Guards "Black Cats" Counter-Terrorism Unit
The Black Cats CTU faced its grimmest test in responding to the Mumbai attacks.
This special operations cell arrived in Mumbai after a grueling three hour flight and forty minute bus drive. On arrival they were thrown immediately into close combat. Heliborne operators were dropped on rooftops.
A number of "Black Cats" were killed including the unit commander (while rescuing a downed commando). By Western standards they were underequipped -- heavy flak jackets instead of light urban assault armor, no precision optics or laser sights, a shortage of flashbangs, no forcible entry equipment or shields. However they fought and kept fighting, clearing the Taj Mahal in a sixty hour siege.
4) the staff of the Taj Mahal Hotel
A number of Taj Mahal staff lost their lives in the terrorist attacks. Incredibly, the hotel staff were uniformly reported by survivors to have responded in a calm, orderly manner to the armed assault. They died trying to sound the alarm and get people out of the hotel.
At least one is known to have been murdered for failing to cooperate with the terrorists. One such hero was junior chef Kaizad Kamdin "who rescued many guests via the emergency fire exit, before falling to the gunmen's bullets."
From all accounts the Taj Mahal security had no chance at all. The front desk security guards were machine-gunned on entry. The CCTV camera room was destroyed by grenades with the operators still inside.
5) Security Officer Rajesh of the Oberoi / Trident Hotel
NSG lauds security guard's help during operation in Oberoi
New Delhi (PTI): Inside the terror-hit Oberoi /Trident, there was one of the hotel staff who worked almost like a commando and helped the NSG in knowing the landmark hotel.
Security Officer Rajesh, perfectly secured by a bullet-proof jacket and a helmet, helped the NSG commandos to understand the topography of the hotel as he knew the building like the back of his hand. "The operations were already suffering because we did not know about the passages inside the hotel. Rajesh voluntarily came forward and offered us his expertise," a top commander, leading the operation, on the condition of anonymity said.
"It was very selfless of him to have made such a courageous offer. But we made sure that he was completely secure and we took him only where there was no danger," the officer said.
The security officer remained with us all through the operation and detailed us about all the leeways, corridors, ante-rooms and passages of the hotel.
"All of us are really thankful to him... kudos to his courage and conviction," another officer, who assisted the commander, said.
5) two Labrador retriever dogs
'Four hostages and an NSG Major were killed in the Nariman House encounter and the elite commandos killed two terrorists. The commandos also received a rousing welcome from the locals when they came out after the operation.
"It was just another day at work for the NSG Labradors who are routinely trained to sniff out unidentified objects and explosives. And they did so in good measure."
Note:
There is nothing to prevent such an attack from occurring in the United States at any time. FBI has taken down white supremacist cells who plotted such attacks against Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. The Columbine attack in Colorado -- carried out by deranged schoolchildren -- was of similar modality.
I choose to recognize the heroism of many involved persons. There is a time and a place to question tactics, methodologies and responses. Not so much, not yet.
1) Mumbai Police
Many of the Mumbai police were poorly armed, many equipped only with handguns and in some cases just batons. This did not stop them from responding and defeating one terrorist attack -- the one on the railway station, involving two terrorists with automatic rifles -- without external support.
It is particularly worthy of note that Mumbai police ARE NOT TRAINED FOR DEADLY FORCE. As is traditional with Indian police, and quite common around the world, police are authorized to carry firearms but the only training takes place on a shooting range. Training in active shooter response, gunfight survival, shooting simulators, realistic roleplays, the continuum of force, access to longarms, and other essentials that every American police department takes for granted is simply not available to the line police officer.
Their heroism is even more notable for overcoming their lack of equipment and minimally adequate training.
2) Mumbai Fire Brigade
Firefighters are neither trained nor equipped for high intensity urban combat operations. This did not stop the brave men of the Mumbasi fire brigade.
Tourists -- including two Americans -- were rescued by high angle ladder and rescue platform from the Taj Mahal hotel rooms they were trapped inside by Mumbasi firefighters. On occasion the firefighters were shot at by terrorists, but this betrayed the terrorist locations to Black Cat countersnipers. Elevated platforms were used not just for rescue but to position countersnipers and provide cover fire.
The terrorists intentionally set a number of fires in the Taj Mahal hotel to slow down the counter-terrorist response. Mumbasi firefighters used both unmanned monitors and manned hose lines to help knock down these fires. It is clear that the building would not have been left standing if it were not for the exceptionally brave efforts of the Mumbasi fire brigade.
3) National Security Guards "Black Cats" Counter-Terrorism Unit
The Black Cats CTU faced its grimmest test in responding to the Mumbai attacks.
This special operations cell arrived in Mumbai after a grueling three hour flight and forty minute bus drive. On arrival they were thrown immediately into close combat. Heliborne operators were dropped on rooftops.
A number of "Black Cats" were killed including the unit commander (while rescuing a downed commando). By Western standards they were underequipped -- heavy flak jackets instead of light urban assault armor, no precision optics or laser sights, a shortage of flashbangs, no forcible entry equipment or shields. However they fought and kept fighting, clearing the Taj Mahal in a sixty hour siege.
4) the staff of the Taj Mahal Hotel
A number of Taj Mahal staff lost their lives in the terrorist attacks. Incredibly, the hotel staff were uniformly reported by survivors to have responded in a calm, orderly manner to the armed assault. They died trying to sound the alarm and get people out of the hotel.
At least one is known to have been murdered for failing to cooperate with the terrorists. One such hero was junior chef Kaizad Kamdin "who rescued many guests via the emergency fire exit, before falling to the gunmen's bullets."
From all accounts the Taj Mahal security had no chance at all. The front desk security guards were machine-gunned on entry. The CCTV camera room was destroyed by grenades with the operators still inside.
5) Security Officer Rajesh of the Oberoi / Trident Hotel
NSG lauds security guard's help during operation in Oberoi
New Delhi (PTI): Inside the terror-hit Oberoi /Trident, there was one of the hotel staff who worked almost like a commando and helped the NSG in knowing the landmark hotel.
Security Officer Rajesh, perfectly secured by a bullet-proof jacket and a helmet, helped the NSG commandos to understand the topography of the hotel as he knew the building like the back of his hand. "The operations were already suffering because we did not know about the passages inside the hotel. Rajesh voluntarily came forward and offered us his expertise," a top commander, leading the operation, on the condition of anonymity said.
"It was very selfless of him to have made such a courageous offer. But we made sure that he was completely secure and we took him only where there was no danger," the officer said.
The security officer remained with us all through the operation and detailed us about all the leeways, corridors, ante-rooms and passages of the hotel.
"All of us are really thankful to him... kudos to his courage and conviction," another officer, who assisted the commander, said.
5) two Labrador retriever dogs
'Four hostages and an NSG Major were killed in the Nariman House encounter and the elite commandos killed two terrorists. The commandos also received a rousing welcome from the locals when they came out after the operation.
"It was just another day at work for the NSG Labradors who are routinely trained to sniff out unidentified objects and explosives. And they did so in good measure."
Note:
There is nothing to prevent such an attack from occurring in the United States at any time. FBI has taken down white supremacist cells who plotted such attacks against Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. The Columbine attack in Colorado -- carried out by deranged schoolchildren -- was of similar modality.
