On November 26, 2008, India was faced with a cold, calculated and deadly attack in the heart of Mumbai. The attacks, which lasted for four days, shocked the nation to the core and left over 174 people dead.
The attacks, which lasted for four days, shocked the nation to the core and left over 174 people dead.
On November 26, 2008, India was faced with a cold, calculated and deadly attack in the heart of Mumbai. The attacks, which lasted for four days, shocked the nation to the core and left over 174 people dead.
Over four days, Mumbai was witness to 12 shooting and bombing attacks. The attacks were carried out across eight locations in South Mumbai - Leopold Café, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Cama Hospital, Nariman House, Metro Cinema and St. Xavier's College.
With 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana on his way back to India for his involvement and abetment in the terror attacks, here's a brief timeline of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
10 terrorists leave Karachi, Pakistan and travel to Mumbai, India via boat. The 10 LeT terrorists travelled for 38 hours in the dark to remain undetected by the Indian Navy.
Terrorists hijacked an Indian fishing boat, killing the 4 fishermen on board and ordered the captain to sail to India.
At dusk, the terrorists reached India and killed the captain of the hijacked boat.
The terrorists then switch to speedboats as they make their way deeper into the coastline. Six of them sailed quietly to a settlement of fishermen at Macchimar Nagar in Mumbai's Cuffe Parade neighbourhood while the remaining terrorists sailed away.
The remaining attackers reach Colaba's Badhwar Park.
The first group of terrorists reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 'CST' railway station, enter and fire the first shots. Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan were among the terrorists at CST.
The attack at CST lasts for 90 minutes, killing 58 people and injuring over 100.
With the CST attacks underway, Nariman House business and residential complex housing the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch outreach centre, was attacked. The terrorists blew up a gas station near Nariman House to divert attention.
As people peered out the window to check the source of the noise, terrorists opened fire.
The third site - Leopold Cafe was attacked, spraying bullets inside the diner and fleeing. 10 people were killed inside Leopold. Taxis outside Leopold were also rigged with bombs, which killed an additional five people and injured 15 people.
After Leopold, the terrorists made their way to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
Two terrorists, Shoib and Umer entered the grounds of the Taj Mahal and first attacked the guests around the swimming pool. They then opened fire at the bars and restaurants of the hotel.
Meanwhile, Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Ali enter the Taj Hotel through the front entrance, opening fire and throwing grenades.
After the Taj and Tower Hotels were attacked, two terrorists entered the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, opening fire onto the crowd
CST attackers Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan moved to the Cama Hospital. By the time the terrorists reached, the hospital staff had been warned of a possible attack and went into lockdown.
However, as the hospital staff fled after locking rooms of the patients, they were ambushed by the terrorists, who opened fire. Six hospital staff and Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare, were killed.
Kasab and Khan then proceeded to hijack a police vehicle, but were intercepted by a team Gamdevi police station. While Khan was killed, Kasab was arrested.
The largest attack took place at the Taj Hotel. Mumbai Police, Indian Navy, Army, Fire Department, NSG Commandos and more arrived at the scene to fight off the terror attack.
Two days into the attack, one terrorist remained inside the Taj Palace Hotel, which was detected by the noise of fresh gunfire.
On November 29 at 8 AM, Indian commandos stated that the Taj Hotel was under home control as searches continued to find explosive devices and hidden attackers in the heritage site.
The attack at Oberoi also took place over two days. On November 28 at 3 PM, Commandos declared the operations at Oberoi-Trident as over, after the death of two terrorists and the rescue of 24 bodies and 143 hostages.
A month before the attack, US intelligence agencies warned TATA group and its chairman Ratan Tata of the attacks. Following this, security was beefed up at the hotel, but later removed.
On November 18, 2008, Indian intelligence also intercepted a satellite phone call to a leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba , which revealed plans for a sea-borne attack.
As per reports, a total og 16 advance intelligence reports were sent to India, starting from 2006, that the LeT was preparing teams to attack Mumbai.
Furthermore, at the time of the attacks, the failure to share intelligence in real time between agencies allowed the terror operations to continue undetected.