Most Successful Hostage Rescue

[Sayeret]

was an operation in which Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos raided an hijacked airline which was at an airport in Entebbe, Uganda. Ugandan soldiers were also at the airport and helped protect the terrorists.

http://www.specwarnet.com/miscinfo/entebbe.htm

Operation Nimrod was an operation carried out by British SAS who retook the Iranian Embassy after terrorists took it over and held 26 hostages.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/nimrod.html

De Punt Train hijacking occured when South Moluccan terrorists took over a train and held 80 people hostage. They train was later stormed by Dutch Marines.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/De_Punt.html

Lufthansa 737 hijacking refers to the airliner hijaked and flown to Mogadishu before two British SAS commandos and some German GSG-9 commandos took the plane over and killed the terrorists and captured some others.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/Lufthansa.htm

The hijacking of flight GA 206 was an airline that was forced to fly to Penang, Malaysia from Indonesia. Terrorists threatened to blow up a bomb on the plane but were later killed when 35 memebers of Kophasanda raided the plane.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/Flight_GA206.htm

The Moscow Theater Siege was an operation to rescue several hundred hostages taken by Chechen terrorists. The terrorists threatened to blow up the theater but were killed before they could.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Theatre_Siege

The Japanese Ambassador Residence refers to the operation the Japanese carried out to rescue hostages at the Embassy in Peru.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/peru.html

GIGN at Marseilles Airport was an operation in which GIGN stormed an Air France flight in which four terrorists were holding over a hundred people hostage.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/gign.html

Kashmiri militants hijack refers to when Indian Airlines Flight 814 and divert it to Kandahar. After a week-long stand-off India agrees to release three jailed Kashmiri militants in exchange for the hostages. 1 hostage stabbed dead and his body thrown on the tarmac as a "warning attack

The Thai Hospital Rescue refers to when Thai commandos rescued 700 hostages from a besieged provincial hospital in a dawn strike on Tuesday, killing 10 gunmen from a radical Myanmar guerrilla faction headed by 12-year-old twins.

http://www.specialoperations.com/Counterterrorism/Thailand.htm

[Jehuty]

My shameless bias made me vote for GIGN in Marseilles. p-)
Also i clearly remember when it happened (TV), it was a very tense moment and everyone thought it would end in a massacre of innocent lives, since then i worship the GIGN. woot

[Yosy]

GIGN easily wins the competiton. No-one of the hostages OR the soldiers died in the operation, and taking into account that it was made inside the a plane, it's the best that it can be.

[Kitsune]

You had the chance to correct it, but you didn't. So, here we go again:


Lufthansa 737 hijacking refers to the airliner hijaked and flown to Mogadishu before two British SAS commandos and some German GSG-9 commandos took the plane over and killed the terrorists and captured some others.





The Lufthansa plane "Landshut" was taken over by GSG 9 operators only. The whole operation was planned by GSG 9 as well.
Two SAS observers were present. They observed. But from a safe distance. Thats all. (Reason: a hijacked passenger aircraft is something special...no one had any true experience with it...not even SAS. This incident is actually one of the very few instances in which such a plane was freed without friendly losses).

Albeit the SAS provided the then new stungrenades for GSG 9...and noticed a funny type of machinepistol the Germans were using...called "MP-5" or something. And said:"hey...that thing is better than the Uzi!" From that time on, the SAS used it as well.
The rest is history.









The last remark was just retribution.

[moughoun]

You had the chance to correct it, but you didn't. So, here we go again:


Lufthansa 737 hijacking refers to the airliner hijaked and flown to Mogadishu before two British SAS commandos and some German GSG-9 commandos took the plane over and killed the terrorists and captured some others.





The Lufthansa plane "Landshut" was taken over by GSG 9 operators only. The whole operation was planned by GSG 9 as well.
Two SAS observers were present. They observed. But from a safe distance. Thats all. (Reason: a hijacked passenger aircraft is something special...no one had any true experience with it...not even SAS. This incident is actually one of the very few instances in which such a plane was freed without friendly losses).

Albeit the SAS provided the then new stungrenades for GSG 9...and noticed a funny type of machinepistol the Germans were using...called "MP-5" or something. And said:"hey...that thing is better than the Uzi!" From that time on, the SAS used it as well.
The rest is history.
.


No, one of the 2 SAS men, ssgt, Barry Davies later on RSM of the regiment shot and wounded the female hijacker, but because he shot to wound she survived, and had a family, she met up with him a few year's ago to thank himfor sparing her, ahhhh

[100_Percent_HOOAH]

There was recently (August 2002) a rescue by a 4 man SEAL team in the Philippines where several American citizens, including a undercover CIA agent were taken hostage by Philippine militants for several days before being rescued. I would have to say that has my vote even though it's not on the list :D

[brigadeotg]

Sayeret,
There was no hostage rescue involved in the Indian Airlines Flight 814 case. Basically 3 terrorists whom the hijackers asked for were released in exchange for the hostages. :roll: :( So I don't think this should be an option in your poll. There have been other successful hostage rescues by the Indian armed forces but the above does not qualify...

[Sayeret]

There was no hostage rescue involved in the Indian Airlines Flight 814 case. Basically 3 terrorists whom the hijackers asked for were released in exchange for the hostages. So I don't think this should be an option in your poll. There have been other successful hostage rescues by the Indian armed forces but the above does not qualify...

Brigadeotg I actually put it in to see if people would vote for it, ;) thats all and I know it wasn't a hostage rescue.

[Sayeret]

GIGN easily wins the competiton. No-one of the hostages OR the soldiers died in the operation, and taking into account that it was made inside the a plane, it's the best that it can be.

Yosy study up on history because you sound about 13. Theres more to an operation then how many hostages are killed and how many commandos are killed. I would agree that Marseilles was a great raid but don't be so quick to discount all the other hostage situations. I am not trying to change your opinion but every hostage rescue situation I listed was a difficult one and you should respect that rather than putting in your imature comments.

[Javehn]

Well , some say that operation where not one shot is fired , is the most succesfull one ...

[Sayeret]

Well , some say that operation where not one shot is fired , is the most succesfull one ...

Actually I was thinking of adding some other hostage situations where the terrorists gave up but decided not to.

[Alphabet76]

One word: Entebbe.

[Midav]

No doubt in my mind that it would be Entebbe.

[oldsoak]

Crikey Sayaret, give us an easy one !
the Entebbe mission is very good - having an operation take place on unfriendly soil miles away from support with one way in and one way out always concentrates the mind I suppose. Or was it a very brave/rash gamble p-) :) ?
The rest are also difficult - ( know zilch about the kashmiri one ) - dont think anyone has got anything to be ashamed of there. I know the Russians get some stick for the theatre but they had the devils choice to make, and they did solve it.

[brigadeotg]

There was no hostage rescue involved in the Indian Airlines Flight 814 case. Basically 3 terrorists whom the hijackers asked for were released in exchange for the hostages. So I don't think this should be an option in your poll. There have been other successful hostage rescues by the Indian armed forces but the above does not qualify...

Brigadeotg I actually put it in to see if people would vote for it, ;) thats all and I know it wasn't a hostage rescue.

Sayeret,
Ok :) If you really want to look into hostage rescue ops with the Indian armed forces, you might want to consider
- UN forces rescue operation in Sierra Leone
- Rescue op in the Maldives(Operation Cactus)
- Several rescue ops in Kashmir
- Akshardham etc etc.

Let me know if you need further details...

[MEGR]

No Acid Gambit?

[Deuterium]

I would argue the most successful operation was the Munich Olympic Crisis. The shortcomings of this operation carried out by brave men, led to many nations taking a serious look into CT and forming competent forces. This includes Police as well as military forces.

[Macs.]

I would argue the most successful operation was the Munich Olympic Crisis. The shortcomings of this operation carried out by brave men, led to many nations taking a serious look into CT and forming competent forces. This includes Police as well as military forces.

Well, even through it was a tragic event it really did shock up the western world.

The GSG-9 has been created after that incident.

[Gordon]

Here's another hostage rescue operation that took place relatively recently. The SAS / SBS and Paras rescued six Brit soldiers and their local guide in Sierra Leone:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/919308.stm

All the info I have read states that it was SAS and Paras but a friend of mine in the Royal Marines heard "on the grape vine" that SBS were also involved, would not surprise me considering the operation was based from RN ships.

[Sayeret]

Deuterium wrote:


I would argue the most successful operation was the Munich Olympic Crisis. The shortcomings of this operation carried out by brave men, led to many nations taking a serious look into CT and forming competent forces. This includes Police as well as military forces.

I'm sort of confused why do you think that it was the most successful hostage rescue situation?

[Yosy]

Yosy study up on history because you sound about 13. Theres more to an operation then how many hostages are killed and how many commandos are killed. I would agree that Marseilles was a great raid but don't be so quick to discount all the other hostage situations. I am not trying to change your opinion but every hostage rescue situation I listed was a difficult one and you should respect that rather than putting in your imature comments.

Hey I'm 19.

Wrong. I'm analysing the operations based on their complexity and casualties of hostage and commandos. I didn't say the others were easy. Entebbe, that so many people praize, was more of a military op than a hostage rescue. It was a logistically difficult mission, but the actual assault was easy, when compared to storming a plane. All experts on the subject say the same: storming an airplane is the most difficult mission that presented to a CT team.

Btw, shouldn't we include in the list Operation Isotope (the storming of an airplane by Matkal commandos led by Ehud Barak)?

[Sayeret]

Hey I'm 19.

Wrong. I'm analysing the operations based on their complexity and casualties of hostage and commandos. I didn't say the others were easy. Entebbe, that so many people praize, was more of a military op than a hostage rescue. It was a logistically difficult mission, but the actual assault was easy, when compared to storming a plane. All experts on the subject say the same: storming an airplane is the most difficult mission that presented to a CT team.

Btw, shouldn't we include in the list Operation Isotope (the storming of an airplane by Matkal commandos led by Ehud Barak)?

Fair enough, just it seemed like you weren't giving the counter-terrorists units in the other operations enough credit.

[Sayeret]

Sayeret,
Ok If you really want to look into hostage rescue ops with the Indian armed forces, you might want to consider
- UN forces rescue operation in Sierra Leone
- Rescue op in the Maldives(Operation Cactus)
- Several rescue ops in Kashmir
- Akshardham etc etc.

Let me know if you need further details...

Okay thanks man :)

[Delta Niner]

Entebbe

Presicion and Audacity, this operation is IMHO is the most well executed hostage rescue operation.
Consider the following:

A. the range from their base in Israel to Uganda
B. the deception, they had Israeli commandos dressed up as Idi Amin complete with the Mercedes Benz car and Land Rover escorts
C. the destruction of Mig fighters on the ground that could possible be used to thwart the escape of the C-130s
D. the Israeli commandos did not have any outside help

It just too bad that a hostage was left behind and the commander of the Israeli commandos (Jonathan Netanyahu) has to make the final sacrifice.

[iflu]

i vote for Israeli Entebbe rescue operation for the following reasons

1. the enviroment was highly unpredictable and uncontrollable coz it was an operation in hostile area, which made the operation much more difficult than others.

2. the mission was not a single target mission, inorder to saftly rescue all hostages, the mission was divided into several sub-missions and need more precise cooperation and coordination. i think the on site commander was great (lt. col. J. Netanyahu was an excellent spec. commander, but unfortunately. rip)

3. the mission was a multi-resources involved operation. not only the specail forces, but military intels, undercovers, etc. this made the mission much more complicated and difficult to conduct successfully. (rememebr DF in iran?)

4. the plan was DARE and GREAT, elegantly designed tactics. far distance combat and control. everything was perfect.

5. the most important of all, the result was no doubt excellent. except for isreal, she lost a great soldier.

this is the best hostage rescue mission i think.

[Mark Sman]

I would have to nominate Otto Skorzeny's rescue of Mussolini from a mountain resort as one of the ballsiest rescue ops ever.

No I'm not facist, just pointing out a ballsy rescue that was a complete success.

http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/boss4.jpg
Pic of perimeter after glider landing on a rocky mountain field.

http://www.herodote.net/Images/MussoliniSkorzeny.jpg
Loading up for takeoff.

http://keynes.scuole.bo.it/ipertesti/il_ventennio/Liberazione%20di%20Mussolini_file/La%20prigione.jpg
Target building and field.

[S'13]

Except for Operation Jonathan, there are two other Israeli rescue operations that in my opinion should at least be between the top four:

-Operation Isotope (carried out by Sayeret Matkal in 1972)

-The Mothers Bus Rescue Operation (carried out by YAMAM in 1988)

Operation Isotope
On May 8-9, 1972, 16 Sayeret Matkal commandos disguised themselves as Lod Airport maintenance personnel before storming a Sebena Belgian Airlines jetliner that had been hijacked by Black September terrorists. After a ten minute firefight two of the four terrorists were dead and the rest were captured by Israeli forces. Only three hostages were injured, sadly one of them died of of her wounds two weeks later.

http://www.isayeret.com/units/land/intel/767/767-1.jpg
Sayeret Matkal commandos before storming the jetliner

http://www.isayeret.com/units/land/intel/767/5.jpg
The commandos and the freed hostages after the raid

The Mothers Bus Rescue Operation
On March 7, after crossing the Egyptian-Israeli border, three terrorists kidnapped a bus with 11 civilian hostages on board, all of them employees of the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona. Out of the 11 hostages 10 were woman, all of them mothers and this is the reason for this incident's name - the Mothers Bus.

The Israeli Police Negotiations Unit arrived to the area within an hour, and began negotiating with the terrorists. Unfortunately, the first security forces on the scene made promises to the terrorists that they couldn't keep, and as a result, when the Police Negotiations Unit began talking to the terrorists, they were sure they had been deceived and after an hour executed the only male passenger in the bus, after this it was decided to raid the bus.
At first it was thought that Sayeret Matkal would carry out the raid, however in the end it was decided that Unit YAMAM would storm the bus.
The raid started with stun grenades been thrown into the bus, followed by a Unit YAMAM team storming the bus. In less than 60 seconds the raid was finished. All three terrorists were killed. Sadly the terrorists managed to kill two more passengers before the entry team took them out.

http://www.isayeret.com/units/civi/yamam/yamam5.jpg
Unit YAMAM storming the bus

http://www.isayeret.com/units/civi/yamam/yamam59.jpg
After the raid

[mack pl]

First 2 pics are the same mate ;)

[S'13]

First 2 pics are the same mate ;)

Sorry, its fixed now :P

[UoUo]

BTW:

http://www.isayeret.com/units/land/intel/767/1.jpg


Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehoud Barak, then a young Sayeret MATKAL officer, posing for the camera armed with a suppressed IMI Uzi LMG,



And woot :hug:

http://www.isayeret.com/units/land/intel/767/bibi2.jpg


Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then a young Sayeret MATKAL officer, posing in full gear (including Uzi SMG) before training, June 1973.

[S'13]

I would argue the most successful operation was the Munich Olympic Crisis. The shortcomings of this operation carried out by brave men, led to many nations taking a serious look into CT and forming competent forces. This includes Police as well as military forces.

I will agree that affects of this failed operation helped the Germans and the rest of the world be more aware of the threats of terrorism (after this incident GSG-9 was formed as we all know). Also in my opinion it made Israel realize that they shouldn't rely on foreign nations when it comes to the security of its citizens, after all if German authorities had permited the involvement of an Israeli rescue unit, this might have ended differently.

On this I can agree with you...

However if we will look at the operation itself, the way the Germans managed the whole thing and of course the outcome (which was the death of all the hostages) then this was a complete and utter frailer.

[Sayeret]

I will agree that affects of this failed operation helped the Germans and the rest of the world be more aware of the threats of terrorism (after this incident GSG-9 was formed as we all know). Also in my opinion it made Israel realize that they shouldn't rely on foreign nations when it comes to the security of its citizens, after all if German authorities had permited the involvement of an Israeli rescue unit, this might have ended differently.

On this I can agree with you...

However if we will look at the operation itself, the way the Germans managed the whole thing and of course the outcome (which was the death of all the hostages) then this was a complete and utter frailer.


The actual operation to rescue the hostages was done very badly. There was supposed to be a sniper for every terrorist but because of bad intelligence there wasn't enough snipers. I would say that what happened as a result with the creation of counter-terrorism units.

[S'13]

I will agree that affects of this failed operation helped the Germans and the rest of the world be more aware of the threats of terrorism (after this incident GSG-9 was formed as we all know). Also in my opinion it made Israel realize that they shouldn't rely on foreign nations when it comes to the security of its citizens, after all if German authorities had permited the involvement of an Israeli rescue unit, this might have ended differently.

On this I can agree with you...

However if we will look at the operation itself, the way the Germans managed the whole thing and of course the outcome (which was the death of all the hostages) then this was a complete and utter frailer.


The actual operation to rescue the hostages was done very badly. There was supposed to be a sniper for every terrorist but because of bad intelligence there wasn't enough snipers. I would say that what happened as a result with the creation of counter-terrorism units.

There was also a plan to have German police officers or military personal (I don't exactly remember) disguised as the crew on the jet plane in the Munich airport so that they could overcome the terrorists the moment they boarded the plane.
Moments before helicopters carrying the terrorists and the hostages had landed, the Germans on the plane voted and decided to call off the plan, and so once the terrorists got on the plane they saw something was wrong since there was no crew... :cantbeli:

[Sayeret]

There was also a plan to have German police officers or military personal (I don't exactly remember) disguised as the crew on the jet plane in the Munich airport so that they could overcome the terrorists the moment they boarded the plane.
Moments before helicopters carrying the terrorists and the hostages had landed, the Germans on the plane voted and decided to call off the plan, and so once the terrorists got on the plane they saw something was wrong since there was no crew...

Oh, ok well I hadn't heard that before.

[Yosy]

^^^^not only that but the guys selected to do the sniping: NONE had any kind of sniper training. Visibilty was bad and the range was too long.

Btw Spielberg will do a movie based on the Munich Olympics. Eric Bana is already casted.

[Sayeret]

^^^^not only that but the guys selected to do the sniping: NONE had any kind of sniper training. Visibilty was bad and the range was too long.

I remembering hearing about that also.

[Tane Angle]

Among a plethora of other problems, since we're already talking about the snipers, it's worth noting that there was no coordination between the snipers (no comms), so no one knew who was shooting who, and one sniper was in the line of fire of the others.

Good points made already.

I don't know what operation was the most successful, but I guess I'll say this again: Eagle Claw was on a level beyond any other attempted in history.

Also, any would-be operations in Lebanon would have been on an entirely different level as well.

Have a good one, and just some thoughts...

[Sayeret]

Tane what was Eagle Claw?

[Mark Sman]

Eagle Claw was the aborted rescue attempt of American hostages held in the US embassy in Iran.

Anniversary was not to long ago.
http://www.helis.com/featured/eagle_claw.php

[Yosy]

Eagle Claw: http://www.specwarnet.com/miscinfo/eagleclaw.htm

[Deuterium]

I guess I was making a more esoteric point. The crisis was a complete failure by modern standards. It IS these modern standards that came out of this crisis. In all wars/terrorist acts/police events, you can train as realistically as you can but true SOPs, tactics, and doctrine only form from REAL experiences. Faulty SOPs never survive their first fire-fight no matter how well trained or in-grained they may be in an organization.

[Tane Angle]

Deut, I think that Munich was certainly the most influential. It set the stage for all later operations. Excellent point.

[gilgoul]

Lets say that I have a little weakness for the GIGN, and their op in marseille was really good.
But when you look at the raid on entebbe, that didn`t just involved a small group on homeland, but ported an interarm force more than 4000 km from home, and involved not only the elimination of a small group of terrorist but also taking control of an entire international airport and surroundings, it gives Entebbe the title of mother of all CT hostage rescue op in history.

[Yosy]

^^^^that's open for discussion. For me, Entebbe was more military than CT. It's, nontheless, a great op. Too bad Yoni Netanyau died.

Princess Gate is the most popular CT operation. If you ask anyone about CT (anyone that isn't into the subject like we are), that's the first thing that pops up.

What about operation Dragon Rouge (Red Dragon):http://members.aol.com/SamC130/menu3.html. The first CT operation ever (November 1964).

[Phoenix]

The Moskau Theater Siege was a big flop .........

[iflu]

^^^^that's open for discussion. For me, Entebbe was more military than CT. It's, nontheless, a great op.

i think we r talking about anti-terrorism and those ops could be conducted either by sofs or by elite police teams, as u can see from the list for vote. it depends on how a country set up their ct units.

as to eagle claw, i think it was a dare op(plan), but since it was aborted due to...we cant see the cole part of the op and we dont know if all tactics prepared would work, it is hard to evaluate.

[-Max2-]

What about operation Dragon Rouge (Red Dragon):http://members.aol.com/SamC130/menu3.html. The first CT operation ever (November 1964).

Operation Dragon Rouge has my vote. It was a brilliant success. 2,000 hostages rescued and hundreds of rebels killed/captured for "only" five Belgian Paras killed...

[Royal]

Op Barras the combined SF/Para Reg rescue of 11 members of 1RIR and one local soldier in Sierra Leone. In terms of dificulty of terrain, complexity of recces and C3 problems it ranks with Eagle Claw (although it was sucessfull).

I agree with Deut about the importance of Munich in terms of jump starting CRW tactics and capabilities, although again (as has been pointed out) it was a failure.

Skorzeny's raid on Gran Sasso and probably more importantly the glider assualt on Eban Emael were instrumental in the creation of western SOF and SF (respectively) as we now know them.

[Sayeret]

i think we r talking about anti-terrorism and those ops could be conducted either by sofs or by elite police teams, as u can see from the list for vote. it depends on how a country set up their ct units.

The poll includes a bunch of counter-terrorism operation. I did not judge it by what units carried out the rescue.