All language subtitles for Black.Ops.S01E01.City.Under.Siege.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-NTb_track3_[eng]

Narrator: Islamist terrorists
are hunting down westerners

in India's
most luxurious hotels.

A coordinated attack brings
a city to its knees.

This was India's 9/11.

Narrator: Mumbai is in flames.

There is panic on the streets,

and as the death toll rises,
confusion reigns.

Woman:
They didn't know at any time

if it was gonna be
someone to save them

or it was gonna be someone
to take them out.

Narrator: Hopelessly outgunned,
the local police are no match

for the heavily-armed
terrorists.

An elite special forces unit
Springs into action.

We can't use maximum force.
It has to be precise force.

These are some extremely
motivated and brave men.

Narrator:
This is the dramatic story
of operation black tornado...

...the mission that puts
India's elite black cats

on the special-forces map.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

in a hijacked fishing boat,

a gang of islamist militants are
heading for the city of Mumbai,

formerly known as Bombay.

Their intent --

to target westerners
throughout the city

in a coordinated terror strike

that will result in an orgy
of death and destruction.

Mumbai is the richest,
most populated city in India.

It prides itself
on its Western influence.

Mumbai is a busy, crazy,
hectic, wild place --

an absolute assault
on the senses.

[ Horns honking ]

Mumbai to Americans
is considered a wealthy city,

home to bollywood,

home to luxury hotels,
luxury boutiques.

It's considered
an investment city.

Narrator:
Between 8:00 and 8:30 P.M.,

a gang of 10 men,
all heavily armed

and with provisions
to last days,

slip ashore at this point

just minutes away
from their intended targets

in the heart of the city.

[ Horn honks ]

The evening is like any other --
bustling and busy

as people hit the streets
and relax after work.

British tourist harnish patel
was enjoying a few drinks

with a friend at
the world-famous Leopold cafe.

Leopold cafe
is a very popular bar, cafe,

where a lot of westerners,
locals, and tourists meet

for food and drink.

I'd often walk into the bar.

It was completely packed.

Narrator:
Local journalist sourav mishra
was also enjoying a drink

when he saw two visitors
that weren't there for the beer.

But I saw people moving around,
you know,

quite a few people
moving around.

They seemed out of place to me.

Must have been
15, 20 minutes in.

Suddenly I heard a gunshot...

...and what sounded like
a lot of glass dropping at once.

I just hear [Imitates gunfire]
and then something hits me.

Narrator: Two gunmen are firing
ak-47s from the doorways,

spraying the cafe with bullets.

A lot of shouting and screaming,
people rushing around.

When I came out of the door,

I realized there's something
which is holding me back.

Then I see that blood
is going out of my body.

Patel:
There were a lot of bodies.

The floor was just covered
in thick, thick blood.

And then suddenly,
everything went silent,

and clearly
the guy was reloading.

And it was during that round
that I was hit.

[ Indistinct talking ]

Narrator:
After a sustained attack,

gunmen flee into the night,

leaving the dying and wounded
to their fate.

Really, it was a case

of being in the wrong place
at the wrong time.

Narrator: Across town,
a taxi carrying two more gunmen

heads for the crowded
central railway station.

The Victoria terminus
would be akin

to an attack on grand central.

I think the targets
were fantastically chosen.

I think if you look
at the station,

that's the busiest station
in Mumbai.

Narrator: Mingling with
the people they intend to kill,

they walk through
the crowded passenger hall.

At 21:53,

the gunmen pulled ak-47
assault rifles from their bags

and unleashed a devastating hail
of bullets into the crowd.

[ Machine-gun fire,
people screaming ]

104 people were injured,
and 58 were killed.

Sood: My first reaction
when I saw the shots,

I told my wife, I said,
"this is not gang warfare.

This is a terrorist attack."

What took people by surprise

was the fact that --
the way Mumbai was chosen.

Very clearly designed

to show that nowhere is safe
in India anymore.

Narrator: It is now clear

that Mumbai is under
a sustained terrorist attack.

But no one knows
who is behind it

or where they will strike next.

We begin
with a mass terror attack

in India's largest city,
Mumbai...

Narrator: Millions watch
as the events unfold live

across India's news networks.

Reporter: Well, this is clearly
an unprecedented scale

of a terror attack on Mumbai
and the center.

Narrator: One viewer
is jyoti krishan dutt,

the director general of India's
elite national security guard,

and after watching
the events unfold,

he orders his black cat
commandos to stand by.

Nicknamed the black cats because
of their distinctive uniforms,

the national
security guard commandos

are the ideal unit
for the situation.

The national security guard
was set up around the mid-1980s,

when India actually first faced
the threat of urban terror.

Narrator:
The black cats have two
principal areas of expertise --

counterterrorism
and counterhijacking.

And they are also experts
in hostage rescue.

Raza: The nsg is
a highly specialized force

designed and structured
on the lines

of some of the world's key
anti-terrorism special units

like the s.A.S.,
gsg-9, the U.S. Navy seals.

The men are all drawn
from the Indian army.

Chandrawat: Everybody in the nsg
who comes to join the mission

is a volunteer, right,

and he's put through
a probation at manesar,

which is particular assault
of Delhi.

Narrator:
All recruits are put through
a rigorous screening process,

assessing physical fitness,
shooting standards,

and psychological profiling.

Raza: They look like people
who have commando mind-sets,

and therefore are willing
to do the unusual

in unusual circumstances.

So they look for people
who are out of the box.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Those who are left
in their patrol --

a brutal regime
of physical training --

special-operations training,

like, for example,
shooting practices,

building interventions,
bus intervention,

Metro intervention,
and bomb-disposal training.

And it takes anything
up to one year

for a soldier to be fit
to be employed operationally.

Narrator: Their extensive skills
and specialized training

make the black cats India's
elite special forces unit

and the ideal troops to take on
the terrorists in Mumbai.

Mahalingham:
They are daredevils.

They are first-rate troops,
and I can vouch for that.

[ People screaming ]

Narrator: But the question is,
how will they deal with a gang

of well-armed,
committed terrorists

spread out
across India's busiest city?

Narrator: Reports are coming in

of a series of gunfights
and explosions.

Reporter:
At 9:15, armed with ak-47s,

gunmen launched
their first attack.

[ Gunshot ]

Narrator: The city is under a
prolonged and remorseless attack

from an unknown number
of highly armed

and rapidly mobile terrorists.

One did not exactly know
where and what was happening,

and whatever information we
were getting was from the media.

Narrator:
The Leopold cafe has been hit.

So has the main train station.

Now there are reports of gunfire

at a local hospital
and police station.

Time bombs left in taxis
by the terrorists

detonate
in different parts of the city.

Reports are already coming in

that 74 people have been killed
and 147 wounded.

I think within one hour,
one hour and 15 minutes,

I was absolutely sure
that this was a huge story --

possibly the biggest
terror attack in India.

Narrator: At this stage,

the authorities have no idea
what is going on.

Instead, the best intelligence
is from social media.

It was really the first time

that Twitter played a very
big role in our news coverage --

people posting links
to cellphone images,

people who were giving
firsthand accounts.

Narrator: From the sheer number
of messages,

the scale of the attacks
and sense of panic on the ground

is obvious.

But with so much
conflicting information,

it is impossible
for the authorities

to build up an accurate
intelligence picture.

BBC correspondent mark dummett

would scramble
to the scene of the attacks.

It was stunning.

It was shocking
that this was going on in India.

It was so confusing,

because it was taking place
in lots of different locations.

I mean, at that stage,

even the government had no idea
what was going on.

Narrator: The sudden assembly
of the world's media

means that there is now
mounting pressure

on the Indian authorities.

It later became clear that
grabbing worldwide attention

was a key part
of the terrorists' plan.

It was meant
to last a long time.

It was meant to attract
the attention of the world.

Gunfire, explosions, and terror
in Mumbai.

The timing played perfectly
into a Western news schedule.

Reporter:
119 people have been killed

and 315 wounded,
including three Americans.

Remember,
it happens at night in Mumbai.

It's daytime in New York.

Narrator: The global media
coverage adds to the sense

that the Indian government has
lost control of the situation.

1,000 Miles away in Delhi,

India's elite black cat
commandos are on standby

and waiting to deploy.

But until the director general
j.K. Dutt

is tasked by the government

to launch
a counterterror operation,

they are powerless to intervene.

In Mumbai,
the situation is escalating.

Two hours into the attacks,

the terrorists target two of
Mumbai's most famous hotels --

the oberoi trident
and taj palace,

home to around 830 guests.

These two five-star,
swanky hotels

that Hollywood stars
to big deal makers stay in.

So, you get a lot of bang
for your buck.

More specifically, you get
Americans, you get brits.

And we know that
that was really the goal here --

was not just to send a message
to the Indians,

but also to send a wider message
to the international community.

[ Sirens wailing, explosion ]

Narrator: Reports come in
of shootings and explosions

at the city's iconic
taj palace hotel.

I think the image that's burned
into everyone's mind

of this incident, of this event,

is that of the taj palace hotel

and the flames coming through
the roof.

Whenever anybody talks
in Mumbai terror,

this is the shot -- taj on fire.

[ Wailing continues ]

Narrator: With Mumbai's greatest
landmark up in flames,

the terrorists are delivering
a clear message --

nowhere is safe.

The fear factor was very high,

which is always one of
the very first goals

of these kinds of attacks.

Narrator:
Mumbai's first line of defense

is the local police force.

But this coordinated attack
totally exceeds their training,

and they are overwhelmed.

Some of the senior policemen had
been caught up in the violence

and the head of the
antiterrorism squad from Mumbai

being shot dead.

[ Gunfire ]

When you are dealing with,
you know, hard-core,

highly motivated terrorist
who are willing to die

and who have been well-trained,
well-equipped,

it is difficult
to handle those guys

if you're a normal policeman.

Narrator: Until the black cats
are called in,

the only other special forces
on hand

are a few units from the
locally-based marine commandos,

the marcos.

But they can do no more than
try to contain the situation.

The naval commanders
are not meant to operate

in these situations.

They are for a different purpose
altogether,

so therefore,
the militants had the freedom

to move anywhere
inside the hotel.

[ Sirens wailing,
whistle blows ]

Narrator: With the city's police
in complete meltdown

and no one to stop them,

the terrorists continue
on their rampage

at the oberoi
and taj palace hotels.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

After setting rooms on fire
and indiscriminate shootings,

the gunmen hunt down
more valuable targets.

They were targeting British,
American, European travelers.

Narrator: The hotels are full
of westerners and v.I.P.S.

This presents them
with the possibility

of extremely
high-profile hostages.

British businessman Tim reid was
trapped inside the oberoi hotel.

When I heard the terrorists
getting closer to me,

my legs were shaking
uncontrollably,

and all I could think about

was how painful might it be
to be shot,

how quickly would it end,

and thinking about my family
and my 8-month-pregnant wife.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Narrator:
1,000 Miles away in Delhi,

the director general of India's
elite counterterrorism unit,

the black cats,
is aware of the developments.

He has been impatiently watching
the unfolding scenes on TV,

desperately awaiting government
authorization to deploy.

There was a reluctance on the
part of the government in Mumbai

to come to terms with the level
of attack that was taking place.

Narrator:
As the death toll rises,

83 people have been killed.

90 minutes after
the attacks begin,

the phone finally rings.

[ Telephone rings ]

A formal request comes in from
the ministry of home affairs

just before midnight.

The black cats
are at last operational.

200 nsg troops suit up
and do weapons checks.

From the time the word "go"
was given

to the time
you reach an aircraft,

you should be there
within half an hour.

So within 70 minutes,
you should get airborne.

Narrator:
Then they race to the airport.

But they are based
outside Delhi,

1,000 Miles from Mumbai.

It's going to take three hours
to get there.

En route, they must start
planning the operation.

But they still don't know
who they're up against,

how they're armed,
or what their aims are.

At this point, their only source
of information is the press.

Gunfire can be heard from inside
the Taj Mahal hotel --

another sign that the attackers
were well-armed

and well-prepared

to launch what some here
are calling India's 9/11.

Narrator: Mumbai, India.

By dawn on Thursday
the 27th of November,

hundreds of journalists
had arrived

at the besieged
taj palace and oberoi hotels,

where up to 830 guests
are staying.

I remember the rope line
coming up outside the taj

for the journalists.

In hindsight,
it wasn't very safe.

It was not --
the distance was not very far.

[ Gunshot ]

You know, some of the bullets,
you know, sort of flew overhead.

You know, so maybe
we shouldn't have been there.

[ Gunfire ]

Biswas:
And we knew it was serious.

The taj were under siege.

The other hotel, oberoi,
was under siege.

People were trapped inside.

I think everyone was in shock.

People didn't know
what was gonna happen next.

Narrator:
In the absence of any official
government announcement,

people begin speculating
as to who is behind the attacks.

Originally when
we first reported the story

on the very first day,

the fact that there were
multiple targets

and multiple sites involved,

these were all
Al-qaeda hallmarks.

Narrator: But whilst
the black cats are in transit,

there's a breakthrough.

Indian intelligence intercepts
cellphone conversations

between the gunmen
and their controllers.

From this,

they learn the controllers
are based in Pakistan.

Now they know who is behind the
attacks and what their aims are.

This was an attack by l.E.T.,
a Pakistani terrorist group

also known by the name
lashkar-e-taiba.

And their whole mission
is to campaign

for the mujahideen
in Afghanistan

and also for the release
of muslims and to free kashmir.

Narrator: The region of kashmir
in the northwest of India

also borders Pakistan,

and its ownership
has been heavily disputed

by the two countries
for over 60 years.

The general impression
in the west

was that the lashkar-e-taiba

is a kashmiri
liberation organization.

It is not.

It's a Pakistani
jihadi organization.

Narrator:
This militant organization

had been involved in previous
attacks on Indian soil,

including train bombings

and an attack on the
parliament building in Delhi.

Reporter: An islamist attack
on India's parliament in 2001

left a dozen people dead

and prompted India
to send a million troops

to the Pakistani border.

The lashkar has three enemies...

...the christians, the Jews,
and the hindus.

It's also a philosophy
that Al-qaeda believes.

Narrator: Now they know
who's backing the attacks.

The security forces know

the terrorists' mission
won't end in surrender.

They came to die, perhaps.

And when you are
in that state of mind,

then it becomes very tough
to deal with the guy.

Narrator: Just how fanatical
the terrorists are

is made clear by intercepted
cellphone conversations

between the terrorists and
their Pakistani-based handlers,

transcripts of which
were later declassified.

Man: Everything
is being recorded by the media.

Inflict the maximum damage.

Keep fighting.
Don't be taken alive.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

Kill all the hostages
except the two muslims.

Keep your phone switched on
so we can hear the gunfire.

Kill them!

The gunmen at first were firing
an incredible number of rounds,

and they seemed to be
very heavily armed.

I heard the gunfire
getting closer and closer

and fully expected them
to find me.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

Narrator: In the lobby
of the oberoi hotel,

guest Tim reid watched

as nine staff and three guests
are gunned down.

Miraculously, the gunmen
pass right in front of Tim.

At that point,
they must have been,

you know, five, six, seven feet
from where I was,

but they weren't looking for me.

They were looking
at the restaurant.

Narrator: As 13 diners are being
murdered in the restaurant,

Tim makes
a desperate break for it.

Reid: You know, you're running,

and you're hearing gunfire
behind you,

not knowing if at any moment
you might, you know,

feel that pain
and fall to the ground.

When I ran out of the
oberoi hotel onto the street,

there was thousands of people
panicking,

running one way,

and then running again
when the next grenade went off.

Narrator:
3½ hours into the attacks,
and chaos and confusion

continue to grip the population
of Mumbai.

And the terrorists have
one other target.

This is the chabad house --

a Jewish community center
and synagogue

located in a five-story building

down a densely populated,
narrow street.

[ Speaking Hebrew ]

Narrator:
It's home to American-born
rabbi gavriel holtzberg

and his wife, rivka,
who is six months pregnant.

Information from the intercepted
cellphone conversations

prove they are seen as
key targets by the controllers.

Man #1:
Every individual you kill there
is like killing 50 elsewhere.

Get rid of those people.
Kill them.

You never know.

Firing may start,
and they may be left behind.

Man #2:
By God's wish, it is all quiet.
No movement here.

Man #1: No, no! Not right!

Narrator: The controllers urge
the terrorists on to kill Jews.

Man #1:
Have you done the job or not?

Man #2: I will do it now
in front of you.

I was waiting for your call.

Man #1:
Do it in the name of God.

Do it in the name of God.

[ Woman screams ]

[ Gunshot ]

You killed one?

Man #2: Both together.

Narrator: Rabbi holtzberg
and his wife, rivka,

are murdered,

along with their unborn child.

Four others are taken hostage.

They got Americans
who also were Jews,

so in one fell swoop,
they sent a whammy of a message.

They had even said later that
an American Jew or a Jew alone

was worth 50 of anybody else.

Narrator:
Meanwhile, across Mumbai

in the luxurious taj hotel,

the terrorists can be heard
enjoying themselves

in the intercepted
cellphone conversations.

Man: Did you see the paintings
on the wall?

The bathrooms have gold taps.

There are tvs with 13 screens.

Obviously they were kind of
overwhelmed by the luxury,

and the taj, of course,
is really the epitome of luxury

in terms of hotels in India.

It's ironic that human life
was not considered valuable,

but that wretched TV was.

Narrator: The level
of coordination is revealed

as the controllers issue orders.

Man: I can't see any flames
on the television pictures.

I said set fire to them.

[ Telephone rings ]

Narrator:
Arriving in Mumbai at 5:00 A.M.,

eight hours after
the attacks began,

j.K. Dutt and his senior
black cat officers

set up a command post and start
planning their operation.

The command comes in
to tell you what the task is.

Thereafter, the place and time
of the operation

is decided
by the post commander.

Narrator: Dutt and his team
quickly assess the situation.

They know they are dealing
with three locations --

the two hotels
and the Jewish outreach center.

Mahalingham:
The targets were split,

and the main target,
the taj hotel,

was a huge, big area.

Narrator: But they are hampered
by a lack of information.

There are no detailed floor
plans of the hotels available,

and no one even knows
how many terrorists or hostages

are still holed up
in each location.

Mumbai was administratively
in a state of paralysis

for some time,

and no information was provided
to them

actually of the target area,

so they had to do a lot
of guesswork and improvise,

which took
a huge amount of time.

Narrator: What makes it worse
is that their enemies

clearly know the locations
better than they do.

To my mind, somebody
didn't vacate the place.

Taj palace
was a specific target.

The trident
was a specific target.

Chabad house
was a specific target.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Narrator:
The problems become clear

when the black cats try
to establish a perimeter

around the target buildings.

The locations
had been well chosen.

All are in
heavily built-up areas.

Right in the center of Bombay

with roads, population,
buildings --

all sorts of things
all over the place.

Narrator: The chabad house
is in a narrow street.

With one entrance,
it is easy to defend

and difficult for the black cats
to storm

without endangering the lives
of hostages.

We cannot go with all guns
blazing in a scenario like this.

No, certainly not.

You can't use maximum force.
It has to be precise force.

Narrator:
The hotels, on the other hand,

have multiple entrances
and exits.

Hotels are even more difficult
to clear out

because there are
hundreds of rooms,

and you have to go from
room to room to room.

Narrator: Even worse, the eyes
of the world are upon them.

Orders are given
to minimize collateral damage,

and yet, somehow,

the black cats have to hunt down
the terrorists.

Narrator: It's the second day
of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Pressure is now mounting

on India's elite
counterterrorism unit,

the black cats, to pounce.

The terrorists can
definitely not win.

Let's get that absolutely clear.

Sood: You've got to hit them
hard and immediately,

so that he knows that either
he's gonna be captured

or he's gonna die.

Narrator:
With the lives of hundreds
of guests and hostages at stake,

meticulous planning
and preparation is vital.

Guttman: I think
it's very hard to imagine

the kind of logistical
challenges that were involved

in locking down
all of these sites.

Narrator: In his final briefing
to his officers,

j.K. Dutt, the head of India's
national security guard,

has four key points --
no loss of innocent life,

try and take
the terrorists alive,

minimize collateral damage,

and screen hostages

to prevent terrorists
slipping through the net.

With the plans finalized,

black cat commando squads
are deployed

to the Jewish chabad house
and the two five-star hotels.

Leaving the police
and marine commandos

guarding the perimeter,

the black cats
swing into action,

and at 6:20 A.M.,
they enter the oberoi hotel.

Operation black tornado
is under way.

So the nsg had to make its way
through multiple rooms,

multiple floors
like all five-star hotels.

Narrator: With no detailed plans
of the hotel,

they are forced to improvise.

Chandrawat:
It's a massive building, right?

And whatever information they
got on the hotel and its layout

must be from the hotel staff.

Narrator:
The nsg use the service stairs

and climb to the 21st floor.

We generally prefer

to tackle a target
from a higher to a lower ground.

Narrator: Now they start
a top-down sweep of the hotel.

They move down
through the building,

clearing each floor as they go,

gradually herding the terrorists
into a corner.

But it isn't easy.

You have to identify
these people,

otherwise you will end up
killing some guest

inside the hotel.

Narrator:
Armed with German heckler & koch
mp5 submachine guns,

the men begin their meticulous
room-by-room search

of the hotel.

As guest are rescued,

they're shepherded
to safety outside.

Transcripts from the intercepted
cellphone conversations

between the terrorists
and their controllers

reveal what happened.

Eight hours after
entering the hotel,

at 2:00 P.M., on the 18th floor,

the terrorists are finally
cornered by the black cats.

Man #1: The room is on fire.
I'm in the bathroom.

Man #2: Try breaking out
using a grenade.

Man #1:
I've used up all the grenades.

Man #2: Be brave.
Don't be afraid.

God and heaven
are waiting for you.

Man #1: God willing.

We try and capture
the terrorists alive

if it is possible so that you
could get maximum information.

But if it is not possible,
so be it.

Narrator: Part one
of operation black tornado

to free the oberoi hotel

is a success.

Although 24 guests
were murdered,

both terrorists have been killed
and 143 guests rescued.

A mile away, across the city,
the black cats are in a standoff

with the terrorists
at the Jewish center.

Having locked down
the perimeters,

they're unwilling
to storm the building

and endanger the lives
of the hostages.

They are further hampered
by the media,

who are inadvertently providing
free intelligence to the gunmen.

What was very interesting about
the way these attackers operated

was the fact that
they were monitoring the press.

Biswas: It was all live.

There was no time delay

between what was being shown
and what was being reported.

Narrator: This meant

the controllers were able
to alert the terrorists

to the helicopters
buzzing the building.

After carefully analyzing
the intercepted traffic,

intelligence agents believe

all the hostages
may have been executed.

In the full glare
of the cameras,

they launch an aerial assault.

The people who organized
this operation

were watching those tapes

and telling people inside
on mobile phones that,

"look, guys,
there is a commando operation,

aerial commando operation,
coming in."

Narrator: At 7:30 A.M.,

nsg commandos fast rope from
an Indian air force helicopter

onto the roof
of the chabad house.

The assault is captured
on the cellphone intercepts.

Man: Firing has started.

I think there is a helicopter
on the roof.

Take cover! Move now!
Do it! Do it!

Narrator: With suppressing fire
from the terrorists

and covering fire from snipers,

they begin hunting down
the terrorists.

Man #1:
They're firing into our room.

These people knew.

I have been hit!
I have been hit! Pray for me.

Man #2: Where have you been hit?
Where have you been hit?

Man #1:
In my side and in my leg.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

Narrator:
After a fierce gun battle,

both terrorists lie dead.

The black cats have scored
another success.

The terrorists in the oberoi
hotel have been neutralized.

So have the terrorists
in the Jewish chabad house.

The black cats now face
their greatest challenge --

the imposing and iconic
taj palace hotel.

Guttman: I think for Americans,

the taj palace hotel could be
equivalent to the park Plaza,

the Waldorf astoria.

Raza: Because there are
hundreds of rooms

and you have to go from
room to room, floor to floor,

it's an enormous task.

Narrator:
Guests inside the hotel

include v.I.P.S and politicians,

their caliber and status
compounding the difficulty

of the operation.

Not only are they
potentially valuable hostages,

they're amongst
the world's elite.

Any mistakes here
will be hugely embarrassing.

What is important
for the troops there

is to make sure that whenever
they use their weapon,

they do use it properly

and that no collateral damage

or no innocent civilian
is killed.

In this kind of a scenario,

killing a terrorist does not
become a priority.

Priority
is to take the hostages out.

Narrator:
The nsg assess their options.

They can't simply
storm the hotel.

They need a methodical approach.

But for this,
they need detailed floor plans.

Yet once again,
they don't have them.

Raza: The problem was

that the nsg was not provided
with any maps of the location,

'cause apparently those maps
are not available

either with the hotel
or the civil administration.

Narrator: The only information
the nsg could pick up

were basic hotel room guides.

They didn't show service lanes,
passages, or corridors.

However,
the terrorists clearly knew

the taj palace layout
inside out.

I give full marks
to the planners there

sitting across the border.

They had this operation
meticulously planned

months in advance.

They say all warfare
is based on deception,

and they were completely able
to surprise everybody.

Narrator: The black cats realize

the terrorists could use
their superior knowledge

of the taj's layout
to their advantage.

By only operating from areas
with multiple exits,

they will be difficult
to contain.

So, with the odds
stacked against them

and not even knowing
how many gunmen they are facing,

the black cats prepare
to move in.

Once they'd given the word "go,"
they don't look back.

They don't say that,
"I don't have intelligence."

Whatever they have,
you make do with that,

and you just get on with it.

Narrator:
Trying to locate the terrorists

and free the hostages

means breaking into and clearing
all the rooms.

Every step was an obstacle
for them.

I know for a fact
a lot of those were jammed.

Therefore, you will have to
prepare an explosive device

to break open the entrance.

Narrator:
This is a painstaking process.

It will take time
to thoroughly check each area.

And in a hotel
with over 500 rooms,

this could take days.

That had to be done
very methodically and carefully,

and that is why
they took a lot of time.

[ Pounding on door ]

Narrator: To make matters worse,

hotel guests had been told to
lock themselves in their rooms.

Most people are too scared
to open their doors,

terrified of who may be
on the other side.

Narrator:
As the Mumbai terror attacks
move into their third day...

[ Explosion ]

...the battle for the iconic
taj palace hotel is raging.

They came
to cause maximum damage,

and because it was
a televised operation,

the whole world is watching
for 60 hours,

they wanted to prolong it
as long as possible.

Narrator: India's elite
black cat commandos

are battling an unknown number
of terrorists

who are well-armed
and highly mobile.

Here was India sending in
its top troops,

and I suppose we thought
it would be over pretty quickly.

Narrator:
But with over 500 rooms to clear

and hundreds of terrified guests
hiding throughout the building,

this cannot be
a quick operation.

What we didn't know
is when it would end.

And by the time the siege
went on and on and on,

we realized
this was getting very sticky.

[ Explosion ]

Narrator:
Moving through the hotel,

the black cats need to keep
their tactics fluid

and respond to situations
as they arise.

When you're a soldier,
you go into an operation,

you will give your best
for the first 12 hours.

After that,
you start tiring out.

But despite that,
they went on and on,

and I take my hat off to them,
what they did.

I think they were
against all odds.

Narrator: By midnight
on the 28th of November,

the black cats have been
fighting for 30 hours.

Please don't shoot us!
Please!

They have rescued
over 200 guests

and led them through
the corridors to safe areas.

Now they can focus
on the remaining terrorists.

We are going through
the entire hotel,

through the corridors,
through the rooms.

Until we are able to check
each and every room,

I will not say
that my operation is over.

Narrator: With 90% of the hotel
now cleared,

the black cats believe
they've cornered

the remaining terrorists
in one wing of the hotel.

Heading up a staircase,
contact is made.

[ Gunfire ]

It's an ambush.

They're caught in the crossfire.

The black cats have
a senior man killed --

major sandeep unnikrishnan.

Spurred on by his death,
the black cats press on,

forcing the terrorists
to fall back.

[ Gunfire ]

[ Sirens wail ]

In the early hours of Saturday,
the 29th of November,

56 hours after the terrorists
entered the hotel,

there are a series
of loud explosions.

[ Explosion ]

But for the world's media
assembled outside,

it is unclear what is happening.

We were given briefings
by the chief of the commandos.

When we first exchanged fire,

we could have got
those terrorists.

But for trying to avoid
the casualty of the civilians,

we had to be that much more
careful in our fighting.

Information was very scanty,
was very sketchy,

because it was
a siege situation.

The commandos had gone inside,

and there was a lot of fighting
going on.

[ Gunshot ]

It was slightly strange.

We were reporting on a battle
which was going on in a building

just a few hundred yards
in front of us.

We couldn't see the battle
because it was all inside.

Narrator:
But one thing is clear --

for the terrorists,
every second on TV is a victory,

as the intercepts show.

Man: The atmosphere is good.

After watching
the TV reports,

the whole city
is feeling the destruction.

More than 250 are injured
across the city.

You have worked well for God.

Narrator:
Finally, after two straight days
of fighting inside the hotel,

the black cats
have cleared entire floors

and are pressing
the terrorists hard.

Our commandos
are so very well-trained,

there is no question
of the terrorists escaping.

So, the problem is
find out where he is,

spot him, and fix him.

Narrator: By now,
the black cats have also learned

one critical piece of
information from the intercepts.

There are four terrorists
in the hotel,

and they're steadily
eliminating them.

Raza: People began to count
one more knocked out,

one more knocked out.

So, the body count
was being kept track of.

That was a sign
things were coming to an end.

Narrator:
By dawn on the 29th of November,

the siege is in its end game.

There are just
two terrorists left,

and they're cornered
on the first floor.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

In an intense exchange,

the black cats fire
a hail of bullets

into the terrorists' position.

Outgunned and outmaneuvered,

the terrorists' deadly onslaught
of murder and mayhem

is finally over.

After three days and the death
of 170 innocent people,

as well as the serious injury
of 304 more,

the city is left
with terrible scars.

How dare somebody
from across the border

come right into
the heart of the country

and kill innocent people!

For what?

The killers who struck this week
are brutal and violent,

but terror will not have
the final word.

People of India
are resilient.

People of India are strong.

The comparisons to 9/11
are fair.

I think they're valid.
I think this is India's 9/11.

I think
if any good came of this,

it's that India was forced
to have a day of reckoning.

Narrator: There are clearly
lessons to be learned.

The government took too long
to react,

and called in the elite
commandos far too late.

The nsg apart, India as a whole
learned a few lessons.

One is that we must have
a more decentralized system

of dealing with terror attacks.

Narrator: Since then,
changes have been made

to India's
counterterrorism plans.

Well, we are better prepared,
yes.

We're better prepared
than we were then.

But I hope to God
it's never tested.

Narrator:
Operation black tornado was
a success for the black cats.

The nsg were really
up against it.

They were confronted
with an enemy

that had a number
of hiding places,

a lot of armory,

and they did a great job
to take them.

Narrator: Even though
they had minimal intelligence

and faced a well-prepared enemy,
they defeated the terrorists.

I remember seeing
the nsg commandos

in their sort of black overalls,

looking absolutely exhausted.

You know, I was in no doubt
that these were

some extremely, extremely
motivated and brave men.

Raza:
Out of 100-odd men deployed,

they knocked off
10 heavily armed terrorists.

So, the nsg's ratio
of killing terrorists

in such an operation

in my mind would be perhaps
one of the highest in the world.

Chandrawat:
It's a great organization.

It has always come out,
you know, with flying colors

in any operation
they've been deployed.

And it is to their credit

that they did this job with
minimum number of casualties.

Narrator:
Operation black tornado
shows terrorists and the world

just what the black cats
are capable of

and the lengths they'll go to
to get the job done.