India Remembers 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks

People across the Nation Paid their heartfelt Tribute to the Victims and Security Personnels on the 12th Year Anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks that shocked the entire nation. Various political leaders and people on Thursday paid tributes to the victims and security personnels who lost their lives in the siege on India’s financial capital. The ghastly attacks, which began on November 26, 2008, lasted for four days, leading to the death of 166 people and injuring over 300.

Social media saw an outpouring of gratitude and homage to the victims and security personnel as people trended several hashtags related to the 26/11 terror attacks. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, Indian-Americans and other community organisations held protests in front of the Capitol Hill. A truck with a billboard, reading “We demand justice” was seen outside Pakistan and Turkish embassies in Washington DC on the eve of the Mumbai terror attack anniversary.

Twenty-Six Eleven, as these attacks are often referred to, witnessed 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists coming to Mumbai via sea route from Pakistan and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the city. After sailing to the city under the cover of darkness, the terrorists targeted major landmarks of Mumbai with the first attack taking place at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.

Ajmal Amir Kasab and Ismail Khan carried out the attack at this station, killing as many as 58 people and injuring over 100. Kasab and Khan later entered to attack Cama Hospital, but the same was thwarted with the alertness of the hospital staff. They, however, killed 6 police officials, including city’s Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare in an ambush after leaving the hospital.

The second site of the attack was Nariman House business and residential complex where a Rabbi, his wife, and six others, including five Israeli citizens, were killed by the terrorists who first held them as hostages. The third site to come under attack on 26/11 was the Leopold Cafe followed by Taj Mahal Hotel and Tower. Four terrorists carried out the attack at the famous cafe before entering the iconic Taj hotel, where they killed as many as 31 people after laying a three-day siege at the hotel.

The other site to come under attack during the 26/11 was Oberoi-Trident hotel where another group of two terrorists entered at almost the same time, as other four had entered Taj. At Oberoi-Trident hotel the siege officially ended on the evening of November 28 with as many as 30 being killed in the horrific attack.

The attack and seize finally culminated on the morning of November 29, 2008, after the National Security Guards (NSG) secured the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. By the time commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) gunned down the last terrorists who had been holed up in south Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel, over 160 people were killed and hundreds were left injured. In these gruesome attacks, 9 terrorists were killed and the lone survivor, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was caught and was sentenced to death at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012.

After combating the attack several policy decisions were taken to strengthen nations anti-terrorism framework. One of the immediate decisions the then government took after the attacks were to deploy the NSG commandos in few metropolitan cities. Later on, several NSG hubs were set up for faster response to terror attacks.