Australian Cafe Siege

Started by consortium11, December 14, 2014, 11:06:08 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

consortium11

BBC Coverage

QuoteSeveral people have been taken hostage by at least one armed man at a Lindt cafe in Sydney, Australia.

Hundreds of armed police have sealed off the normally busy Martin Place in the central business district.

At least three people have been seen inside the cafe with their hands up against a window, and holding up a black flag with Arabic writing.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described the incident as "deeply concerning".

As thing stand I don't believe this is being viewed as a terrorist attack (at least according to the BBC piece) although as the perpetrator apparently forced some of his hostages to hold a piece of Arabic writing (I believe it's the Shahada but would be happy to be corrected) to the window I imagine the usual suspects will be going wild.

It's still ongoing; I expect the usual news places will be offering live coverage/analysis.

Thoughts are with those caught up in this.

gaggedLouise

The BBC confirmed it is the Shahada (the confession of faith beginning"There is no God but God...") that's written on that black flag - they had been talking to someone who knew Arabic. A difficult and disturbing situation.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

ladia2287

It's a terrible thing. I feel really awful for the hostages and their families. I can't begin to imagine what they must be going through.

consortium11

Siege ended with the police storming the cafe.

At least one hostage is dead along with the gunman (now being described as an Islamist by the BBC) with several more people wounded.

Formless

Did they mention anything about his motives?

Dashenka

It's an Iranian guy asking for an IS flag and a telephone call with the prime minister. His motive? He's a nut job.

Poor job by the Australian to storm the cafe in my opinion. Two hostages dead and three injured, with the excuse that "many more would have been killed if the police wouldn't have gone in."

Good luck explaining that to the families of the two dead.

The world's gone mad..
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

gaggedLouise

#6
Quote from: Dashenka on December 15, 2014, 02:00:15 PM
It's an Iranian guy asking for an IS flag and a telephone call with the prime minister. His motive? He's a nut job.

Poor job by the Australian to storm the cafe in my opinion. Two hostages dead and three injured, with the excuse that "many more would have been killed if the police wouldn't have gone in."

Good luck explaining that to the families of the two dead.

The world's gone mad..


Storming a cramped place with many hostages, only one main exit and an armed, highly-strung desperado like that is always dangerous and a bit of a toss-the-coin thing, it's not like the police team leader can ever be sure of the outcome. Especially when it's late at night, the lights are out and the terrorist may have placed explosives ready to go off in a few places.

If they'd waited till the morning and then kept a low profile he might have started shooting off some of his hostages one by one to put pressure on the police. Seems to me they did the best thing in a very unpleasant situation.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Dashenka

I think they should have taken a bit more caution and maybe be a bit more patient. Just my two cents. Storming a hostage situation is never a good thing and will almost always end with innocent bloodshed.
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Slywyn

For all they knew he was going to start offing hostages.

You can't bet on a kidnapper's mercy.
What Makes A Shark Tick ( o/o's )

"True friendship is when you walk into their house and your WiFi automatically connects." - The Internet, Probably

I'm just the silliest, friendliest little shark that ever did. Sure, I have all these teeth but I don't bite... much.

Stella

Quote from: gaggedLouise on December 15, 2014, 02:33:11 PM

Storming a cramped place with many hostages, only one main exit and an armed, highly-strung desperado like that is always dangerous and a bit of a toss-the-coin thing, it's not like the police team leader can ever be sure of the outcome. Especially when it's late at night, the lights are out and the terrorist may have placed explosives ready to go off in a few places.

If they'd waited till the morning and then kept a low profile he might have started shooting off some of his hostages one by one to put pressure on the police. Seems to me they did the best thing in a very unpleasant situation.

I agree. They wouldn't have stormed unless they absolutely had to. Also, we don't know everything, we have no idea what kind of intelligence they had that may have provoked them to act when they did. There's no sense in being criticial of their actions so early, when we know so little about what was going on.

ladia2287

To those people complaining that the police should not have stormed the cafe and that they should have waited, this siege went on for sixteen hours before Police actually went in, and that most of the hostages have in fact survived!

Moreover, I think it's unfair to criticise the decisions they made when they are the only ones who actually know what triggered the decision in the first place.

Apple of Eris

I was reading a report that stated the police moved in because one of the hostages tried to grab the gun from the hostage taker, and the gun went off. According to the article, that trigger the police response.
Men are those creatures with two legs and eight hands.  ~Jayne Mansfield
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, then call whatever you hit the target. ~Ashleigh Brilliant

Ons/Offs
Stories I'm Seeking

gaggedLouise

#12
Holy crap... - and just when one thought it wasn't going to get worse.

ABC News and Reuters reporting that a school in NW Pakistan is being held by a band of armed Taliban bombmen scum. This is just starting within the last hour or two, it seems.


"Taliban gunmen in Pakistan have taken hundreds of students and teachers hostage in a school in the north-western city of Peshawar, military officials say.

Sources at the scene said at least six armed men had entered the military-run Army Public School.

About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the gunmen had been ordered to shoot older students but not children.

A Reuters news agency journalist at the scene could hear heavy gunfire from inside the school as soldiers surrounded it."

*deep sigh*

"

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Caehlim

Interesting social development in response to this situation, the #IllRideWithYou hashtag has been created.

http://mic.com/articles/106442/australians-show-the-world-exactly-how-to-respond-to-terrorism-with-ill-ride-with-you
My home is not a place, it is people.
View my Ons and Offs page.

View my (new)Apologies and Absences thread or my Ideas thread.