Mumbai terror

Last remaining Mumbai gunman executed in India

Sandy Rashty — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:48:23 +0000

The only surviving Pakistani gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed this morning.

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab was hanged in Pune's Yerwada prison in India, despite a plea for mercy from Pakistan.

The attacks on a Chabad house, hotels and railway station on November 26 2008, led to the deaths of 166 people.

Mr Qasab was involved in the attack on the main railway station.

The Supreme Court upheld a conviction of murder and his death sentence in August 2010.

India Israeli embassy bomb: injured woman was on school run

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:42:15 +0000

The Israeli woman who was severely wounded in an attack on an Israeli embassy car in the Indian capital on Monday was on the way to pick up her children from school.

Tal Yehoshua Koren, the wife of an Israeli Defence Ministry and a mother of two, was in the car on Monday afternoon when it exploded. The driver was also hurt.

Israel has blamed Iran and its proxy Hizbollah for the blast, which happened at the same time as an attempt on Israel's embassy in Georgia was thwarted.

Indian investigators have vowed to find the motorcyclist who attached the bomb to the car, although they refused to point fingers at Iran, an Indian ally. "Whoever did it, we condemn it in the strongest terms," said Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's Home Minister.

"Diplomats of every country are entitled to live and work here in peace and security," he said. "Any attempt to attack any diplomat or a member of a diplomat's family is condemnable."

Mrs Koren is still in hospital but is responding to verbal commands and doctors are optimistic that her condition will recover.

Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor suggested that the dual attempts would not be isolated incidents. "No doubt we face a wave of terror," he said.

The attack came just over three years after the Mumbai terror attacks, in which 164 people, including four Israelis, were murdered in a days-long killing spree.

Israel's president said that such acts of terrorism would not deter Israel in its efforts to "defend and protect our citizens anywhere in the world".

Shimon Peres thanked the Indian and Georgian governments for their help and co - operation in the wake of the attacks, and wished Mrs Koren a speedy recovery.

He also warned that "the government of Iran today is the headquarters of terrorism, of hatred and of war, and will not spare any effort to attempt to kill and to destroy.

"We shall meet the Iranian dangers as it should be done - with the maximum effort to make the region secure and peaceful."

Mumbai terror victim's brother: 'I was waiting for a miracle'

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:04:46 +0000

The brother of one of the victims of the Mumbai terror massacre has visited the Jewish centre that was attacked and recalled the story of the killing spree.

This weekend marks the three year anniversary of the attack, when Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg was killed at the Chabad house with his pregnant wife Rivka and four visitors.

The Mumbai Chabad centre will now be turned into a part-memorial, part-community centre for Jewish travellers.

"This is our answer to terror," Moshe Holtzberg, brother of Rabbi Holtzberg observed.

Speaking the moment he found out his brother and his family had been taken hostage, he said: "Being a believer, you know, anything could happen. Crazy things could happen.

"I really believed that they're going to be saved, some miracle. I was waiting for a miracle to happen."

The Jewish centre was one of ten targets hit by Lashkar-i-Taiba gunmen, who murdered 164 people in four days across the city.

The only surviving gunman of the attacks, Ajmal Kasab, 23, has appealed against his sentence of execution and will have his case heard in January.

Mumbai killer's execution appeal to be heard

Jennifer Lipman — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:47:22 +0100

The Pakistani terrorist sentenced to death for his role in the Mumbai killing spree nearly three years ago has had his execution stayed.

Ajmal Kasab, now 23, was the only surviving gunman of the November 2008 attacks. He was convicted of murder following a trial in which it was alleged that he had been trained by banned Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

In July he launched an appeal and today India's Supreme Court accepted a delay in order to hear his challenge to his conviction and death sentence.

"We have to afford him full opportunity to defend himself," said the court. "That is the price we have to pay to uphold the supremacy of law."

The appeal is expected to take place in January.

More than 160 people died during the brutal three-day siege, including six people at a Jewish centre. One of ten gunmen, Kasab was implicated in the deaths of 50 people at Mumbai's main train station.

Mumbai killer appeals death sentence

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:48:18 +0100

The Pakistani gunman convicted of murder for the Mumbai terror attacks has launched an appeal to his death sentence.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war on India. He was the only gunman to survive the 2008 terror attacks, which saw more than 160 people killed over a brutal three-day siege.

One of the sites targeted by the ten shooters was a Jewish centre, where six people were killed and a baby boy was left orphaned. Kasab was implicated in the deaths of 50 people at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai's main train station.

During the trial it was alleged that Kasabhad been trained by banned Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

A date has not yet been set for the appeal hearing but the Indian Supreme Court said the plea was "under process".

Israel 'side-by side with India' in face of terror threat

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:28:32 +0100

The Israeli government has emphasised that it stands with India in the "relentless struggle against terror" following the deaths of 17 people in a triple bombing in central Mumbai.

The attack, for which no terrorist organisation claimed responsibility, came less than three years after more than 160 people died during a terrorist rampage around India's financial capital.

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said he strongly condemned Wednesday's "shocking terrorist attack".

Mr Palmor added: "Mumbai has once again faced an assault aimed at breaking the spirit of its courageous citizens.

"Israel stands side-by side with India and is convinced that the resilience of the Indian people will prevail," he said.

"These events are once again a reminder to all forward-looking nations that the scourge of terror must be combated and overcome."

Mr Palmor also offered condolences to the families of the victims.

Mumbai terror orphan launches Israel's independence day

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:26:05 +0100

The orphaned son of the Israeli couple killed during the Mumbai terror attack in 2009 helped open Israel's Independence Day celebrations.

Moshe Holtzberg, now four, was at the official ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl last night to light a torch marking 63 years since Israel's birth.

He was accompanied by his grandparents and Indian nanny Sandra Samuel, who risked her life to protect her charge after terrorists laid siege to the Chabad centre. Ms Samuel was given honorary Israeli citizenship last year, likely to lead to permanent citizenship.

Leading Israeli politicians were also present at the ceremony, which took place immediately after the close of Israel's national day of remembrance for its war dead.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin told the audience that Israelis should be "filled with pride today for what we have managed to build here with sweat and hard work".

He added: "We must not belittle what we have achieved.

"Israel of 2011 is a Jewish democratic state, a shining beacon in the heart of the oppressing and cruel Middle East."

The celebrations were interrupted when the brother of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit staged a protest. Yoel Shalit and his girlfriend ran on stage holding signs calling for the soldier, now 24, to be remembered.

At an event on Tuesday morning, President Shimon Peres recalled "the historic miracle" of 1948 and the achievement of David Ben-Gurion in proclaiming Israel's independence.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Mr Peres said: "We proved we can create a budding garden out of obstinate ground."

Police not ready for Mumbai-type terror

Jonathan Kalmus — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:30:37 +0000

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police told Jewish lawyers on Wednesday that British police were not prepared to deal with a Mumbai-style attack in the UK.

In the attack in 2008, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were murdered with four other hostages and a total of 164 people when terrorists attacked three targets in India’s largest city.

But Peter Fahy told 35 legal professionals at an event held by Manchester’s Organisation of Jewish Lawyers that in the past few months there was “a heightened threat level of this type of attack in the UK”.

He said: “They could turn up in a shopping centre and the thing could be over in five minutes. The British police service is not set up to deal with that.”

He said armed police in the UK needed to go through “an enormous change” to counter a swift attack because current training meant officers only knew how to contain people with firearms but not how to engage in aggressive counter-operations. If an attack were to happen “there will be chaos for the first hour. We hope and pray that won’t happen”.

Mr Fahy also said that hate crime, especially antisemitic incidents, suffered “massive” underreporting by victims. He said this had to be set against a background of worrying statistics from the CST that Manchester had many more antisemitic attacks relative to London.

The admission contradicts claims by the CST that high levels of antisemitic attacks were down to better reporting.

Chairing the event, David Berkley QC said Mr Fahy well understood the Jewish community. He declared: “As a religious and ethnic community we of course have our own specific feelings of vulnerability.”

'Mumbai man in terror plot'

Nathalie Rothschild — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:36:35 +0000

Three out of five men arrested last Saturday for plotting a terror attack on the headquarters of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten are Swedish citizens with roots in the Middle East.

One, the 29-year-old Lebanon-born Munir Awad, had been arrested twice before on suspicion of terror activities. The other two suspects are Iraqi and Tunisian citizens.

Jyllands-Posten reported last week that David Headley, who helped plan the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had been in contact with a businessman in Stockholm over the plot.

The five accused are being held for planning a massacre similar to those carried out in Mumbai. According to the Danish intelligence agency PET, the plan was "to kill as many people as possible". In 2005, Jyllands-Posten published the now infamous Mohammad cartoons that triggered violent protests around the world.

In 2007, Awad publicly thanked the Swedish intelligence agency Säpo for arranging his release from Somalia after he was detained there. In 2009, he was arrested in Pakistan. When the Swedish media reported on his arrests, Awad filed a complaint with the press ombudsman, claiming his reputation had been tarnished.

Fears for repeat of Mumbai terror attacks

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:05:49 +0000

Police in Mumbai are on high alert after receiving warning that members of the same terrorist group blamed for striking a Jewish centre and other locations in 2008 were planning to launch another attack.

The Mumbai police commissioner said they had been given warning that four militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-E-Taiba had entered the Indian city with the aim of repeating the carnage of November 2008, when more than 170 people were killed.

Over the two day killing spree, gunmen laid siege to the Taj Mahal hotel and a busy train station.

They also attacked Jewish visitors at Nariman House, leaving six people dead and orphaning the infant son of the Mumbai Chabad emisssaries, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka.

Himanshu Roy, joint police commissioner, said that security, including additional police numbers and check-points, had been increased around the city.

Mr Roy said: "The men are planning violent attacks that are going to cause destruction.

“We believe the threat is serious.”

Two of the terrorists, allegedly linked with Lashkar-E-Taiba, were killed by Indian commandoes as they attempted to end the rampage. Only one was caught alive and earlier this year was sentenced to death.

Although Lashkar-E-Taiba is officially banned in Pakistan, in July the Indian Home Secretary accused Pakistan of masterminding “from beginning to end” the attacks.