Israel defence officials have criticised the way Indian security
forces have handled the terror attacks in Bombay, after it appeared
that India turned down their offer of help to defeat the
militants.
The officials, from Israel's security forces, told The Jerusalem
Post that the Indian troops prematurely stormed the besieged hotels
where militants were holding hostages, risking lives in the
process.
Indian counter-terrorist forces were well trained but failed to
gather sufficient intelligence before engaging the terrorists, they
said.
"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 Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency
"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," he said.
Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, has expressed his concerns
about the safety of Israelis caught up in the attack, such as those
held hostage in the Jewish Centre stormed in the early hours of
this morning.
Seventeen commandos abseiled onto the roof of Nariman House,
while snipers peppered the building with covering fire. The two
year old son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, the main
representative at the Jewish Centre, was rescued along with some
other hostages but this morning gunshots and explosions still
echoed around the building.
The security experts' criticism came as it emerged that Mr Barak
had offered Mayankote Kelath Narayanan, India's National Security
adviser, any assistance possible, either humanitarian or
professional.
"Barak offered Israel's help in an advisory capacity and in any
other way it could be of assistance, be it humanitarian or
professional," it reported.
The two countries have close defence ties. India has bought more
than $5 billion worth of Israeli equipment since 2002.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the two countries have already
discussed an agreement for Israel's Defence Force to send its own
highly trained commandos to help India in Kashmir, the Moslem
majority region claimed by both India and Pakistan.
The newspaper claism that Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi, the commander
in chief of Israel's Ground Forces Command spent three days
visiting Kashmir in September to discuss the plan.
-Times Online
