The Mumbai Massacre appears finally to be over. The news is still fragmentary and confused with the Times of India reporting that the one miscreant taken alive claims help from locals in Mumbai. Apparently one of the objectives of the attack was to kill Israelis. What a surprise.
Allahpundit at Hot Air has another good news roundup from yesterday, with updates. As he notes, criticism of the Indian Army is already mounting and it remains to be seen how many of the casualties were caused by the army’s poor fire discipline.
One final note: in watching the coverage from Mumbai, I noticed that some of the Indian Army soldiers were carrying the old Ishapore 2A1, which is basically a Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle chambered for 7.62mm NATO rather than the old .303 cartridge. Britain phased out the Lee-Enfield .303 during the 1950s after more than a half-century of service. The Ishapores were manufactured in India during the early 1960s, primarily as a reserve rifle. This leads me to conclude that India called up a number of poorly armed reserve units to deal – at least in part – with the crisis in Mumbai.
Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Update: It’s now being reported that many of the hostages were tortured – with the Israelis bearing the worst marks of abuse. Jawa has the gruesome details.
Ugh.
