BackBeyond Dhaka: Major sieges since 9/11
The Dhaka attack is only the latest one in a series of high-profile hostage situations featuring terror groups. Here's a list of some major sieges
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Last Friday, seven Bangladeshi militants opened fire at the Holey Artisan Bakery, a cafe frequented by expatriates, located in the plush Gulshan area of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. According to reports, the attack began at approximately 9:20pm local time, when the militants entered the restaurants with bombs and guns, and opened fire.
Soon after that, they also began taking hostages, mostly the foreigners who were present there. The 12-hour-long siege finally ended after the Bangladeshi president authorised a rescue operation codenamed Operation Thunderbolt, which involved almost every single arm of the Bangladeshi armed forces hierarchy. Seventeen foreigners were killed in the attack, including Indian student Tarishi Jain. Two Bangladeshi police officers were also killed during the siege. This was the first major terror attack on Bangladeshi soil in recent years.
Since 1972, when 11 members of the Israeli Olympics team were taken hostage and killed by members of a Palestinian outfit Black September, hostage situations or sieges have emerged as a potent tactic for terror groups or armed individuals (lone wolves) to gain worldwide attention by causing maximum damage.
Since the 11 September (2001) attacks in the US, there have been many high-profile hostage situations featuring terror groups. Here’s a list of some major sieges.
Moscow, Russia (2002)
Also known as the Nord-Ost (since cast members of the Russian musical Nord-Ost were killed) siege, approximately 40 militants took 850 civilians hostage at the usually crowded Dubrowka theatre in Moscow. Chechen terrorist groups, including Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR), the International Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB) and the Riyadus-Salikhin, took part in the siege, which lasted three days, from 23 to 26 October 2002. The armed militants demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. The siege which ended after Russian forces used toxic knockout gas, witnessed close to 170 deaths, including 133 civilians and 40 militants.
Beslan, Russia (2004)
Two years after the events in Moscow’s Dubrowka theatre, Beslan, a town in North Ossetia, Russia, witnessed one of the most high-profile hostage situations in recent times. On the morning of 1 September 2004, a group of 32 gunmen from a Chechen group called Riyadus Salikhin entered a school and took 1,100 people hostage. The hostages included 777 children. The siege lasted for three days before Russian forces stormed the school and killed 31 terrorists and apprehended one. According to official figures, over 385 people were killed during the siege, including 334 hostages. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, the leader of the Riyadus Salikhin, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Also read: Why do terrorists attack airports?
Lal Masjid, Islamabad, Pakistan (2007)
In one of the more high-profile sieges in Pakistan, on 3 July 2007, a situation emerged in Islamabad, when students at the Lal Masjid stole military equipment, including radio sets and weapons belonging to the Pakistani security forces. What began as a skirmish snowballed into a full-fledged hostage situation, involving students and the security forces, carrying on for nine days before it ended. The Pakistan army lost 11 men, while 84 students/terrorists were killed and nearly 50 captured. 11 civilians also lost their lives during the siege.
Mumbai, India (2008)
In November of 2008, 10 terrorists belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group were involved in the biggest terror attack on Indian soil. It began with the terrorists making their way to Mumbai by hijacking a dinghy, and beginning a spate of coordinated bombings and shoot-outs across various high-profile locations in south Mumbai. These included the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station, the Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi hotel, the Cama Hospital, Cafe Leopold, the Metro cinema and the Chabad (Nariman) House, among others. Nine terrorists were killed by India’s top National Security Guard commandos, while one attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was apprehended by the police. Kasab was later sentenced to death, and hanged. The siege saw a hostage situation in several locations, including the two hotels (Taj and Oberoi Trident) and Nariman House. 200 hostages were rescued from the Taj. In the Chabad House, two terrorists took its residents hostage. Six hostages, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife who was six months pregnant, were murdered. A total of 164 people lost their lives in the attack. These included 28 foreign nationals.
Rawalpindi, Pakistan (2009)
On 10 October 2009, 10 militants belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) attacked a checkpoint at an army base in Rawalpindi, home to the general headquarters of the Pakistan Army. The first wave of attacks included hurling of grenades by the militants, killing six soldiers including a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel. Five terrorists were killed too. The other militants moved to a building where civilians and security officials were present, taking them hostage, prompting the Pakistan army to launch an operation called Janbaz. The army was successful in flushing out the militants, which included a suicide bomber. One terrorist named Mohammad Aqeel was captured by the Army. Two civilians were killed during the siege that lasted little over a day.
Nairobi mall, Kenya (2013)
In September 2013, four attackers belonging to the al-Shabaab terrorist group entered the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya and began a shooting spree, hurling grenades and opening fire on visitors. Several visitors, including women and children were trapped inside the mall. The siege, which began on 21 September, lasted for three days when the four terrorists were killed by Kenyan security forces. A total of 67 people were killed during these attacks, including three Indian citizens. The Somalia-based Islamist terror group, al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in retaliation to Kenyan soldiers entering Somalia, demanding their withdrawal.
Chibok, Nigeria (2014)
At midnight of 14-15 April 2015, a group of militants belonging to the Islamist group Boko Haram attacked and entered a girls’ school in the town of Chibok, in Nigeria’s restive Borno state. The militants, disguised as school guards, stormed the school and asked the students to leave their rooms. Just as they came out, they were all put into several trucks and taken away to a forest in their (Boko Haram’s) stronghold areas. A total of 276 schoolgirls were believed to have been kidnapped by the Boko Haram militants. While some (believed to be around 57) have managed to escape, the status of the other 219 students is unclear.
Lindt Cafe, Sydney (2014)
On 15-16 December 2014, the Lindt chocolate cafe in Martin Place, Sydney, made headlines after a gunman, Man Haron Monis, took 18 people hostage. These included 10 customers and eight employees of the cafe. Two hostages—Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson—lost their lives during a 16-hour siege that ended after a raid by Australia’s specialist counter-terror force, the Tactical Operations Unit. While Johnson was killed by Monis, Dawson was killed when a police bullet ricocheted during the raid. Three police officers were injured during the raid, and Monis, the gunman, was subsequently killed. Monis was an Iran-born Australian, who converted to Sunni Islam prior to his involvement in the crisis.
Army Public School, Peshawar (2014)
In one of Pakistan’s worst terror attacks in recent memory, terrorists belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took hostage the students and teachers of the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan. Seven terrorists, believed to be foreign nationals, entered the school and opened fire at the students and the school staff, killing 141 people and injuring 114 others. Over 900 people were rescued by the Pakistan Army’s special forces.
Radisson Blu hotel, Bamako (2015)
In November 2015, two gunmen took 170 people hostage at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, also Mali’s capital. The gunmen belonged to Al-Mourabitoun, a jihadist group which operates in Mali, in co-ordination with the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an affiliate of global terror organisation, Al-Qaeda. 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, were killed during the 9-hour-long siege, before it was ended by Malian commandos. The siege in Mali came exactly a week after the 13 November Paris attacks.
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