Monday attacks
From WikiStates
| Monday attacks | |
|---|---|
 The Sandale Building on fire after the suicide bombing in the upper floors two hours earlier |
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| Location | Dastin City, Dastin State, Terrance, Portan City |
| Date | Monday, 28 December, 2009 9:07 a.m. - 8:04 p.m. (Garimidia Standard Time) |
| Attack type | Aircraft bombing, Car bombing, Hostage taking, Mass murder, Suicide attack |
| Deaths | 1,573 victims, 35 terrorists |
| Injured | 1,009 |
| Perpetrator(s) | The Brigade lead by Qasim Rami. |
The Monday attacks, commonly known as Black Monday or Bloody Monday, were a series of coordinated terror attacks on Garimidia which occurred on December 28, 2009. Over a period of 11 hours, the attacks involved the bombing of an aircraft over central Dastin City; the exploding of a car bomb outside a federal building in Dastin City; the hostage-taking of hundreds in coordinated seizures of a Federal Justice Office in Portan City and the Portan Train Capital Station and the suicide bombing of the upper floors of the Sandale Building. All in all, over 2,450 people died during the attacks which caused a major domestic overhaul as well as, in a foreign response scale, the invasion of Malawan in February 2010. The greatest loss of life occurred in the capital, Dastin City, as a result of the mid air bombing of Flight 918.
The attacks, the deadliest in Garimidia, resulted in wide ranging and quick domestic changes, namely security to prevent such attacks from happening again. The Garimidian Intelligence and Security Office created the Terrorism Response Force, a unit designed specifically for the prevention of terrorism and the analyzing of Domestic intelligence. New laws were introduced, expanding the power of customs police and immigration police to deport or detain and arrest suspected terrorists. Security precautions were permanently raised in several high-population areas, federal buildings and mass transit points. Damage was cleared by March 2010.
During and after the attacks, the National Aviation Agency barred certain flights from entering Garimidia; police raided tens of offices, houses and workplaces of those suspected of collaborating with The Brigade, the organization responsible for the attacks. Garimidia went to Security Force Alert Level II, effectively locking the country down for an amount of days. Some aircraft were diverted to Sierra Apathia.
A federal investigation, the largest in Garimidian history, ruled that there had been several warning signs before the attacks that a large scale terrorist attack was imminent, and that there were several loopholes in GISO and other federal agencies which prevented a significant investigation into the warning signs before the attacks occurred. A number of high ranking officials were dismissed by then-President Sam Philips in response. He himself was later impeached in 2010 for leading the country into the Malawan War.
Contents |
Motive and background
Prior to 1994, The Brigade had no contact nor threats towards Garimidian officials. It was at the time of the 1994 bombing of Meqchistan that tensions began to rise between the Garimidian government and those supporting the Brigade. Meqchistan, an ally of The Brigade, funded and trained large portions of the Brigade's suicide bombers. In 1994, Meqchistan was bombed by Garimidia after a series of other events lead to tensions. The Brigade, at this time, was headquartered in Meqchistan, having relocated the previous year. Attacks on civilians throughout the 1990s and 2000s lead to protracted efforts on Garimidia's behalf to try and end support and equipping of The Brigade. These efforts culminated in 2002 with the placing of near total economic sanctions on Meqchistan, targeted also at The Brigade. Meqchistan was, in 2002, again bombed by Garimidia in a series of cruise missile strikes. The Brigade was added to the list of terrorist watch organizations in Garimidia in 2003; as such, all top members of The Brigade are barred from doing business with Garimidian companies and are barred from entering Garimidia.
Attacks
On the morning of December 28, 2009, at 9:47 a.m., Disir Said, driving a Toyota Fortuner laden with explosives, detonated the car bomb outside the Interior Office sub-headquarters in Dastin City. This first attack killed 190 people and resulted in irreversable damage to the building and some surrounding streets and buildings. Most of those inside the building were immediately killed by the explosion. 11 minutes later officials in the federal government, including President of Garimidia Sam Philips were notified of the bombing. It was followed at 10:45 by the coordinated seizure of the Federal Portan Justice Office in Portan City and the Portan Capital Train Station at 10:50 by 10 armed terrorists in each unit. From about 10:55 both sites were cordoned off and surrounded by armed police.
At 11:32 a.m. hijacker Mahmed Karin took control of Air Garimidia Flight 918 using the hardened plastic lining of his suitcase which had been sharpened. He used it, along with 3 other hijackers, to stab the pilots of the aircraft. He diverted to Dastin City and at 11:52 a.m. detonated an explosive device, identified as a mix of several chemicals inside a modified lunchbox, exploding the aircraft in two and sending the two parts colliding with several high rise buildings in Dastin City ultimately killing everyone onboard and hundreds on the ground. 987 people were killed.
By 12:30 p.m., President Philips ordered mobilized patrols of major cities and for the National Aviation Agency to invoke it's emergency security measures to prevent the downing of any more aircraft should they be a target. NAA Chief Executive Daemon Radson responded by invoking these measures; limiting most flights from entering Garimidia, live patrols of all airports and an emergency broadcast over all Garimidian airspace. By agreement, some flights were decidedly diverted to Sierra Apathia.
At 3:09 p.m., Haman Sheikh entered the Sandale Building in central Dastin City, travelled to the top floors and perpetrated a suicide bombing which eventually set fire to the entire building resulting in 312 deaths. The building continued to burn throughout the night until extinguished the next morning.
Armed police, live on TV, began storming the Federal Justice Office in Portan to attempt to end the terrorist siege at 7:00 p.m. 36 minutes later, police emerged with a total civilian and police casualty of 67, mostly civilians. The Garimidian Armed Forces were brought in to assist with the siege at the Train Capital Station in Portan also; eventually the entire operation was handed over to the Army.
At 7:42 the Army raided the capital station, managing to have some success in neutralizing the hostage takers. By 8:04 on December 28, 17 civilians died in the retake of the train station. In total, there were 1,573 deaths, excluding the 35 terrorists.
Aftermath
Security response
For the first time ever and by President Sam Philips's order, the National Aviation Agency was forced to restrict nearly all flights in and out of Garimidia due to the hijacking risk following the hijacking, rerouting and mid air detonation of Air Garmidia Flight 918 over Dastin City. Dastin State, Dastin City, Portan City and Terrance were all declared emergency zones. Military patrols were organized in all major cities across the country for several days, and the air force provided air security over these locations. At 1:45 p.m., Philips raised the SALF (Security Alert Level Force) to Level I; the highest level. As such, emergency procedures were enacted and the borders of Garimidia closed.
By agreement between the two governments during the attacks, some flights were diverted to neigboring Sierra Apathia as they were restricted from entering and landing in Garimidian airspace. The lockdown continued for the next 4 days, the longest emergency ground stop in Garimidia history. At 2:00 p.m., Philips made a quick address to the nation, stating that the country was "under a major terrorist attack", and that "accordingly, all measures of security will be put into place."
All major highways were regularly the focus of checkpoints by the military during the attacks. Roads to Dastin City were closed; a huge perimeter was declared by 3:00 p.m. around Dastin however just minutes later the Sandale Plaza, deep inside northern Dastin City, was the target of a suicide bombing. Following this, the President, Vice President, Defense Secretary and other high ranking officials were evacuated from the Barkely House in Dastin City; all roads to the city were then closed. The airspace was fully mobilized by the Air Force.
There were initial reports that a ship had been the site of a large explosion in Dastin Port; the Garimidian Navy mobilized and prepared to initiate coastal emergency security precautions however the report turned out to be false.
Long term security effects
During the attacks, the Garimidian Intelligence and Secuity Office highlighted a primary concern of how hijackers Mahmed Karin, Fushal Sinh, Abbas Faswa, and Toum Imran were able to board Flight 918 with their chemicals and modified suitcase unnoticed by airport security at one of Etruscanias busiest and supposedly most secure airports, and then effectively enter the cockpit and stab the pilots mid flight. Weeks after the attacks, new legislation was introduced; the Airport Security Act, passed on January 22, provided new security laws that were to be in place effective immediately. The arming of pilots was a major point; similarily, many airlines individually chose to make it policy to have stewards, stewardesses and pilots capable of hand to hand fighting onboard aircraft and as such all employees went under this training. New security measures such as enhanced x-ray equipment, CCTV camera reinstallations and the general arming of most security officials in all airports in the country was made possible by the act. Chemical and liquid restrictions were also put in place.
As two of the attacks took place in the form of a hostage crisis in a federal government building and a mass transit location, concerns were raised regarding the amount of security at federal buildings and areas where large numbers of people gather, such as train stations. In response to this security need, CCTV cameras were installed major public areas and police units were designated for scheduled patrols of such areas. There has been a significant amount of controversy over the installation of CCTV cameras in such areas, leading to concerns of a "big brother" city in Dastin and Portan. In the case of federal buildings, the Federal Security Management Bureau was formed after the attacks as part of the Federal Police Agency (Garimidia's federal level law enforcement agency) to manage security overlooks in all federal buildings in the country. The Diplomatic Security Force was merged in 2010 into the FSMB. It currently maintains about 2,000 officers.
Damage
Damage to buildings and streets in Dastin and Portan cost at least $5 billion. Other damages such as clean up costs totalled $11 million. The Sandale Plaza fire and subsequent deconstruction of the top floors was the majority of the cost as well as minor damages to other buildings as a result of aircraft fragments of Flight 918. The car bomb in central Dastin caused major damage to the sub HQ of the Interior Office as well as other buildings including the Straits Bank and parts of the Dastin Stock Exchange. This forced the closure of the DSE which, upon reopening, posted losses of billions of dollars. The Interior Office sub HQ was relocated to a sister building in another part of the city center.
All damages were cleared by March in 2010. With the exception of the Sandale Building, all buildings damaged had the damaged areas rebuilt and the Interior Office sub HQ was able to move back into it's former building in April, albeit with heightened security.
Economic aftermath
Central Dastin City remained closed for several days as an inacessable and high risk area. Garimidia's central stock exchange, the Dastin Stock Exchange and many hundreds of businesses were forced to close for a number of days and upon reopening posted economic losses of over $40 billion, the single largest loss in DSE history. As a result, the federal government paid $20 billion in economic damage control. The Portan Stock Exchange was closed for two days however only posted losses of $67 million which was paid for by the government.
A considerable loss was in the tourism sector. Flights were closed off from Garimidia for four days - an exceptionally long time for any air industry - and over $70 billion was lost. Even after it reopened on January 2, many chose not to visit Garimidia for fear of another terrorist attack occuring. As a result, the countries tourism revenue dropped significantly.
