Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Mumbai police chief: No warning given of impending attack
Mumbai's police chief said Tuesday that he never received a warning of an impending seaborne attack on his city.
"[The warning] that terrorists could arrive by sea was from an intelligence report of last year that only said terrorists could attack Gujarat or industries in the south," Hasan Gafoor said.
Mumbai is in Maharashtra state, which borders Gujarat state.
Indian security forces have told CNN that U.S. officials warned the Indian government in New Delhi on two occasions about a waterborne attack in Mumbai. And according to a U.S. counterterrorism official, New Delhi was warned about a potential maritime attack on Mumbai at least a month before last week's massacre, in which at least 179 people were killed.
The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said.
Gafoor said security was recently boosted at the city's hotels, but it was a precautionary move after a September attack on a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.
In his first news conference since the attack, Gafoor said the 10 gunmen came to Mumbai after hijacking a vessel in the Pakistani city of Karachi to "create a sensation and kill as many people as possible."
He also said the attackers were on a suicide mission when they staged the coordinated attacks on several targets.
The band of gunmen attacked 10 targets in Mumbai on Wednesday night, sparking three days of battles with police and Indian troops in the heart of the city, which is the hub of India's financial and entertainment industries. Most of the 179 deaths occurred at the city's top two hotels: the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal.
There is a rising tide of anger among Indians about the perceived lax security in Mumbai before the attacks, particularly in light of the reports that the government in New Delhi had been warned.
Surveillance video taken at Mumbai's Victoria Terminus train station -- one of the first targets -- shows a couple of local police cowering behind pillars as the attackers approach. Indian police constables are not armed, under Indian law, and CNN's sister station in India, CNN-IBN, reported that police retreated at the train station to call for backup.
Nine of the 10 attackers were killed by Indian forces, and Gafoor said none of the gunmen had any intention of surviving the onslaught. The only suspected attacker who survived was photographed at the train station holding what appeared to be an assault rifle.
That suspect is in police custody and "cooperating very well," Gafoor said. He has told police he is a Pakistani national. Indian intelligence sources have told CNN-IBN that police believe all the attackers were Pakistanis.
Gafoor said the attackers had "very detailed maps" of the city and used several taxicabs to get around Mumbai.
The attackers planted bombs in two of the taxis, resulting in explosions at two sites -- including Santa Cruz Domestic Airport -- in an attempt to divert attention from their main targets, the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels.
Ratan Tata, the chairman of the company that owns the the Taj Mahal hotel, told CNN that his company had been warned about the possibility of a terrorist attack before the massacre, but he did not say when.
He said the terrorists most likely waited until the security measures were relaxed at the hotel before carrying out their "very well-planned" attack.
Tata said the extra security measures would not have stopped the attackers from entering the building because they went through a kitchen door that was not monitored by a metal detector.
Gafoor said all of the attackers were trained by former army officers, but he would not elaborate on where they prepared for the attack.
"Some of them trained for a year, some of them for more than a year," he said.
Gafoor said other suspects linked to the attack have been questioned by investigators, but none is in police custody.
According to the foreign minister, the 10 attackers hijacked a trawler in the Pakistani port city of Karachi -- about 575 miles (925 kilometers) north of Mumbai -- and came ashore at Mumbai in dinghies. Gafoor said a Global Positioning System, or GPS, found with the attackers showed they had come from Pakistan.
Intelligence officials told CNN-IBN that the captain of the trawler was found dead, lying face-down with his hands bound behind his back. Four crew members who had been on board were missing, they said.
Gafoor said Indian officials will provide evidence backing their conclusions "once the investigation is complete."
India's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday briefed diplomats representing the countries that lost nationals in the attack -- including the United States and Britain -- about the ongoing investigation and the details of the attack, the ministry said.
India is calling on Pakistan's government to hand over a group of wanted militant leaders suspected of plotting the Mumbai attacks.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said his country made the request in a demarche, or protest note, to Pakistan's top diplomat in India, according to the Press Trust of India.
"We will await the response of Pakistan," the foreign minister said.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday proposed a joint investigation into the attacks and said, "This is not the time to point fingers."
"We are ready to help India," he said. "We need to make a common strategy to fight with a common enemy. We need to show we're serious." Watch Pakistan's PM say his country will defuse tensions »
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN on Monday that his government will provide "full cooperation" with Indian authorities investigating the attacks. But he said Indian officials have yet to present Pakistan with evidence regarding the massacre.
India summoned Pakistan's high commissioner, the top-ranking Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, to Mukherjee's office Monday to inform him that last week's massacre in Mumbai "was carried out by elements from Pakistan." It has been demanding the extradition of some of those militant leaders since a 2001 attack on India's Parliament that brought the South Asian nuclear rivals to the brink of war.
"The government expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage," a statement from India's Foreign Ministry said. "It was conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner that Pakistan's actions needed to match the sentiments expressed by its leadership that it wishes to have a qualitatively new relationship with India."
The list reportedly includes Hafiz Mohammed, the head of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a now-banned Islamic militant group also blamed for the 2001 Parliament attack. Indian authorities said the lone remaining suspect in last week's attack was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Topping India's most-wanted list is Dawood Ibrahim, who allegedly masterminded the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed nearly 250 people. India is also asking Pakistan to hand over suspected terrorist Masood Azhar, who was released from an Indian prison in 1999 in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner.
"[The warning] that terrorists could arrive by sea was from an intelligence report of last year that only said terrorists could attack Gujarat or industries in the south," Hasan Gafoor said.
Mumbai is in Maharashtra state, which borders Gujarat state.
Indian security forces have told CNN that U.S. officials warned the Indian government in New Delhi on two occasions about a waterborne attack in Mumbai. And according to a U.S. counterterrorism official, New Delhi was warned about a potential maritime attack on Mumbai at least a month before last week's massacre, in which at least 179 people were killed.
The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said.
Gafoor said security was recently boosted at the city's hotels, but it was a precautionary move after a September attack on a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.
In his first news conference since the attack, Gafoor said the 10 gunmen came to Mumbai after hijacking a vessel in the Pakistani city of Karachi to "create a sensation and kill as many people as possible."
He also said the attackers were on a suicide mission when they staged the coordinated attacks on several targets.
The band of gunmen attacked 10 targets in Mumbai on Wednesday night, sparking three days of battles with police and Indian troops in the heart of the city, which is the hub of India's financial and entertainment industries. Most of the 179 deaths occurred at the city's top two hotels: the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal.
There is a rising tide of anger among Indians about the perceived lax security in Mumbai before the attacks, particularly in light of the reports that the government in New Delhi had been warned.
Surveillance video taken at Mumbai's Victoria Terminus train station -- one of the first targets -- shows a couple of local police cowering behind pillars as the attackers approach. Indian police constables are not armed, under Indian law, and CNN's sister station in India, CNN-IBN, reported that police retreated at the train station to call for backup.
Nine of the 10 attackers were killed by Indian forces, and Gafoor said none of the gunmen had any intention of surviving the onslaught. The only suspected attacker who survived was photographed at the train station holding what appeared to be an assault rifle.
That suspect is in police custody and "cooperating very well," Gafoor said. He has told police he is a Pakistani national. Indian intelligence sources have told CNN-IBN that police believe all the attackers were Pakistanis.
Gafoor said the attackers had "very detailed maps" of the city and used several taxicabs to get around Mumbai.
The attackers planted bombs in two of the taxis, resulting in explosions at two sites -- including Santa Cruz Domestic Airport -- in an attempt to divert attention from their main targets, the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels.
Ratan Tata, the chairman of the company that owns the the Taj Mahal hotel, told CNN that his company had been warned about the possibility of a terrorist attack before the massacre, but he did not say when.
He said the terrorists most likely waited until the security measures were relaxed at the hotel before carrying out their "very well-planned" attack.
Tata said the extra security measures would not have stopped the attackers from entering the building because they went through a kitchen door that was not monitored by a metal detector.
Gafoor said all of the attackers were trained by former army officers, but he would not elaborate on where they prepared for the attack.
"Some of them trained for a year, some of them for more than a year," he said.
Gafoor said other suspects linked to the attack have been questioned by investigators, but none is in police custody.
According to the foreign minister, the 10 attackers hijacked a trawler in the Pakistani port city of Karachi -- about 575 miles (925 kilometers) north of Mumbai -- and came ashore at Mumbai in dinghies. Gafoor said a Global Positioning System, or GPS, found with the attackers showed they had come from Pakistan.
Intelligence officials told CNN-IBN that the captain of the trawler was found dead, lying face-down with his hands bound behind his back. Four crew members who had been on board were missing, they said.
Gafoor said Indian officials will provide evidence backing their conclusions "once the investigation is complete."
India's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday briefed diplomats representing the countries that lost nationals in the attack -- including the United States and Britain -- about the ongoing investigation and the details of the attack, the ministry said.
India is calling on Pakistan's government to hand over a group of wanted militant leaders suspected of plotting the Mumbai attacks.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said his country made the request in a demarche, or protest note, to Pakistan's top diplomat in India, according to the Press Trust of India.
"We will await the response of Pakistan," the foreign minister said.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday proposed a joint investigation into the attacks and said, "This is not the time to point fingers."
"We are ready to help India," he said. "We need to make a common strategy to fight with a common enemy. We need to show we're serious." Watch Pakistan's PM say his country will defuse tensions »
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN on Monday that his government will provide "full cooperation" with Indian authorities investigating the attacks. But he said Indian officials have yet to present Pakistan with evidence regarding the massacre.
India summoned Pakistan's high commissioner, the top-ranking Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, to Mukherjee's office Monday to inform him that last week's massacre in Mumbai "was carried out by elements from Pakistan." It has been demanding the extradition of some of those militant leaders since a 2001 attack on India's Parliament that brought the South Asian nuclear rivals to the brink of war.
"The government expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage," a statement from India's Foreign Ministry said. "It was conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner that Pakistan's actions needed to match the sentiments expressed by its leadership that it wishes to have a qualitatively new relationship with India."
The list reportedly includes Hafiz Mohammed, the head of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a now-banned Islamic militant group also blamed for the 2001 Parliament attack. Indian authorities said the lone remaining suspect in last week's attack was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Topping India's most-wanted list is Dawood Ibrahim, who allegedly masterminded the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed nearly 250 people. India is also asking Pakistan to hand over suspected terrorist Masood Azhar, who was released from an Indian prison in 1999 in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Did US Really Informed india before one month about this attack ?
The United States warned the Indian government about a potential maritime attack against Mumbai at least a month before last week's massacre in the country's financial capital left nearly 180 dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN.
U.S. intelligence indicated that a group might enter the country by water and launch an attack on Mumbai, said the source, who refused to be identified due to the ongoing investigation into the attacks and the sensitivity of the information.
Indian security forces have confirmed to CNN that not only did U.S. officials warn them of a water-borne attack in Mumbai -- they were told twice. The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said.
Local fisherman in Mumbai said they witnessed a group of gunmen dock their boat Wednesday night, before heading toward the busy causeway.
Also, sources have told CNN-IBN that officials found phones and a global navigational device on an abandoned boat floating off the coast of Mumbai. The boat had been hijacked, intelligence officials told CNN-IBN. Watch Nic Robertson's report about U.S. warning
Four crew members who had been on board were missing. The captain was found dead, lying face down with his hands bound behind his back.
India has made clear that it believes last week's coordinated attacks in Mumbai originated in Pakistan, but the Indian government is under pressure to explain the lapse of security that allowed the siege to occur.
Indian police say 179 people were killed in the attacks on 10 targets i4n Mumbai. Most of the deaths occurred at the city's top two hotels, the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal. Watch report about nanny saving infant
Pakistani authorities say Islamabad has not received any evidence that militants from within its borders carried out the attacks, but have vowed to fully cooperate in the investigation. Suspicion has fallen on Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with al Qaeda, even though it has denied responsibility.
Pakistan banned the group in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament that brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Indian security forces say they arrested a member of the group in February, noting that the man was casing Mumbai for an attack.
U.S. counterterrorism officials continue to say signs are pointing to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and they haven't seen anything to rule it out. However, they will not definitively say the group is responsible.
A team of FBI agents is in Mumbai to assist in the investigation, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to New Delhi on Wednesday to try to ease strained relations between the nuclear neighbors.
At the center of India's investigation is the lone suspect in police custody, who Indian authorities say is Pakistani and trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Indian officials have identified the suspect as a clean-shaven young man who was photographed during the attack on Mumbai's Victoria Terminus train station. One of the still images shows him walking with one arm outstretched and a gun in his other hand, lowered by his side. He is wearing a black T-shirt, cargo pants and a backpack.
Indian police say the other nine attackers were killed in three days of battles with police and the Indian military.
U.S. intelligence indicated that a group might enter the country by water and launch an attack on Mumbai, said the source, who refused to be identified due to the ongoing investigation into the attacks and the sensitivity of the information.
Indian security forces have confirmed to CNN that not only did U.S. officials warn them of a water-borne attack in Mumbai -- they were told twice. The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said.
Local fisherman in Mumbai said they witnessed a group of gunmen dock their boat Wednesday night, before heading toward the busy causeway.
Also, sources have told CNN-IBN that officials found phones and a global navigational device on an abandoned boat floating off the coast of Mumbai. The boat had been hijacked, intelligence officials told CNN-IBN. Watch Nic Robertson's report about U.S. warning
Four crew members who had been on board were missing. The captain was found dead, lying face down with his hands bound behind his back.
India has made clear that it believes last week's coordinated attacks in Mumbai originated in Pakistan, but the Indian government is under pressure to explain the lapse of security that allowed the siege to occur.
Indian police say 179 people were killed in the attacks on 10 targets i4n Mumbai. Most of the deaths occurred at the city's top two hotels, the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal. Watch report about nanny saving infant
Pakistani authorities say Islamabad has not received any evidence that militants from within its borders carried out the attacks, but have vowed to fully cooperate in the investigation. Suspicion has fallen on Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with al Qaeda, even though it has denied responsibility.
Pakistan banned the group in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament that brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Indian security forces say they arrested a member of the group in February, noting that the man was casing Mumbai for an attack.
U.S. counterterrorism officials continue to say signs are pointing to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and they haven't seen anything to rule it out. However, they will not definitively say the group is responsible.
A team of FBI agents is in Mumbai to assist in the investigation, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to New Delhi on Wednesday to try to ease strained relations between the nuclear neighbors.
At the center of India's investigation is the lone suspect in police custody, who Indian authorities say is Pakistani and trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Indian officials have identified the suspect as a clean-shaven young man who was photographed during the attack on Mumbai's Victoria Terminus train station. One of the still images shows him walking with one arm outstretched and a gun in his other hand, lowered by his side. He is wearing a black T-shirt, cargo pants and a backpack.
Indian police say the other nine attackers were killed in three days of battles with police and the Indian military.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
CNN Report
Gunmen who arrived by boats launched attacks on at least seven locations in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday night, killing more than 120 people, authorities say. By Friday morning, authorities believed militants still were in two luxury hotels and a Jewish center in the city.
The following is what is known about the attacks:
• Gunmen arrived by boats at the Mumbai waterfront near the Gateway of India monument on Wednesday night, police said. The gunmen hijacked cars, including a police van, and split into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, according to police.
• One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. The group then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, authorities said.
• As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital for women and infants. Several people were killed at the hospital, and a standoff there lasted until Thursday morning. • Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels, taking hostages there, police said. • Gunmen also took hostages at the Chabad House, where several Jewish families live, police said. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. Gunmen and hostages still were believed to be in the house Friday morning.
• Police said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the Chabad House. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said. Two women and a child escaped from the building Thursday, a government official says. • At the hotels, hostages or people who were trapped left at various times Thursday and Friday. Commandos entered both hotels, trying to flush out militants and rescue others.
• By 12:30 a.m. IT on Friday, two gunmen remained at the Oberoi hotel, the director-general of the National Security Guards said. At 1 a.m., one gunman was killed at the Oberoi hotel, the official said. He said he couldn't say for sure how many gunmen were still at the Oberoi.• Early Friday, an Indian general told reporters that two or three gunmen, one of whom was wounded, remained inside the Taj hotel.
• An undetermined number of nonmilitants remained inside the hotels Friday morning, NSG director-general J.K. Dutt said. "There are some of them inside the rooms, and they are not prepared to open the doors," he said. "Probably they are fearing that it might not be an innocent." • Fire brigades battled fires at both hotels. By early Friday, it appeared what had been a major fire at the Oberoi had been extinguished.
• By Friday morning, 125 had been killed in the attacks, including at least six foreigners, authorities said. An Italian and a Briton were among the confirmed dead. Another 327 people were wounded, including seven Britons, three Americans and two Australians.
• At least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police by Friday morning. Also among the dead were 14 police officers and the chief of the Mumbai police anti-terror squad.• CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN, quoted police sources as saying there were about 26 gunmen.
• Authorities found 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, at a restaurant near the Taj, indicating that the attackers may have been planning more violence. • The Indian navy, stepping up patrols on the country's western coast after the attack, was questioning the crew of the MV Alpha, a ship detained with the help of the Indian coast guard, British authorities said. The authorities said they believe the attackers' boats came from this ship, and that they believe the ship is from Karachi, Pakistan.• Karachi police say they have no evidence the attackers departed from their city.
• Several Indian news outlets report a group called the Deccan Mujahideen e-mailed them to claim responsibility. Intelligence officials say little is known about the group. U.S. officials and security analysts say the sophistication of the attacks may indicate a more-established group is responsible.• State media Press Trust of India, citing Union Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal, reported the gunmen had worked for months to prepare, even setting up "control rooms" in the two luxury hotels that were targeted.
The following is what is known about the attacks:
• Gunmen arrived by boats at the Mumbai waterfront near the Gateway of India monument on Wednesday night, police said. The gunmen hijacked cars, including a police van, and split into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, according to police.
• One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. The group then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, authorities said.
• As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital for women and infants. Several people were killed at the hospital, and a standoff there lasted until Thursday morning. • Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels, taking hostages there, police said. • Gunmen also took hostages at the Chabad House, where several Jewish families live, police said. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. Gunmen and hostages still were believed to be in the house Friday morning.
• Police said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the Chabad House. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said. Two women and a child escaped from the building Thursday, a government official says. • At the hotels, hostages or people who were trapped left at various times Thursday and Friday. Commandos entered both hotels, trying to flush out militants and rescue others.
• By 12:30 a.m. IT on Friday, two gunmen remained at the Oberoi hotel, the director-general of the National Security Guards said. At 1 a.m., one gunman was killed at the Oberoi hotel, the official said. He said he couldn't say for sure how many gunmen were still at the Oberoi.• Early Friday, an Indian general told reporters that two or three gunmen, one of whom was wounded, remained inside the Taj hotel.
• An undetermined number of nonmilitants remained inside the hotels Friday morning, NSG director-general J.K. Dutt said. "There are some of them inside the rooms, and they are not prepared to open the doors," he said. "Probably they are fearing that it might not be an innocent." • Fire brigades battled fires at both hotels. By early Friday, it appeared what had been a major fire at the Oberoi had been extinguished.
• By Friday morning, 125 had been killed in the attacks, including at least six foreigners, authorities said. An Italian and a Briton were among the confirmed dead. Another 327 people were wounded, including seven Britons, three Americans and two Australians.
• At least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police by Friday morning. Also among the dead were 14 police officers and the chief of the Mumbai police anti-terror squad.• CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN, quoted police sources as saying there were about 26 gunmen.
• Authorities found 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, at a restaurant near the Taj, indicating that the attackers may have been planning more violence. • The Indian navy, stepping up patrols on the country's western coast after the attack, was questioning the crew of the MV Alpha, a ship detained with the help of the Indian coast guard, British authorities said. The authorities said they believe the attackers' boats came from this ship, and that they believe the ship is from Karachi, Pakistan.• Karachi police say they have no evidence the attackers departed from their city.
• Several Indian news outlets report a group called the Deccan Mujahideen e-mailed them to claim responsibility. Intelligence officials say little is known about the group. U.S. officials and security analysts say the sophistication of the attacks may indicate a more-established group is responsible.• State media Press Trust of India, citing Union Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal, reported the gunmen had worked for months to prepare, even setting up "control rooms" in the two luxury hotels that were targeted.
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