2008 Mumbai attacks

2008 Mumbai attacks
Places of the attacks
LocationMumbai, India
Coordinates18°55′19″N 72°50′00″E / 18.92194°N 72.83333°E / 18.92194; 72.83333
Date26 November 2008 (2008-11-26) – 29 November 2008 (2008-11-29)
21:30 (26/11) – 08:00 (29/11) (IST, UTC+05:30)
Attack type
Bombings, mass shootings, mass murder, hostage crisis, Police siege|siege
WeaponsAK rifles, RDX, IEDs, grenades
Deaths175 (including 9 attackers)
Injured
300
PerpetratorsLashkar-e-Taiba led by Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed
No. of participants
10
Defenders
  • National Security Guard
  • MARCOS
  • Greater Mumbai Police
  • Rapid Action Force
  • CRPF RAF
  • Railway Protection Force
  • Mumbai Fire Brigade
MotiveIslamic terrorism

The 2008 Mumbai attacks, commonly known as 26/11 were Islamist terror attacks carried out in Mumbai, India, on 26 November 2008 by 10 militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba. 175 peoples were killed and 300 were injured in these attacks.

Reasons for the attacks

Waging war against India.

LocationType of attack
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway stationShootings; grenades.
Leopold Café, ColabaShootings.
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotelShootings; six explosions; fire on the top floor; hostages were taken. The explosive material RDX was found nearby.
Oberoi Trident hotelShootings; explosions; fire; hostages were taken.
Cama Hospital Shootings; hostages were taken.
Mazagaon docksExplosion; a boat with military weapons on it was stolen.
Cama HospitalShootings; hostages were taken.
Mumbai Chabad House (Nariman House)Siege; shootings; hostages were taken.
Vile Parle suburb, North MumbaiCar bomb.
Wadi Bandar, Mazgaon, South Mumbai Car bomb.
Girgaum ChowpattyOne terrorist was shot and one caught alive

Mumbai attacks

Mumbai City (mainly south Mumbai area) came under heavy terrorist attacks on 26 November 2008, from 2120 hrs. The attack started when two heavily-armed terrorists opened fire and threw grenades on the public and police inside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station. After that they threw grenades at BMC Office and moved to Cama Hospital. Terrorists tried to take some hostages in the hospital. They came out on the main road where they shot dead the ATS chief, HemantKarkare and other police officials, who were coming in a Toyota Qualis vehicle. Two terrorists tried to escape but faced cross fire from police. The police injured and captured one terrorist. The other died near Metro Cinema.

Another group of terrorists opened fire on occupants of Leopold Cafe, Colaba (at a distance of 2.5 km from CST). They took some hostages including a Jewish couple. Later, the group holed itself up inside Nariman House after taking hostages while another group forced themselves inside the lobby of Hotel Taj (at 0.5 km from Nariman House). They threw grenades and fired on the people inside the hotel lobby. Later, they moved onto the third floor and took some hostages including foreigners. They tried to blast the dome of the hotel and set the hotel on fire through grenade blast. Yet another group of terrorists entered into the lobby of Hotel Trident Oberai (at 1.5 km from CST) and started indiscriminate firing at different locations such as pool side/upper floors and took hostages. Two taxis carrying explosives exploded and killed the drivers and inmates in WadiBunder and Vile Parle area.

In a major operation, the National Security Guards neutralized all the terrorists holed up in Taj Hotel, Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House, Mumbai. They completed the sanitization of Nariman House and Oberoi-Trident Hotel on November 29, 2008, Hotel Taj on early morning of November 30.

In the attack, 175 persons were killed (Police-18, Public-122, Foreigners-26 and terrorists-9) and 291 were injured (Police-25,Public-243 Foreigners-22 and terrorist-1).

The multiple terrorist attacks in Mumbai were launched from Karachi from where a group of 10 Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) fidayeens (all Pakistanis) equipped with arms/ammunition had sailed off on November 23,2008.

A new militant outfit called Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Investigations have revealed that the sender of the email was connected to Zarrar Shah Communication, Coordinator of LeT based in Pakistan. One of the perpetrators namely Ajmal belonging to district Okara of Pakistan, who was captured, revealed in his interrogation his LeT connections and other details about the attack. According to him, the operation was planned by Zaki-ur-Rehman of LeT.

Nine terrorists killed in the operations by the security forces in Mumbai were identified by Ajmal as his fidayeen associates from LeT.

Conviction of Mohd Amir Mohd Ajmal Kasab and death penalty

The Special Court, Mumbai convicted Mohd Amir Mohd Ajmal Kasab (case no. 175/2009) and awarded him a death sentence on May 6, 2010. Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India upheld the death penalty. The President of India rejected the mercy petition of Ajmal Kasab. Ajmal Kasab was hanged on November 21,2012 at 7:30 am at Yerwada jail, Pune.

Acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin

In the same case, the trial court acquitted two Indian accused viz. Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin with benefit of the doubt on May 3, 2010. Prosecution challenged the acquittal of both co-accused, before the Supreme Court.

References

  1. ↑ Magnier, Mark (3 December 2008). "Facing attackers with little more than courage". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  2. ↑ "Wave of Terror Attacks Strikes India's Mumbai, Killing at Least 182". Fox News. 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  3. ↑ Magnier, Mark; Sharma, Subhash (27 November 2008). "Terror attacks ravage Mumbai". Los Angeles Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  4. ↑ Bhandarwar, A. H.; Bakhshi, G. D.; Tayade, M. B.; Chavan, G. S.; Shenoy, S. S.; Nair, A. S. (2012). "Mortality pattern of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks". The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 72 (5): 1329–34, discussion 1334. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31824da04f. ISSN 0022-5282. PMID 22673262. S2CID 23968266.
  5. ↑ "Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  6. ↑ Masood, Salman (12 February 2009). "Pakistan Backtracks on Link to Mumbai Attacks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Haider, Kamran (12 February 2009). "Pakistan says it arrests Mumbai attack plotters". Reuters. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  8. ↑ Aziz, Hadi (12 November 2012). "Pakistan admits Pakistanis, LeT training camps used for Mumbai attacks". The News Tribe. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Dean (8 July 2009). "Pakistani president Asif Zardari admits creating terrorist groups". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Pakistan admits Mumbai terror link". The National. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Army preparing for final assault, says Major General Hooda". The Times of India. Press Trust of India. 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  12. ↑ "India Blames Pakistan as Mumbai Siege Ends". Deutsche Welle. 29 November 2008. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  13. ↑ ""War level" security in India after Mumbai attacks". Reuters. 30 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 http://www.ijtr.nic.in/amir%20kasab.pdf
  15. ↑ Bhandarwar, Ajay H.; Bakhshi, Girish D.; Tayade, Mukund B.; Chavan, Gajanan S.; Shenoy, Sachin S.; Nair, Ashish S. (2012). "Mortality pattern of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks". The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 72 (5): 1329–1334, discussion 1334. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31824da04f. ISSN 2163-0763. PMID 22673262. S2CID 23968266.
  16. ↑ "Homepage". Deccan Herald. 14 February 2018.
  17. ↑ "Perpetrators and masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks". The Indian Express. 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  18. ↑ http://www.ijtr.nic.in/amir%20kasab.pdf
  19. ↑ "Five hostages dead in Nariman House; two terrorists killed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  20. ↑ "26/11 Mumbai Attacks: How India Fought Back - A Timeline". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  21. ↑ Bhandarwar, Ajay H.; Bakhshi, Girish D.; Tayade, Mukund B.; Chavan, Gajanan S.; Shenoy, Sachin S.; Nair, Ashish S. (2012). "Mortality pattern of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks". The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 72 (5): 1329–1334, discussion 1334. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31824da04f. ISSN 2163-0763. PMID 22673262. S2CID 23968266.
  22. ↑ "10 'infiltrators' take 26/11 sea route to enter city, expose security lapses". Hindustan Times. 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  23. ↑ "26/11: Location in GPS matched route indicated in terrorist's diary". Zee News. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  24. ↑ "Deccan Mujahideen claims responsibility". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  25. ↑ "'As UK, US and India watched, Lashkar man Zarrar Shah plotted 26/11'". The Indian Express. 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  26. ↑ "Handlers asked 26/11 Pakistani terrorists to identify themselves as Hyderabad residents". India Today. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  27. ↑ "Perpetrators and masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks". The Indian Express. 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  28. ↑ "Ajmal Kasab, the 26/11 Mumbai attacker, hanged at Yerwada jail in Pune". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  29. ↑ Gaikwad, Rahi (2011-02-22). "Fahim Ansari, Sabahuddin get the benefit of doubt". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-11-04.

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