On November 26, 2008, as night went down, Mumbai, India's second-largest city, was shrouded in fog as usual, a lively and peaceful scene.
But at sea near the city, a fishing boat seems a little different. The crew of the ship was gone, and only a few young men were throwing bodies into the sea.
Soon, the fishing boat docked at the city's dock, and 10 young people came down one after another, each of them carrying a backpack with assault rifles, time bombs, grenades and other weapons.
These people have cold faces, make eye contact with each other, and then quietly sneak into the crowd, and Mumbai, India, will usher in the most terrifying and bloody three days in their history.
The 10 young men, divided into 4 groups, arrived at the predetermined location shortly after separating from the pier.
According to the plan, they will launch attacks on several famous hotels, train stations, cafes and mansions in Mumbai.
The terrorists took a taxi to their mission site, and in order to disturb the audio-visual situation, they left a time bomb in the taxi before getting off the taxi.
At this time, many Mumbai people were celebrating a sporting event in which India beat Britain, and the public venues with televisions were crowded with people watching the game.
At 9:30 p.m., two terrorists showed up at Mumbai's famous Shivaji railway station, and the tragedy began.
Inexplicably, the terrorists entered the hall of the train station and pulled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles from their bags.
With the sound of explosions and gunshots, many people immediately fell to the ground, and the hall was suddenly chaotic, and the crowd scattered and fled for their lives.
When a railway announcer heard the movement, he immediately issued an announcement to remind unsuspecting passengers to leave the station quickly, which saved many lives.
There were originally 20 Indian police officers in the station, but they had never seen such a position and did not have the courage to stand up. In times of crisis, most people only know how to flee for their lives with the panicked masses.
The shooting at Shivaji station lasted for more than an hour, killing 52 people and injuring more than a hundred others, while 2 killers left unharmed and headed to the next location.
At the same time as gunfire rang out at the station, Mumbai's famous Leopold Café was also shrouded in death.
The two terrorists pushed the door in, found a place to stay for about ten minutes, and then each pulled a grenade and rifle from his bag.
They blocked the exit and shot at the crowded, panicked crowd, and soon the café was in a mess, with more than a dozen people lying on the ground, and nearly thirty people groaning in a pool of blood.
Realizing that the mission had been completed, the murderer rushed to another location to meet his accomplices.
In addition to Shivaji Railway Station, Café Leopold, the five-star Hotel Obloi, and the historic Taj Mahal Hotel, all of which were targeted by terrorists.
At the O'Broy Hotel, terrorists rushed into the hotel and killed, killing nine employees and 3 customers in the lobby first, followed by 13 diners who dined in the restaurant, and other survivors who were found being taken hostage.
Less than 100 meters from O'Broy is the Taj Mahal Hotel, where 2 of the 4 thugs who attacked the café were the killers who had just attacked the café.
Taj Mahal's staff called the tenants one by one, telling them to turn off the lights and lock the doors and hide in places that were not easy to detect, but the terrorists still broke open some of the doors and took some of the tenants as hostages.
The mob also set fire to some rooms in the hotel to deliberately create smoke to show off to the outside world.
At the same time as these places were attacked, several other specific hotels, gas stations, and buildings were visited by terrorists, and the time bombs that had been placed in taxis also exploded in Mumbai.
For a time, Mumbai, India's second largest city and known as India's financial center, became synonymous with terror and bloodshed.
With such a big event happening in the country, the Indian government naturally cannot sit idly by.
After the first attack, the local police in Mumbai sealed the site of the incident, martial law was imposed on the main roads of the city, and emergency evacuations were carried out in many public places.
At the same time, the Mumbai municipal government cut off the communication network in the area where the incident occurred, and shut down schools, shopping malls, and train stations, and citizens were told not to go out at home.
There is nothing wrong with these emergency measures, but India is full of loopholes in how to deal with and eliminate terrorists.
The mob that first committed the crime at the train station turned to a women's and children's hospital, fortunately the doctors and nurses had already heard the news and moved the patient to a safe place in advance, so the police who came there did not have any concerns about protecting the hostages.
But their combat effectiveness is a big surprise.
Not only were indian police officers at a disadvantage in the exchange of fire, paying the price of casualties, but also allowed the rioters to escape from the hospital.
The escaped thugs also happened to run into the "lonely" Mumbai anti-terrorist special forces commander Hermant Kakar and others.
The anti-terrorism commander, in pursuit of the so-called "front-line command", did not wear armored vehicles, did not wear body armor, and did not take other protective measures, as if he was a little nervous, drove an ordinary police SUV, and entered an alley, but unexpectedly encountered thugs.
As a result, the personal guards were eating dry food again, and Kakar's group was dropped by a nest before they could react.
The mob then drove the car in a frenzied escape, causing further casualties on the way.
In the end, the car got stuck on the separation strip, and the Indian police were able to subdue it, and the two thugs were killed one by one and one captured alive.
If the local police can't do it, reinforcements have been transferred from other places, and the Performance of India's National Security Guard, which is regarded as the most elite, is also lackluster.
As elites, because they did not have their own planes, they arrived at the scene 9 hours after the incident, that is, the next morning, which can be described as snail speed.
But this can not all blame them, the Indian government does not allocate money is a big reason, but the poor performance on the scene can not throw the pot.
After arriving at the scene, terrorists with hostages in hand demanded negotiations in exchange for the release of the hostages in exchange for their detained accomplices.
The negotiations could have bought time for rescue operations and sometimes saved the lives of some hostages, but the Indian security forces refused without even thinking about it, and directly took a strong attack.
If you can accurately eliminate terrorists and ensure the safety of the hostages, it does not hurt, but their strong attack is also a two-knife.
During the attack on Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Hotel, the Indian security forces did not know the coordination of ground and air, but only knew how to attack from below, resulting in heavy casualties.
While attacking another location, they finally resorted to a coordinated ground-to-air approach, sending helicopters to carry out airborne assaults.
As a result, it took 12 hours for the commandos to eliminate the 2 terrorists who were entrenched in the building, but several hostages had all been killed.
Speaking of which, the Indian media cannot fail to mention the help of the Indian media in the whole incident.
Many Indian media outlets scrambled to cover the bloody images of the attacks in order to get exclusive news, and sometimes to attract attention, they kept broadcasting the news that senior commanders had been shot and killed, and turned the cameras on the helpless, frightened police officers who were so frightened that they collapsed and cried. This has undoubtedly boosted the morale of terrorists.
But this is not the most bizarre, what is even more bizarre is that when the assault force carried out the airborne rescue, the Indian media actually broadcast the whole live broadcast!
At that time, there were terrorists in the building who turned on the TV to watch the live broadcast, the rescue operation had no secrecy to speak of, and several terrorists who knew the movements of the commando team immediately carried out an ambush, and the commando suffered heavy casualties.
India has so many deficiencies in rescue and disposal that the whole process is doomed to be very long and tragic.
From the evening of November 26, when the first terrorist attack took place, it was not until 8 a.m. on the 29th that the terrorists were all wiped out, and Mumbai returned to calm.
During these three difficult days, 164 people were killed and 308 injured, including 22 special forces officers and policemen, which cannot but be said to be a failed counter-terrorism operation.
Because of the heavy casualties, some people later called the terrorist attack in Mumbai the Indian version of 9/11.
In this incident, the Indian government and military police have not handled it effectively and should bear considerable responsibility. And those media who only know how to obtain gimmicks are also "accomplices" of criminals.
The only pity is the ordinary people who can no longer wake up...
Content Source:
Anon., "Three Days of Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai", Reportage, No. 1, 2009
Ning Hongbo, "A Brief Analysis of India's Intelligence Mistakes in the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks", Scientific Intelligence Development and Economy, Vol. 22, No. 18, 2012