 'Five Chabad House hostages appear to have been killed' Nov. 27, 2008 JPost.com staff, Yaakov Lappin and AP , THE JERUSALEM POST  Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka HoltzbergFive hostages in Mumbai's Chabad House have been killed, an Israeli diplomat in India was quoted by Reuters as saying Friday afternoon. Two gunmen were also killed in the operation, Sky News quoted Indian National Security Guards chief J.K. Dutt as saying. Earlier, following reports that the operation had reached its conclusion, Mumbai Police Chief Hassan Ghaffoor stressed to the crowd outside the Chabad center that "the operation is ongoing" but in its "final stage." It came after commandos blew a hole in the wall of the besieged building as they tried to box in the Islamic terrorists who were holding an unspecified number of hostages. The massive explosion shook the Chabad center, blowing out windows in neighboring buildings, while gunfire and smaller explosions followed the blast. Commandos had rappelled from helicopters to storm the center earlier Friday, two days after a chain of Islamic terrorist attacks across India's financial center left at least 143 people dead and the city in panic. Israel's ambassador to India, Mark Sofer, said he believed there had been up to nine hostages inside. Their fate was not clear. Sofer denied reports that Israeli commandos had taken part in the operation. The hostages were believed to include Chabad Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka. Haim Hoshen, the Foreign Ministry's Head of Asia and South Asia Department, told the Jerusalem Post that two to four Israelis were being held inside the building. The Foreign Ministry said that a total of 17 Israelis were still unaccounted for in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the Holtzberg's two-year-old son, Moshe, who was rescued from the attack, was reunited with his grandparents, Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, who arrived from Israel to take custody of him. Speaking to Army Radio on Friday, a relative, Yitzhak Dovid Grossman, said there was "an eruption of emotion" when the grandparents met their grandson. But he said they soon resumed "worrying about what is happening with Rivki and her husband." Also Friday morning, two Israeli businessmen were freed together with the dozens of hostages rescued late Friday morning from Mumbai's Oberoi hotel. Earlier, an El Al plane carrying some 300 Israelis arrived at Ben Gurion Airport from Mumbai. One of the passengers described the atmosphere in the city to Army Radio. "There was a feeling of fear, panic and naivety on the part of the Indians. They realized that they did not know how to take control of the situation. I found myself in a closed, dark room waiting, listening to CNN…waiting to know what to do next," he said. ===============================  Indian TV: Siege of Chabad House is Over - Not!Kislev 1, 5769, 28 November 08 03:27 by Hana Levi Julian(IsraelNN.com) Indian television reported that the siege of the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai was over, and that all the terrorists that had held an unknown number of Israelis, as well as the rabbi and his wife hostage, were killed -- but suddenly, in a dramatic reversal, announced that authorities ordered the wildly cheering crowd to move back: it wasn't really over after all. Government commandos had begun to exit the badly damaged building flashing the "thumbs up" sign at the applauding crowd in the street, and one commander told the media that the fierce fire fight was finished, with three terrorists dead. A loud explosion, probably from a grenade or rocket launcher, had been heard moments earlier on the top floor of the five-story building, which was badly damaged. The situation was termed "utter chaos" by journalists, as darkness combined with crowds and confusion to create a mess for security forces who were trying to figure out whether there were terrorists left in the building, and if so, where they were and how to either capture or kill them. As of 3:24 p.m. Friday afternoon Israel time, no word has yet been heard concerning the fate of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were taken hostage at the beginning of the terrorist attack Wednesday night. Israel's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two Israeli hostages have been freed in Mumbai after spending more than 30 hours holed up in the Oberoi-Trident Hotel. The two businessmen, who were identified only by their last names, Weingarten and Zamir, were rescued Friday morning at approximately 7:30 a.m. Israel time. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David, neither was injured and both are in good condition following their harrowing ordeal. "I can confirm that they're out, they're free... they made contact with our Consulate, our people saw them and they're okay," he told Israel National News, adding that both planned to return to Israel but that a timeline had not been set. The Foreign Ministry firmly denied the numerous and repeated reports by Indian media that Jewish hostages had been rescued from the Chabad House. "The reports are simply untrue," said David. "No one has been freed there, and no one has come out. We don't know what the situation is inside. There is no confirmation of the number of people there either," he emphasized. "There are Israelis who stop in there at Chabad all the time, who can visit, get a meal, join a prayer... we have no way to know many people were there," he said. "There is a lot of battlefield fog, you know, we get a lot of reports, 'It's over,' then, 'It's not over,' then, 'It's over,' again." David was grim regarding the condition of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife. "Of course we are very worried for them, but we have no information at this point," he said. An Israeli media report of four bodies being found in the building was brushed aside. "These were old reports by the local woman who brought out the Holtzbergs' one and a half-year-old son when she came out early Thursday morning," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman. The family's babysitter, Sandra Samuel reported when she escaped that four people, including the Holtzbergs, were lying unconscious. She remained with little Moshe until his grandparents arrived from Israel early Friday morning to care for him. David also debunked a rumor that an Israel Air Force helicopter had been seen flying around the roof of the Oberoi-Trident Hotel late Thursday night. "Not true," he said. "Absolutely not. No Israeli security or military units or personnel or anything of the sort are in India, nor are there plans to send them. Fruitful imagination," he added. Commandos who entered the building Friday morning were moving "very slowly, deliberately, through each floor" reported an NDTV news anchor, who stressed that the cameraman was deliberately "shying away from showing any close-up visuals or pictures that might give away the position of the commandos to the terrorists." Indian forces are also slowly but surely gaining control of two luxury hotels in Mumbai, and more than 100 hostages have escaped or have been rescued during the fighting. Operations at the Oberoi-Trident Hotel has been declared over. Reporter noted that relatives crowding around the hotel are "scared and frustrated," adding, "They don't understand why they don't have any news of their loved ones if the operation is over," she said. Inside commandos continue to methodically search from room to room, trying to determine how many bodies are still inside. Indian army sources have claimed that the terrorists had received commando training from the Pakistan Army and had been provided with boats and logistical support by the Mumbai underworld, according to India's IBN Live television news. The Chabad House was one of 10 sites that were struck by some 25 terrorists who apparently infiltrated into Mumbai by sea and then fanned out through the city. Statement from World Lubavitch HQ Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky of Chabad World Headquarters in New York released a statement on behalf of the movement overnight: Once again, terrorism has reared its evil head, this time in Mumbai (Bombay) India. Our Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Community Center, located in Nariman House in the Colaba district, is still occupied by the terrorists. There is also grave concern over the fate of at least two other Jews as well, both of whom had flown to India on business to serve as Kosher food supervisors in Indian plants that provide ingredients to kosher food companies in the U.S. Rabbi Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum of Jerusalem, the son of the Volover Rebbe of Boro Park and son-in-law of the head of the Toldos Avraham Yitzhak Chassidic sect, was in Mumbai and hasn't been heard from, as is the case with his co-worker Ben Tzion Korman of Bat Yam. The public is being asked to pray for Gavriel Noach ben Freida Bluma and Rivka bas Yehudis, Aryeh Leibish ben Elta Nechama Maltshi and Ben Tzion ben Elka, as well as "anyone else affected by the tragedy." © Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com Subscribe to the free Daily Israel Report - sub.israelnn.com ========================== 'Gunmen aim to halt India's int'l ties' Nov. 28, 2008 Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST
The attacks were also aimed at fomenting strife between India's well-integrated, sizable Muslim minority (third only in size to the Muslim population of Indonesia and Pakistan) and the Hindu majority, according to Colonel Behram A. "There have been growing strategic ties between India and the US... and growing ties between India and Israel," Sahukar said. Indian-Israeli relations have "been getting stronger by the day," Sahukar noted, though he stressed that this did "not come at the expense of India's relations with Arab countries." Americans, British nationals and Israelis had been singled out in Mumbai as a result "of the closeness of their governments to us," Sahukar explained. The attackers perceive India's close ties with these countries and its partnership in the global war on terror "as a war against true Islam," he added. Sahukar, a former Fellow in Terrorism and Security Studies at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and a researcher at the United Service Institution of India in Delhi, said the raid and hostage-taking attack on the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai was an opportunistic act by a jihadi group with ties to radical elements in Pakistan. At the same time, however, Israelis were not the main focus of the terror onslaught, he added. "This particular attack was expanded to include the Chabad House, but the [main] targets were Americans, and British nationals, because the UK is seen by the radicals as a poodle of the US," he said. "If they wanted to hit Israelis they would hit Goa [south of Mumbai] or Manali [northeast of Dehli]," Sahukar said, naming hugely popular destinations among Israeli backpackers, where signs in Hebrew are commonplace, and where Sahukar said locals have even begun speaking some Hebrew because of the large numbers of Israelis passing through. Sahukar said the attacks may have been launched by a coalition of home-grown Indian jihadi sleeper cells and Pakistan-based radical elements. The attacks could also be linked to a group associated with Omar Sheikh, the man who beheaded the Jewish American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Sheikh, together with Maulana Mazood Azhar, were released by India in exchange for the release of 180 passengers on a flight hijacked by Muslim radicals in 1999. "Omar Sheikh was later implicated in the murder of Daniel Pearl, and Mazood Azhar formed the Jaish e Muhammad group, which in conjunction with the Laskar e Taiyyaba launched several Fedayeen attacks against India's Parliament in December 2001, and in Kashmir since 1999," Sahukar said. "This is not the first time that Westerners have been targeted, but it is the first time that they have been targeted on this scale and in such a violent manner," he added. Sahukar recalled how in June 1991, seven Israelis and one Dutch tourist were kidnapped from a houseboat in Srinagar, Kashmir. In the subsequent scuffle, one Israeli was killed and the others escaped. Other attacks on Westerners followed. Sahukar said terrorism was now engulfing large cities in India due to crackdowns on trouble spots like Kashmir in recent years. "This is shown by recent attacks in Gauhati and two other towns in Assam, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Htderabad, Mumbai and also Delhi," he said. "Terrorists will also use India's vast and vulnerable coastline to introduce radical Islamists and explosives, in conjunction with home-grown terrorists and the activation of home-grown Indian Muslim militants," Sahukar stated. The name of the group which has claimed responsibility for the attack, Deccan Mujahideen, "does not really mean very much," according to Sahukar, who said the name appeared to be a front for members of the Indian Mujahideen and the banned terrorist organization Students' Islamic Movement of India. The extremists are seeking to play off Hindu-Muslim tensions, which came to the fore in 1992, when Hindu radicals destroyed the renowned Babri Masjid mosque built on top of a Hindu holy place. Ten years later, 58 Hindus were burned alive by Muslim rioters in a train car in Ghodra. That incident was followed by dozens of attacks on Muslims by Hindus in the state of Gujarat. Sahukar expressed hope that Hindu militants would not fall into the trap set by jihadis by alienating India's moderate Muslims. Sahukar regularly visits Israel to participate in conferences held by the Interdisciplinary Center's Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya. "If anything, these attacks will bring India even closer to the US, UK, Israel and even Pakistan in its fight against terrorism in general and Islamist terrorism in particular," Sahukar predicted. =============================================
DEBKAfile - We start where the media stop Five hostages killed at Mumbai's Chabad Center
November 28, 2008, 4:11 PM (GMT+02:00)
News agencies quote Israeli diplomat in Mumbai as confirming Friday, Nov. 28, that five of the hostages held in the Chabad Center which caters to Israeli and Jewish visitors to the city were dead. According to India's Guards chief, two bodies were found at the Chabad Center where heavy fighting continues. Israeli ambassador Mark Sofer said he could not confirm these deaths. Two of the Islamist terrorists who seized the building were killed. Several hours after Indian commandoes were dropped on the rooftop of the Chabad center, troops blew a big hole in the outer wall of the building Friday afternoon. An Israeli counter-terror expert is reported on the spot. The parents of the center's director Gavriel Holzman and his wife Rivka held since Wednesday are waiting anxiously for news. Their two-year son left the building with his Indian nanny Thursday.
DEBKAfile reports the commando raid was agreed by the Indian and Israeli governments when it appeared that the chances of finding living hostages in the Chabad Center were declining as time went by. Two Israeli businessmen were located among the more than 100 hostages released from the Oberoi Hotel Friday. The operation there appears to be over. In the rooms the bodies of 24 guests were recovered. The luxury Taj Palace Hotel is still under siege as Indian troops intensify their pressure on the huge building before nightfall. However, on Day 3 of the assault on Mumbai, the terrorists mounted a second attack on city's main rail station already hit Wednesday. DEBKAfile reports that the fresh attack indicates terrorists remained on the loose outside the primary three hostage locations seized Wednesday. Indian commandoes told the media that the gunmen were obviously well-trained, under 30 and showed no remorse and fired at anybody they saw. The death toll of the Islamist terrorist assault has risen to 143 with hundreds wounded. Indian sources identify the terrorists as Pakistani British citizens. The ship which brought them to Mumbai is thought to be an Indian vessel hijacked and sailed to Karachi, Pakistan. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner is certain they are al Qaeda. Copyright 2000-2008 DEBKAfile. All Rights Reserved.
============= 'India mishandled hostage situation' Nov. 27, 2008 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Israeli defense officials have criticized the way Indian security forces initially handled the hostage situation in Mumbai, claiming on Thursday that the forces prematurely stormed the besieged areas. At least three buildings in the Indian port city were taken over by terrorists - the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel and the nearby Chabad House. The Israeli officials said that Indian counter-terrorist forces were well trained but failed to gather sufficient intelligence before engaging the terrorists. "In hostage situations, the first thing the forces are supposed to do is assemble at the scene and begin collecting intelligence," said a former official in the Shin Bet's security unit. "In this case, it appears that the forces showed up at the scene and immediately began exchanging fire with the terrorists instead of first taking control of the area." Defense officials said that Israel was not planning on sending commando units but had offered the Indians any assistance they required. Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke with Indian National Security adviser Mayankote Kelath Narayanan, who briefed him on recent developments. Barak expressed concern over the fate of the Israelis caught up in the attacks and thanked the Indian government for its efforts. He also stressed that the attacks were part of the wave of global terror with which Israel was all-too familiar, and expressed support for the Indian people. Barak offered Israel's help in an advisory capacity and in any other way it could be of assistance, be it humanitarian or professional. The two countries have close defense ties. India is the Israeli defense establishment's top customer in annual defense exports and has bought more than $5 billion worth of Israeli equipment since 2002. Two weeks ago, a senior Indian defense delegation, led by Defense Secretary Vijay Singh, visited Israel to discuss the purchase of AWACS planes and missiles from Israel Aerospace Industries. Israel is also training Indian military units. In September, Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi, OC Ground Forces Command, paid an unscheduled visit to the disputed state of Kashmir to get a close look at the challenges India faced in its fight against Islamic insurgents. Mizrahi was in India for three days of meetings with the country's military brass and to discuss a training plan the IDF is currently drafting. Under the proposed agreement, the IDF will send highly-trained commandos to provide instruction in counter-terror, urban warfare and anti-guerrilla tactics. This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702352440&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |
Friday, 28 November 2008
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