it had been on today in 2008 that Mumbai, India’s financial capital, was held to ransom by a gaggle of Pakistani terrorists, who entered the town via sea route.
Over 166 people, including foreign nationals, were killed within the attack that lasted for four days. The 26/11 attack, which transformed India’s outlook towards national security and led to the strengthening of its maritime surveillance, inter-agency coordination and dissemination of data , witnessed 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists happening a killing spree within the buzzing metropolis during peak hours.
How events unfolded on the night of November 26, 2008
10 LeT terrorists came to Mumbai via sea route, after ranging from Karachi in Pakistan. On the night of November 23, 2008, the group hijacked an Indian fishing trawler MV Kuber. Pretending to float , they boarded the trawler and as soon because the trawler sailed closer to Mumbai, they killed Amarchand Solanki, the captain of MV Kuber.
The group then launched their inflatable boat and set foot in Mumbai at about 8.15 pm on November 26. Armed with grenades, AK-47 rifles, GPS set, eatables and mobile sets, the group then launched the primary attack at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Ajmal Kasab, who was later held and hanged because the sole surviving terrorist of the attack, along side another terrorist Ismail Khan killed nearly 58 people at CST and injured over 100.
Their plan to attack Cama Hospital was thwarted by alert hospital staff members. However, the gunmen managed to kill six police officials including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte.
Kasab and Ismail took an equivalent car that the three policemen were travelling in, and went on to continue with their killing spree. They abandoned the vehicle – MH 01 BA 569, a Toyota Qualis, after the police fired upon it and flatted its tyres.
It was during the 26/11 attack in 2008 that Baby Moshe, the Israeli toddler who later became the face of survivors of the attack, became an orphan after his parents Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka were killed at Nariman House by the terrorists along side four other Israelis. Moshe, 2, was rescued by his nanny.
While Kasab and Ismail continued with the rampage on one side, another terrorist organization administered an attack at the Trident Hotel. Two terrorists entered the lobby of the opulent 800-suite hotel spraying bullets at the gatekeepers and staff members at the reception. The terrorists held several foreign tourists as hostages. By about 6 am on November 27, the NSG, after a bureaucratic delay, took over the operation. The siege ended on November 28 and 143 hostages were rescued alive while 24 bodies were recovered. Both the terrorists were killed by NSG commandos.
The historic dome of the long-lasting Taj Mahal hotel, engulfed in smoke, became the foremost memorable image of the horrifying attack. Four heavily armed terrorists held the long-lasting building and its occupants hostage for nearly 60 hours. Abdul Rehman Bada, Abu Ali, Shoib and Umer were neutralised by the safety forces. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a politician serving within the elite Special Action Group of the National watchman , was martyred during the operation. The siege concluded on the morning of November 29.
This article taken reference from timesnownews