The hostage release operations at Entebbe, Uganda in 1976 and Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1999are studies in contrast from the point of view of the classic phases of hostage crises and responses of state actors. The strategic centrality of the demands of the hostage takers is the key dynamic that sets a series of option-searching and decision-making acts into motion. This article examines various preconditioned factors that determined the interests of the hostage takers as well as state actors in the two crises. It also analyses why the Indian response to Kandahar was operationally and strategically flawed and reveals its impact on India’s long-term doctrine for responding to hostage takers.
