Ten heavily armed terrorists arrived by boat and launched coordinated attacks across Mumbai, targeting the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident hotels, and the Nariman House Jewish center. The siege lasted nearly three days, killing 166 people and wounding over 300, and was watched live on television around the world as Indian commandos battled gunmen room by room.
The attackers had trained for months in Pakistan under Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group, using satellite phones and GPS to navigate Mumbai's coastline after hijacking a fishing trawler and killing its crew. They split into teams and struck almost simultaneously at nightfall, opening fire with AK-47s and grenades in the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus, killing dozens of commuters within minutes.
At the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, gunmen took hostages and set fires, trapping guests in upper floors for hours as National Security Guard commandos rappelled from helicopters onto the roof. At Nariman House, a Chabad-run Jewish outreach center, attackers killed the rabbi and his wife along with several other hostages. Television networks broadcast the firefights live, information the attackers' handlers in Pakistan reportedly used, via phone, to redirect them toward more hostages.
Only one attacker, Ajmal Kasab, survived; he was captured, tried, and executed in 2012. The attacks exposed severe gaps in Indian counterterrorism and dramatically worsened India-Pakistan relations, with New Delhi accusing Pakistani state actors of complicity, a charge Islamabad denied.
Key people: Ajmal Kasab