Incident Summary:
12/24/1999: Five suspected Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HuM) militants hijacked an Indian Airlines Airbus flying from Kathmandu for New Delhi with 178 passengers and 11 crew members aboard. The hijackers, armed with guns, grenades and knives took control of the Flight 814 some 40 minutes after takeoff and demanded it fly to Lahore, Pakistan. The plane stopped in India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates before landing in Afghanistan on Dec. 25. The hijackers first demanded the freeing of just one prisoner in Kashmir, a Pakistani Islamic cleric and guerrilla leader named Maulana Masood Azhar. Later they raised their demands to the release of 36 insurgents and $200 million. On New Year's Eve, the hijackers freed the remaining 155 hostages in exchange for the release of three pro-Kashmiri militants imprisoned in India. Only one person died as a result of the hijacking.
Overview
GTD ID:
199912240002
When:
1999-12-24
Country:
Nepal
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Central
City:
Near Kathmandu
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Airports and Aircraft |
Name of Entity |
Indian Airlines |
Specific Description |
Indian Airlines Airbus flying from the Kathmandu for New Delhi |
Nationality of Target |
India |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
189 |
US Hostages |
1 |
Days of Kidnapping |
8 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
Yes |
Total Ransom Amount Demanded |
200000000.00 |
Ransom Amount Demanded from US Sources |
Unknown |
Total Ransom Amount Paid |
0.00 |
Total Ransom Amount Paid by US Sources |
Unknown |
Ransom Notes |
One hostage was killed on day 1. Ransom demand included $200 million (U.S.), the body of a dead comrade, and the release of a Muslim cleric and 35 other militants held in Indian jails. They settled for the release of three prominent militants: Maulana Masood Azhar, Mohammad Omar Syed, and Mushtaq Ahmad Zarzar. One of the released was a cleric who leads a group seeking independence for Indian-held Kashmir. |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Explosives |
Dynamite/TNT |
Weapon Details |
The hijackers were armed with dynamite, AK-47 assault rifles, pistols and hand grenades. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
5 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Pamela Constable, Washington Post Foreign Service, “Hijackers of Jet Flee to Pakistan, Afghans Assert; India Vows to 'Continue to Seek Justice',” The Washington Post, January 2, 2000. |
Ashok Sharma, “Air India Pilot Recalls Nightmare of Hijack,” The Ottawa Citizen, January 4, 2000. |
Binaj Gurubacharya, “Indian Airlines Hijack Report Submitted to Nepal Government,” Associated Press Worldstream, January 24, 2000. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties