NEW DELHI, 14 December — There was more than an echo of Sept. 11 in the Indian capital yesterday when a suicide squad, comprising five gunmen, stormed the nation’s parliament complex yesterday, killing seven people before being shot dead in a daring assault on the seat of power of the world’s biggest democracy. The attack prompted the government to declare red alert and drew world condemnation including from Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf who sent a message of sympathy to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault during which one attacker detonated explosives strapped to his waist and others hurled grenades and fought a gun battle with police.
Some 300 parliamentarians, including senior ministers, were inside the complex during the assault.
Security has also been beefed up at railway station and all airports in the country, officials said.
Home Minister L. K. Advani, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Defense Minister George Fernandes were inside the central hall of parliament at the time of the attack.
Casualties would have been higher had the parliament not been adjourned just half an hour before the militants struck. Vajpayee and leader of the opposition, Sonia Gandhi, had already left the complex.
The second most important person in the government hierarchy, Vice President Krishna Kant, who presides over the upper house of the parliament, had a narrow escape because of a few minutes’ delay in reaching his car, which was badly damaged in the attack. No ministers or legislators were hurt in the attack, which began about 11.45 a.m. (0615 GMT).
Vajpayee later went on television to say India’s battle against terrorism had reached its final stage, while both his defense and interior ministers vowed a tough response.
Vajpayee asserted that the battle would be fought in a decisive manner. "By attacking the parliament, terrorists have posed a big challenge.
The parliament is a crucial institution of our democracy and the terrorists have purposely targeted it. Their attack was not merely an attack on the building, but a warning to the entire nation. We accept their challenge," stated the prime minister. At an emergency meeting later, the Cabinet reviewed the situation arising out of the attack.
Earlier, an iftar party which was to be hosted by the prime minister was also postponed.
"We will liquidate the terrorists and their sponsors whoever they are, wherever they are," L.K. Advani told a news conference.
Initial speculation turned to militants fighting Indian rule in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where 38 people died in a suicide attack on the state assembly two months ago.
Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma said the attackers entered the parliament complex from Gate No. 1 in a white Ambassador car bearing registration number DL-J-1627 which possessed an entry pass issued by the Home Ministry. The assailants opened fire when one of the female officials of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at the checkpoint asked them to show their proper identity. CRPF official Kamlesh Kumari was killed.
Sharma said the attackers then ran toward Gate No. 8 and fired from there and tried to go to Gate No. 5 and 12. Gate No. 5 is used by the prime minister while Gate No. 12 is used by the vice president and the deputy chairperson of the upper house.
Security forces also detonated an explosive device brought in by the terrorists. The detonation was carried out at about 4 p.m. Several hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles used by the terrorists have been seized from the premises, Sharma said.
"The techniques used by the terrorists would seem to suggest they were trained in Pakistan, we have seen these kinds of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in the past," said retired Maj. Gen. Afsir Karim who is now a terrorism expert.
"I heard a cracker-like sound near the entrance, then I saw people running helter-skelter," lawmaker Kharbala Sain said outside the grand sandstone parliament, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens under the former British colonial rulers.
One of the intruders blew himself up at the main entrance to the parliament chambers which is used by most deputies.
"I saw many people firing at the same time. I couldn’t make out who was who. I couldn’t understand who the terrorists were and who the police were. My mind went blank, " Sain said.
Advani said: "I can only imagine how horrifying it would have been if the suicide squad...had succeeded in its objective.
"It seems their objective was somehow to get inside Parliament House, fully armed with their AK-47s and grenades, while parliament was in session and all the members of the Indian government, all the members of parliament, including the political leaders of the country, were inside," he added.
Bombay Police Commissioner M. N. Singh said yesterday city police learned a month ago about a militant plan to attack parliament and had alerted the country’s intelligence agencies.
Delhi police detained three men. "The two detentions were made in northwest Delhi after the alert was issued this morning," a spokesman for the Delhi police said.
"But we have not been able to establish any links between the men and what happened at parliament in the morning," the spokesman said.
Indian legislators called for retaliation of the kind taken by the United States in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington or by Israel against the Palestinians after bombings.
The Muttahida Jihad Council based in Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir, said it had no connection with the attack.
