“Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain.” — Qur’an 9:111
Video footage is now available of the Mumbai jihad attacks — above is the first of three (thanks to Pamela, who has the other two). The deeply religious nature of the Mumbai jihad attacks comes through in transcripts of phone conversations between the attackers and their handlers. These transcripts were published last week in the Daily Mail, but then pulled without explanation; however, Pamela was able to capture the article before it was taken down, and here is a selection.
No one knows the true identity of the man known as Wasi – the puppetmaster. He is heard deferring to more senior figures in the control room, but it was he who cajoled, reassured and inspired the young gunmen forward minute by minute until they were killed. He is presumed to be a senior officer of Lashkar-e-Taiba (‘Army Of The Righteous‘), a militant group now considered to be a global threat on a par with Al-Qaeda. […]
Wasi: ‘Stand the women up in a doorway so that when the bullet goes through their heads it then goes outside, instead of ricocheting back into your room.’
Akasha: ‘OK.’
Wasi: ‘Do one of them now, in the name of God. You’ve tied them up, right?’
Akasha: ‘Yeah. I’ll untie their feet.’
Wasi: ‘Just stand them up. If they’re tied up, leave them tied up.’
Akasha then raises another objection. He doesn’t want to kill the two women in the room where he and Umer are sitting.
Wasi: ‘It’ll only take two shots. Do it in the room where you are now.’
Akasha: ‘All right, yes.’
Wasi: ‘Do it. Shoot them and shove them over to one side of the room.’
Akasha shuffles off somewhere but leaves the line open. Wasi holds the line for a full seven minutes. He calls Akasha’s name a few times, then hangs up. In the next call, ten minutes later, Akasha seems more upbeat.
Akasha: ‘Please don’t be angry. I’ve rejigged things a bit and now…’
Wasi: ‘Have you done the job yet or not?’
Akasha: ‘We were just waiting for you to call back, so we could do it while you’re on the phone.’
Wasi: ‘Do it, in God’s name.’
Akasha: ‘Just a sec… hold the line…’
Akasha places the phone in his pocket. There is a lot of rustling (presumably Akasha crawling over to the hostages) followed by silence. Then a loud burst of gunfire. And then silence. More rustling, then Akasha is back. His voice has changed markedly. It’s now a deep, eerie rasp.
Wasi: ‘That was one of them, right?’
Akasha: ‘Both.’ […]
Wasi: ‘Did you start a fire in the ones you cleared out?’
Ali: ‘No, they’re right next to each other. We’ll set the fire on our way out. We don’t want the fire to spread too quickly in case we can’t get out.’
Wasi: ‘No, burn everything as you go along. The bigger the fire, the more pressure you will bring to bear. We’re watching it on TV. If you start the fire it will put pressure on the security forces. They won’t come up.’
Ali: ‘Listen. We don’t even walk around our own houses as freely as we do here. We own the third, fourth and fifth floors, thanks be to God.’ […]
Wasi: ‘The manner of your death will instill fear in the unbelievers. This is a battle between Islam and the unbelievers. Keep looking for a place to die. Keep moving.’
Fahadullah: ‘Insh’Allah.’
Wasi: ‘You’re very close to heaven now. One way or another we’ve all got to go there. You will be remembered for what you’ve done here. Fight till the end. Stretch it out as long as possible.’ […]
Wasi: ‘How are you my brother?’
Fahadullah (sounds weak): ‘Praise God. Brother Abdul Rehman has passed away.
Wasi: ‘Really? Is he near you?’
Fahadullah: ‘Yeah, he’s near me.
Wasi: ‘May God accept his martyrdom.’
Fahadullah: ‘The room is on fire, it’s being shown on the TV. I’m sitting in the bathroom.’
Next time Wasi calls, he urges Fahadullah to go out and fight.
Wasi: ‘Don’t let them arrest you. Don’t let them knock you out with a stun grenade. That would be very damaging. Fire one of your magazines, then grab the other one and move out. The success of your mission depends on your getting shot.’
Fahadullah: ‘Yes, I know.’
Wasi: ‘God is waiting for you. Stay on the line and keep the phone in your pocket. We like to know what’s going on.’ […]
Akasha: ‘I’ve been shot.’
Wasi: ‘Sorry?’
Akasha: ‘Pray for me.’
Wasi: ‘Oh God. Where have you been hit?’
Akasha: ‘My arm. And one in my leg.’
Wasi: ‘May God protect you. Did you hit any of theirs?’
Akasha: ‘Yeah, we shot a commando. Pray that God will accept my martyrdom.’
Wasi: ‘Praise God, praise God.’
Akasha: ‘Bye.’ […]
Interrogator: ‘What’s your gang called?’
Kasab seems not to understand. Some of the other officers present chime in: ‘Your organisation, your gang, your team?’
Kasab: ‘Oh… It’s Lashkar-e-Taiba.’
When asked about the massacre at the railway station, Kasab is equally direct.
Kasab: ‘They told us we had to do this job.’
Interrogator: ‘What do you mean by job?’
Kasab: ‘I was supposed to kill people.’
Interrogator: ‘Which people?’
Kasab: ‘Whoever was there.’
Interrogator: ‘What kind of people did they tell you to kill?’
Kasab: ‘Just ordinary people, no one in particular.’ Next, the policeman tries to figure out the terrorists’ exit strategy.
Interrogator: ‘After completing your job today, where were you going to go?’
Kasab: ‘We were all going to die.’
Interrogator: ‘How’s that?’
Kasab: ‘He told us we’d be going to heaven.’ […]