Trained well, terrorists knew hotel layout

[tekisui]

Mumbai: Indian marine commandoes who battled terrorists at the Taj hotel here said on Friday that the gunmen were very well trained and were perfectly aware of the iconic hotel's layout.

In the first ever press conference by the Indian Navy commandoes, who have consciously kept a low profile for years, a masked officer said that he and his colleagues saw many people dead at the Taj hotel near the Gateway of India monument.

The terrorists, the officer said speaking haltingly in English, were firing indiscriminately from AK series automatic rifles and hurling grenades at the commandos inside the Taj hotel.

“Definitely they were trained. Not everybody can fire AK series weapons. Using such weapons and explosives, it is obvious they were trained somewhere,” said the officer who was dressed in black commando suits.

“These people were very, very familiar with the hotel layout. It appeared that they had carried out a survey (of the hotel) before. And they were a very well determined lot. Remorseless,” the officer added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the terrorists, who struck at several places in Mumbai on Wednesday night, were based abroad. Indian officials have more specifically said the gunmen came from Karachi in Pakistan.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14807876

[Selatius]

1. AKs are not that difficult to train with. They are so easy children can use them, and they have.

Ever seen pictures of child soldiers carrying AK-47s? The AK-47 is prolific in the black market all over the world. What is less common though is the newer AK-74. Regardless, AKs carry a reputation of reliability coupled with simplicity of design. They almost never jam unless one intentionally damages them, and they are easy to take apart and reassemble. (Sadly, I know of it firsthand. My family grew up in Viet Nam during the horrible war, and many of us became very proficient in operating that particular weapon.)

Further, this is not to say these guys were untrained religious fanatics from some hellhole in the Pakistani or Afghani mountains. The fact that they knew the layout of the hotels and launched simultaneous attacks on multiple locations shows they constantly practiced and drilled their actions. They would have needed a secluded place to practice without interference for a long time.

Frankly, I'm surprised nobody with a beef against the United States has smuggled five suicide soldiers into the US and smuggled in assault rifles and hand grenades to case a mall or a high school in preparation for a Beslan-style or a Mumbai-style massacre. It would be far easier to do than hijacking a plane and then slamming it into the face of an office tower.

[tekisui]

2. That was my thought as well.

The effectiveness of the "siege" attacks is chilling. The lone gunman at Virginia Tech was able to kill 35 because he knew the layout. The attacks in Mumbai employed some 20-25 gunmen.

[Ian David]

3. Just because Indian Telephone Tech Support can't properly instruct you in the use of an AK-47...

... does NOT mean that it is difficult.