Mumbai Attack In Brief

There have been many terrorist bombings in Mumbai since 13 co-ordinated bomb explosions killed 257 people and injured 700 on 12 March 1993. The 1993 attacks are believed to be retaliation for the Babri Mosque demolition.

On 6 December 2002, a blast in a BEST bus near Ghatkopar station killed two people and injured 28. The bombing occurred on the tenth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. A bicycle bomb exploded near the Vile Parle station in Mumbai, killing one person and injuring 25 on 27 January 2003, a day before the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India to the city. On 13 March 2003, a day after the tenth anniversary of the 1993 Bombay bombings, a bomb exploded in a train compartment near the Mulund station, killing 10 people and injuring 70.On 28 July 2003, a blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar killed 4 people and injured 32. On 25 August 2003 two bombs exploded in South Mumbai, one near the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazaar in Kalbadevi. At least 44 people were killed and 150 injured. On 11 July 2006, seven bombs exploded within 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai. 209 people were killed, and over 700 injured. According to Mumbai Police, the bombings were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Attacks
 Timeline of the 2008 Mumbai attacks

 Entry into India
According to investigations the attackers traveled by sea from Karachi, Pakistan across the Arabian Sea, hijacked the Indian fishing trawler 'Kuber', killing the crew, and then entered Mumbai on a rubber dinghy. The captain of 'Kuber', Amar Singh Solanki, had earlier been imprisoned for six months in a Pakistani jail for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters.

The first events were detailed around 20:00 Indian Standard Time (IST) on 26 November, when 10 Urdu-speaking men in inflatable speedboats came ashore at two locations in Colaba. They reportedly told local Marathi-speaking fishermen to "mind their business" before they split up and headed two different ways. The fishermen's subsequent report to police received little response.


Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
 
Bullet marks on the wall of the suburban terminus at CSTThe Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was attacked by two gunmen, one of whom, Ajmal Kasab, was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. The attacks began around 21:30 when the two men entered the passenger hall and opened fire, using AK-47 rifles. The attackers killed 52 people and injured 109 others, their assault ending at about 22:45.




 Leopold Cafe
The Leopold Cafe, a popular restaurant and bar on Colaba Causeway, was one of the first sites to be attacked. Two attackers open fired on the south Mumbai cafe on the Wednesday night, killing at least 10 people (including some foreigners) and injuring many more. The injured included among others, Sourav Mishra, a Reuters journalist, who was one of the first witnesses of the attacks. He received severe bullet injuries and was quoted across world media for initial comments on the attack through Reuters reportage. Sourav also figured in the controversial government dead list, which was later withdrawn. French filmmaker, Kate Chaillat, was with Sourav during the attack.Chaillat witnessed the event, escaped unhurt, but was deeply traumatised.



 
Bullet marks left at Leopold Cafe
Bomb blasts in taxis
There were two explosions in taxis caused by timer bombs. The first one was at 10:40 pm at Vile Parle. The taxi — MH 01 G 779, was used by Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail Khan to reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus from Badhwar Park. Kasab and Ismail had placed the bomb under the front seat of the taxi. The bomb exploded killing the driver, Mohammad Umer Abdul Khalid and a passenger, Laxminarayan Goel. The second explosion took place Wadi Bunder between 10:20 pm and 10:25 pm. The taxi — MH 01 J 5308, had travelled from south Mumbai to Wadi Bunder through P D’mello Road. The terrorists who attacked Leopold’s Cafe and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel had taken this cab from Badhwar towards Colaba, leaving a timer bomb beneath the front seat before getting off. Three people including the driver of the taxi were killed and about 15 other people were reported injured.







 
 Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and Oberoi Trident
 
The damaged Oberoi Trident hotelTwo hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident, were amongst the four locations targeted. Six explosions were reported at the Taj hotel and one at the Oberoi Trident.

CNN initially reported on the morning of the 27 November 2008 that the hostage situation at the Taj had been resolved and quoted the police chief of Maharashtra stating that all hostages were freed; however, it was learned later that day that there were still two attackers holding hostages, including foreigners, in the Taj Mahal hotel.

 
The Wasabi restaurant on the first floor of the Taj Hotel was completely gutted.During the attacks, both hotels were surrounded by Rapid Action Force personnel and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and National Security Guards (NSG) commandos. When reports emerged that attackers were receiving television broadcasts, feeds to the hotels were blocked. All attackers were out of the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels by the early morning of November 29.




A number of European Parliament Committee on International Trade delegates were staying in the Taj Mahal hotel when it was attacked, but none of them were injured.British Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad Karim (who was in the lobby when attackers initially opened fire there) and German Social Democrat MEP Erika Mann were hiding in different parts of the building. Also reported present was Spanish MEP Ignasi Guardans, who was barricaded in a hotel room. Another British Conservative MEP, Syed Kamall, reported that he along with several other MEPs left the hotel and went to a nearby restaurant shortly before the attack. Kamall also reported that Polish MEP Jan Masiel was thought to have been sleeping in his hotel room when the attacks started, but eventually left the hotel safely. Kamall and Guardans reported that a Hungarian MEP's assistant was shot. Also caught up in the shooting were the President of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, while checking in at the Oberoi Trident, and Indian MP N. N. Krishnadas of Kerala and Sir Gulam Noon while having dinner at a restaurant in the Taj hotel.


 Nariman House

 
Front view of the Nariman House a week after the attacksNariman House, a Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center in Colaba known as the Mumbai Chabad House, was taken over by two attackers and several residents were held hostage.The house was stormed by NSG commandos and, after a long battle, the two attackers were killed. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivkah Holtzberg, who was six months pregnant, were murdered with other hostages inside the house by the attackers.Indian forces found the bodies of six hostages inside the house.


End of the attacks
By the morning of 27 November, the army had secured the Jewish outreach center at Nariman House as well as the Oberoi Trident hotel. They also incorrectly believed that the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers had been cleared of attackers, and soldiers were leading hostages and holed-up guests to safety, and removing bodies of those killed in the attacks. However, later news reports indicated that there were still two or three attackers in the Taj, with explosions heard and gunfire exchanged. Fires were also reported at the ground floor of the Taj with plumes of smoke arising from the first floor. The final operation at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel was completed by the NSG commandos at 08:00 on 29 November, killing three attackers and resulting in the conclusion of the attacks. The security forces rescued 250 people from the Oberoi, 300 from the Taj and 60 people (members of 12 different families) from Nariman House. In addition, police seized a boat filled with arms and explosives anchored at Mazgaon dock off Mumbai harbour.


 Methodology
The attackers had planned the attack several months ahead of time and knew some areas well enough for the attackers to vanish, and reappear after security forces had left. Several sources have quoted Kasab telling the police that the group received help from Mumbai residents. The attackers used at least three SIM cards purchased on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh, pointing to some local collusion.There were also reports of one SIM card purchased in New Jersey, USA.Police had also mentioned that Faheem Ansari, an Indian Lashkar operative who had been arrested in February 2008, had scouted the Mumbai targets for the November attacks. Later, the police arrested two Indian suspects, Mikhtar Ahmad, who is from Srinagar in Kashmir, and Tausif Rehman, a resident of Kolkata. They supplied the SIM cards, one in Calcutta, and the other in New Delhi.

Blood tests on the attackers indicate that they had taken cocaine and LSD during the attacks, to sustain their energy and stay awake for 50 hours. Police say that they found syringes on the scenes of the attacks. There were also indications that they had been taking steroids. The gunman who survived said that the attackers had used Google Earth to familiarise themselves with the locations of buildings used in the attacks