The November 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of ten coordinated attacks which began across Mumbai (Bombay), the largest city in India and the country’s financial capital, on 26 November 2008 and ended on 29 November 2008 when Indian security forces finally regained control of all attack sites.
| Location | Type of attack | Casualties | Rescued |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria) railway station | Shootings; grenade attacks. | 55 | none |
| Leopold Café, Colaba | Shootings, grenade explosion. | 10 | none |
| Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel | Shootings; six explosions; fire on ground, first, and top floors; hostages;RDX found nearby. | 50 approx | around 250 |
| Oberoi Trident hotel | Shootings; explosions; hostages; fire. | 24 | 143 |
| Metro Cinema | Shooting from carjacked police jeep | ||
| Cama Hospital | Shootings; hostages | 3 policemen | none |
| Nariman House (Mumbai Chabad House) | Siege; shootings hostages. | 6 | 9 |
| Vile Parle suburb, North Mumbai | Car bomb blast. | 3 | none |
| Mazagaon docks | Explosion; boat with armaments seized. | none | none |
| Girgaum Chowpatty | 1 terrorist killed and 1 arrested by a team from the Gamdevi police station. | 2 | none |
Terrorists involved
* Azam Amir Kasav & Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan, (attacked CST, police vehicle in cama hospital, Metro cinema, Vidhan Bhavan, Girgaum Chowpatty)
* 4 Terrorists in Taj Hotel, 2 Terrorists in Oberoi Hotel, 2 Terrorists in Nariman House ( Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Abdul Rahman (Bara), and Abdul Rahman).
Entry into India
| Date | Estimated Time (+0530 UTC) |
Event |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 21 | evening | Ten terrorists leave Karachi, Pakistan in a boat & travel for thirty-eight hours, remaining undetected by the Indian Navy. |
| Nov 22 | Each of the 10 men are given 6-7 magazines of 30 rounds each plus 400 rounds not loaded in magazines , 8 hand grenades, one AK-47 assault rifle, an automatic loading revolver, credit cards and a supply of dried fruit. | |
| Nov 22 | A separate group check in to the Taj Hotel with arms and ammunition. | |
| Nov 23 | The terrorists hijack an Indian trawler, Kuber, killing four fishermen and ordering the captain to sail to India. | |
| Nov 24 | The terrorists kill the captain and sail to Gujarat and raise a white flag. Two coast guard officers approach and question them. They kill one of the officers and force the other to sail them to Mumbai. | |
| Nov 26 | They reach within four nautical miles (7 km) of Mumbai and kill the other coast guard officer. They then proceed to board three inflatable speedboats and reach Colaba jetty at dusk. | |
| Nov 26 | The ten men get off at Badhwar Park, Cuffe Parade, three blocks away from Nariman House. | |
| Nov 26 | Four of the men enter the Taj Mahal Hotel, two enter the Oberoi Trident, two enter Nariman House, and the other two men, Azam and Ismail, take a taxi to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. |
At the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel
Sources: NDTV, Evening Standard, and BBC
| Date | Estimated Time (+0530 UTC) |
Event |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 26 | 11:00 PM | Terrorists enter Taj hotel. |
| Nov 27 | 12:00 AM | Mumbai Police surrounds the hotel. |
| Nov 27 | 01:00 AM | Massive blast in the central dome, fire in the building. |
| Nov 27 | 02:30 AM | Army soldiers arrive in two trucks and enter the front lobby. Fire spreads across the top floor. |
| Nov 27 | 03:00 AM | Fire Engines arrive. Shootings heard inside lobby and heritage building. |
| Nov 27 | 4:00 AM | Firemen rescue people with ladders. More than 200 people evacuated |
| Nov 27 | 4:30 AM | Terrorists reported to move from central dome to new tower. |
| Nov 27 | 5:00 AM | Commandos and Bomb squad arrive. Police step up heat. |
| Nov 27 | 5:30 AM | Fire brought under control but terrorists holed up in new tower with 100–150 hostages. |
| Nov 27 | 6:30 AM | Security forces say they are ready for encounter. |
| Nov 27 | 8:00 AM | People are brought out of the lobby. |
| Nov 27 | 8:30 AM | Another 50 people brought out of Chambers club. |
| Nov 27 | 9:00 AM | More rounds of firing, many more people reported to be stuck inside. |
| Nov 27 | 10:30 AM | Gunbattle reported from inside |
| Nov 27 | 12 Noon | 50 evacuated |
| Nov 27 | 4:30 PM | Militants set fire to a room on the 4th floor |
| Nov 27 | 7:20 PM | More NSG commandos arrive, enter hotel |
| Nov 27 | 11:00 PM | Operations continue |
| Nov 27 | 2:53 PM | Six bodies recovered |
| Nov 27–28 | 2:53 PM – 3:59 | Ten grenade explosions |
| Nov 28 | 3:00 PM | Marine commandos recover explosives from Taj. |
| Nov 28 | 4.00 PM | 12–15 dead bodies recovered from the Taj by Naval Commandos. |
| Nov 28 | 7:30 PM | Fresh explosions and gun shots at Taj Hotel. |
| Nov 28 | 8:30 PM | Reported that one terrorist left at the Taj. |
| Nov 29 | 3:40 AM – 4:10 AM | Reports of five explosions at the Taj. |
| Nov 29 | 5:05 AM | Revised estimate of one terrorist remaining. |
| Nov 29 | 07:30 AM | Fire raging on first floor. Black smoke from second floor. Gunshots heard frequently—apparent gun battle. |
| Nov 29 | 08:00 AM | Indian commandos state that the Taj Hotel is now under control. However they are still conducting room to room searches. People celebrate on the streets. |
At the Oberoi Trident
| Date | Estimated Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 27 | 6 AM | NSG arrives, storms hotel. |
| Nov 27 | 8:40 AM | Firing heard, Top army, navy officers arrive and take stock. |
| Nov 27 | 1:30 PM | Two small explosions. More reinforcements enter building. |
| Nov 27 | 3:25 PM | Some foreign hostages rescued |
| Nov 27 | 5:35 PM | Sikh regiment arrives, fierce gunbattle. |
| Nov 27 | 6 PM | 27 hostages come out of Air India building, four foreigners taken to hospital. |
| Nov 27 | 6:45 PM | Explosion heard. Two NSG guards, 25 army personnel suspected injured. More people rescued, in all 31. |
| Nov 27 | 7:10 PM | 1 terrorist arrested. |
| Nov 27 | 7:25 PM | Fire breaks out on 4th floor |
| Nov 27 | 11 PM | Operations continue |
| Nov 28 | 10 AM | Many hostages evacuated from the Trident building. |
| Nov 28 | 3:00 PM | Commando operations at Oberoi over, 24 dead bodies recovered. 143 hostages rescued alive. Two militants shot dead. |
At Nariman House
| Date | Estimated Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 27 | 7 AM | Police began evacuating adjacent buildings. |
| Nov 27 | 11 AM | Cross-firing between terrorists and police; one militant injured. |
| Nov 27 | 2:45 PM | Terrorists threw grenade into nearby lane; no casualties. |
| Nov 27 | 5:30 PM | NSG commandos arrive, naval helicopter took aerial survey. |
| Nov 27 | 11 PM | Operations continued. |
| Nov 27 | 12 PM | 9 hostages rescued from first floor. |
| Nov 28 | 7:30 AM | NSG commandos airdropped onto the top of Nariman house. |
| Nov 28 | 7:30 PM | All 6 hostages including the Rabbi and his wife found killed by the terrorists. |
| Nov 28 | 8:30 PM | NSG commandos declared the operations over, 2 terrorists killed. |
Casualties
At least 172 people had been killed in the attacks and 293 wounded. Among the dead were 124 Indian civilians, 17 policemen and 31 foreigners. The breakdown of the foreigners was as follows: four Americans, four Australians, three Canadians, three Germans, two Israeli-Americans, two Israelis, two French, two Italians, one British-Cypriot, one Dutch, one Japanese, one Jordanian, one Malaysian, one Mauritian, one Mexican, one Singaporean and one Thai.
In addition, nine terrorists were killed and one was captured.
27 other foreigners of different nationalities were injured in the terror strikes and were admitted to the Bombay Hospital. Hospital sources said the injured foreigners were from Australia, USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Canada, Spain, Norway, Finland, Oman, China, Japan, the Philippines and Jordan.
Andreas Liveras, a British yachting tycoon (of dual Greek Cypriot and British citizenship), was among those confirmed killed. German TV producer Ralph Burkei, and French lingerie tycoon, Loumia Hiridjee and her husband, were also among the dead. Husband and wife, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg, both of whom were hostages in Nariman House, also died during the attack.
According to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, 14 policemen and three NSG commandos were killed, including the following officers:
- Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, who headed the team investigating the politically sensitive 2006 Malegaon blasts. Karkare had also been receiving death threats recently, including a threat to bomb his residence, but it is unclear if these were related to his death.
- Additional Commissioner of Police: Ashok Kamte
- Encounter specialist: Vijay Salaskar
- Senior inspector Shashank Shinde, who had recently been involved in investigating many of India’s recent bombings.
- NSG Commando, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan
- NSG Commando Hawaldar Chandar
- NSG Commando Gajendra Singh
Three railway officials of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus had also been killed in the terror strikes.
The Government of Maharashtra announced Rs. 5 lakh (about 10,000 USD) compensation to the kin of those killed in the terror attacks and Rs. 50,000 (about 1,000 USD) to the seriously injured.
| Nationality | Deaths | Injured |
|---|---|---|
 Indian |
141 | 256 |
 American |
4 | 2 |
 Australian |
4 | 2 |
 Canadian |
3 | 2 |
 German |
3 | 3 |
 American-Israeli |
2 | – |
| Israeli |
2 | – |
 French |
2 | – |
 Italian |
2 | – |
  Cypriot-British |
1 | – |
 Dutch |
1 | – |
 Japanese |
1 | 1 |
 Jordanian |
1 | 1 |
 Malaysian |
1 | |
 Mauritian |
1 | – |
 Mexican |
1 | – |
 Singaporean |
1 | – |
 Thai |
1 | – |
 Austrian |
– | 1 |
| British |
– | 7 |
 Chinese |
– | 1 |
 Omani |
– | 2 |
 Filipino |
– | 1 |
 Spanish |
– | 2 |
 Finnish |
– | 1 |
 Norwegian |
– | 1 |
Muslim Council refuses to bury militants in India
The Muslim Council of India decided not to allow burial of the bodies of the nine terrorists killed during the Mumbai siege in the Marine Lines Bada Qabrastan (cemetery). The council said it was trying to send a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried on Indian soil.
Strong Nationalism among general public
The attack has put challenges for the Congress-led Indian government ahead of general elections, and also to persuade Pakistan to act against militants. Many general public want some kind of clear response to the attack that killed 183 people, from identifying and punishing the masterminds to trade sanctions against Pakistan, or passing firm anti-terrorism laws within India
Terrorism in Mumbai
The city of Mumbai, India has suffered several terrorist attacks, mostly bombings, including:
* 12 March 1993 – Series of 13 bombs go off killing 257
* 06 December 2002 – Bomb goes off in a bus in Ghatkopar killing 2
* 27 January 2003 – Bomb goes off on a bicycle in Vile Parle killing 1
* 14 March 2003 – Bomb goes off in a train in Mulund killing 10
* 28 July 2003 – Bomb goes off in a bus in Ghatkopar killing 4
* 25 August 2003 – Two Bombs go off in cars near the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar killing 50
* 11 July 2006 – Series of seven bombs go off in trains killing 209
* 19 October 2008 – North Indians killed in various part of Maharastra. (killed 20 people).
* 26 November 2008 to 29 November 2008 – Coordinated series of attacks killing at least 189
Voice of Bihar 