8. Recapture occupied Muslim territory. (I didn’t know dirt had a religion? Grow up!)
On a more serious note…
The Mumbai Attack
One of my good friends is an international tradecraft historian and expert – the best in the world. He opened my eyes to how lethal LeT had become.
LeT was responsible for the Mumbai attacks that killed roughly 200 people and injured even more. What most don’t know is how methodical the attack really was, their use of technology, and the US connection to the entire operation. So let’s break the operation down nice and simple.
The Mumbai Attack, I hate to say it, was an incredibly well-executed operation.
Cross Border Infil: The LeT Kill Team infiltrated India from Pakistan utilizing a series of “at sea rendezvous” and transferring from dhow to dhow under the cover of darkness (very difficult to execute). To prevent compromise of the dhows used, the teams final act at sea was the pirating of a fishing vessel for the final leg of the journey.
They boarded the fishing vessel at night, killed everyone on board, transferred their equipment and combat rubber raiding craft (CRRC or Zodiac), and motored the pirated vessel just off the coast of Mumbai. The team transferred to the CRRC and under the cover of darkness executed a flawless OTB (over the beach) landing. Once on the beach, they changed into disguises, walked to the closest main road, and hailed taxi’s.
Not a bad start!
Tactical Integration of Deception: The use of disguises, improvised explosives, and the overall plan of attacked was laced with impressive and cunning shades of deception.
First, once they landed on the beaches of Mumbai, they dressed up in a “uniform” that was worn by a known Indian terror group. The Indian terror group wore blue shirt, khaki pants, and the real identifier – a red/orange wrist band. This level of dissociation from LeT was enough to confuse the media and investigators long after the attack.
Clandestine use of IED’s: Improvised explosives were implemented through the same taxi cabs that were hailed on the beach – turning each taxi cab into a “Trojan horse”, unwitting to the taxi drivers.
The taxis ended up exploding at the airport, at the same time, exactly one hour after the LeT kill team arrived in Mumbai. Each cab driver was asked one question that determined their fate – “Are you Muslim or Hindu?” Unfortunately for the drivers, they were all Hindu. Clandestinely from the backseat of the taxi cabs, the improvised explosives were placed under the drivers seat by the LeT terrorists.
I will continue to piece this together for you over the next couple of articles – but as usual, please provide your own input! More to follow!!
Be the Sheepdog,
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