Mumbai terror attacks

"Army commandos enter theTaj Mahal hotel".

No one in their wildest dreams could have imagined such a situation. There's no doubt who controls Mumbai now- and it certainly isn't the Government of Maharashtra. What makes this latest terror strike different is the fact that it involves dozens of terrorists launching simultaneous strikes across important locations in Mumbai.

If one thing is clear from what has just transpired (no it isn't the intelligence failure- that's a topic I shall touch upon in another post), it is the woeful lack of a coordinated response by law enforcement authorities in the city.

Though Maharashtra boasts of an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), it is ill equipped and unable to hold its own in what is essentially, a combat situation. Incredibly for an up and coming superpower, India lacks a a modern anti-terrorist strike force. Whats more, we lack special forces to tackle hostage scenarios of the type seen in the Oberoi and Taj hotels in Mumbai on that fateful night.

The US has SWAT teams in every major police department, the UK has its SAS, Germany has GSG-9 and Israel its much feared Sayeret (special forces) units. For some inexplicable reason, India's National Security Guards (NSG) are situated solely near Delhi meaning that they have to waste many precious hours attempting to reach a crisis situation. Why can't units of the NSG be placed in strategic locations near Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.?

Let's quickly look at the options available before the government in hostage scenarios/in cases of serious terrorist incidents:

POLICE
The regular police force in places like Mumbai is mostly equipped with lathis (long bamboo sticks) and .303 rifles from the Jurassic Age. The few automatic weapons available to Mumbai police are INSAS rifles and "sten guns". Some special units are equipped with AK-47s but officers having access to such equipment are in a minority when compared to the size of the force.

Mumbai's ATS and encounter squad would logically be the first to respond to any major terrorist incident like the one seen on 26 November. However, these men are simply not trained in urban warfare or clearing terrorist strong points. The police are completely clueless in dealing with hostage situations. Night vision equipment, bullet-proof vests and breaching equipment are unheard of. Small wonder then that the Mumbai police was absolutely gobsmacked by the events of 26 November.

To make matters worse, top notch police officers like Karkare, Kamte and Salsakar were martyred. This meant the entire command and control structure of the Mumbai police was plunged into chaos. Fortunately for Mumbai Rakesh Maria took charge and averted further disaster. It is thanks to highly experienced and competent people like Maria that some sort of structure was retained in the police response to the terror attacks.

ARMED FORCES
In India, when the chips are down, tradition dictates that we throw our hands in the air and plead for help from the army. Unfortunately, the army does not always possess the necessary expertise to deal with hostage situations and urban warfare. Sure, counter insurgeny is the army's forte in places like Kashmir and the North-East but expecting a unit from the Grenadiers to storm the Oberoi and Taj hotels successfully solely on the grounds that they are the nearest army units available in Mumbai is expecting too much of them.

SPECIAL FORCES
The NSG unfortunately arrived after most of the damage was done for reasons outlined earlier. One sensible decision was to press the elite Indian navy commandos (MARCOS) into action. The MARCOS and Navy barracks are literally metres away from the Taj hotel and this certainly speeded up the response time. If only we had dedicated special forces units to deal with such a situation, a number of casualties could have been averted.

In the end it seems left to a motley crew of police, reserve police force, rapid action force, NSG and MARCOS to deal with the hostage situations

India is the most bombed country in the world after Iraq. It's high time the country developed a comprehensive anti-terror mechanism. Creating mobile and specialised counter-terror units for every major police force would go a long way in alleviating the current hardships faced by law enforcement agencies in the country. Israel is a model in this regard and greater cooperation must be encouraged between India and the Jewish state.

As I write, the hostage drama unfolds. I hope this does not turn out to be another Golden Temple type scenario. The terrorists are no doubt well dug in and have plenty of supplies. It is now 4:00am Indian time and I hope the hostages are recovered and the terrorists neutralised within the next few hours. The longer this drags on the more unpredictable the situation becomes.