The Attack and the NSG commandos

As I'm writing this about 7 commandos have been airdropped onto Chabad house and are working hard to eliminate the remaining terrorists, with causalities reported already among the elite law enforcers.

The commandos slithered down ropes from helicopters while dodging fire from the attackers holed inside, their fellow commandos meanwhile provided covering fire from buildings adjacent of the Nariman house.

Nariman house is a Jewish religious and residential complex and apparently a prime target for the terrorists. Most of Mumbai now has now adjusted to the shocks and are eagerly following the action ; It has come to the point where people are watching the scene and a huge cheer went up as the NSG commandos; India's dreaded special operations forces, rappelled down into Nariman house to rescue hostages and flush out the terrorists.

Mumbai is facing a somber sort of unity at present, However the questions is are the terrorists 'fidayeen'? If so, why haven't they killed themselves ? Are they waiting to be killed or captured ?Mumbai is getting her vengeance as each terrorist is taken down by Security personnel. There is no way they could have expected to escape alive from their crimes.

The terrorists bizarre behavior must not be taken as an abnormality; It might be a distraction and the amount of elite forces in Mumbai might drain resources in other areas of the country for attacks of a bigger scale. This could be a diversion for something bigger, larger and nastier and it is crucial for Indian officials to keep their eyes open.

 Its only the hospital that has an official 'all clear'. Despite the earlier semi optimistic initial reports, the sophistication of the terrorists and their hardware along with the complexity of the presence of the hostages have made things very difficult for the commandos. The Oberoi, the trident and Nariman house is still a warzone as gunfire and explosions rock the places and the stattacto rhythm of gunfire and the piercing whistles. Anxious onlookers are praying for the Jewish folk and the foreign tourists stuck in the hotels while cheering for the commandos.

The NSG commandos are elite counter terrorism teams with training stints in Israel and the UK; they have stringent training schedules and are called upon during the worst armed conflicts, with specialized counter terrorist training. They have taken the lead for the majority of the combat operations. Major Unnikrishnan from the NSG forces is the latest casualty after being gunned down in Nariman house.

 It has been 48 hours and there have been reports of firing at GT hospital and RBI with additional rumors of incidents throughout Mumbai; Panic has reared its ugly head in a city that has staunchly resisted such seems to be slowly deteriorating. However, the speed at which the Rapid Action Force has responded gives one hope that Mumbai's guardians have some vestige of control over parts of the city. These rumors have been discounted with profuse apologies from the media.

 Firing is still going on at the Taj, There are reports of Hostages dead in Oberoi. The fresh firing could be hostages being executed by the terrorists and there seems to be no 'final assault'. However, Images of NSG commandos entering the hot zone of the Nariman in a systematic assault with aerial backup serves as source of strength to those scores anxiously waiting for news.

 Over 100 people have been rescued from Oberoi by the NSG, They have been hailed as 'Mumbai's saviours'. As I look at scenes of the Oberoi hotel and its sheer size; I can imagine the difficulty the baclava clad commandos are going through to save these souls. Here's hoping that the commandos are successful without any causalities. The Oberoi and Trident has been liberated and two more terrorists have been killed by the NSG. The first piece of good news in what has been a grim 48 hours.