HT This Day: Dec 23, 2000 - Lashkar men storm Army camp in Red Fort, 3 killed
Two members of the Rajputana Rifles were killed on the spot, while another was wounded and succumbed en route to hospital.
Even as a function of the Army’s Seven Rajputana Rifles was on, Lashkar-e- Tayyeba militants stormed the Red Fort at 9.30 tonight (December 22) and opened fire with AK-47s, killing at least three soldiers. This is the first such strike in the national capital and agency sources say a two-member Lashkar fidyaeen (suicide squad) was involved.
The attack comes two days after the Centre extended the Ramzan ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir.
Two members of the Rajputana Rifles were killed on the spot, while another was wounded and succumbed en route to hospital.
The militants had switched off the lighting system inside the Mughal fort before launching the attack, apparently targeting the garrison inside.
Lashkar is reported to have contacted the BBC and claimed responsibility for the attack.
They also claimed that one of the militants was still inside the Fort. Army and police sources also did not rule out the possibility of militants holding out inside.
The militants are supposed to have entered through the Saleem Gate of the Fort, outside which there are 400-500 slum dwellings. Police sources said the militants had carried out ambush at three separate places in the Fort.
The attack was said to have been carried out near the residential quarters where hundreds of Armymen stay with their families. The Army has surrounded the Red Fort complex.
Significantly, another function of the Rajputana Rifles was slated for tomorrow, which was to be attended by senior Army officials. Officials pointed out that both the Inter State Bus Terminus and the Old Delhi Railway Station are near the Red Fort and that it was possible that militants might have escaped from there.
Several members of a family including women and children were trapped inside the Red Fort when the shootout occurred. They, however, reportedly escaped unhurt.
There are two entry posts to the Red Fort, the Lahori Gate Khas and the Lahori Gate. There are at least four armed security guards on duty always at both these entry points.
What is surprising is that the armed militants apparently managed to walk up to the cantonment area inside the Fort, where the function was going on, without being challenged.
Clearly, the militant attack at the heavily-guarded Red Fort indicates a grave security lapse. The Red Fort is guarded by the 7th battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, the military police and Army headquarters post unit.
The military intelligence was clueless about the attack and the shootout caught them napping.
However, military intelligence officials are not ruling out the possibility of it being an insider’s job.
This evening’s attack comes in the wake of several suicide attacks carried out recently by the mercenaries of the Lashkar on Army camps in the Kashmir valley.
The Army cordoned off a huge area around the fort and, assisted by anti-terrorism squad personnel, launched combing operations in the entire walled city.