It has been 14 years since the devastating terrorist attacks in Mumbai
Ten young men invaded India’s financial center fourteen years ago, and for three days straight, the city of Mumbai was gripped by horror.
Twelve different areas in Mumbai had been attacked by armed terrorists, including a hospital, a train station, a restaurant, a Jewish center, and two opulent hotels, such as the Taj Mahal Palace. In the attacks, 166 people died and almost 300 were injured.
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was under the siege of four heavily armed terrorists for more than 60 hours starting on November 26.
Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Ali, two of the four, set a rudimentary RDX bomb in front of the neighbouring police station before making their way to the Tower section’s main gate. They moved toward the lobby area while firing on each and everyone who came into their line of sight. They were equipped with AK-47s, ammunition, and grenades.
The other two terrorists, Shoib and Umer, entered the Palace through the La-Pat door and began firing randomly at the visitors near the pool. The first victims of the terrorists’ gunfire were four foreign guests beside the pool, together with security guard Ravindra Kumar and his Labrador Retriever dog.
166 people, including foreigners, were killed in the attack. One of the gunman survived, while nine were killed in the counterattack.
That evening, at around midnight, Mumbai Police encircled the Taj. By this time, the employees had packed a large number of hotel guests into confined spaces. The hotel’s central dome was bombed at around one in the morning, and the building was ablaze. The first round of evacuation began after the troops and firemen arrived at the scene.
Marine commandos divided into two groups. The initial bunch made it out unharmed. The terrorists caught sight of the second group as they were leaving. Chef of the Taj’s tandoor Gautam Singh was one of those who was spotted and killed by gunfire.
The next day (November 27), a group of 200 commandos travelled from New Delhi to Mumbai and took control of the rescue efforts at the Taj and Oberoi (another hotel that also came under attack). Storming the building was ordered by the authorities. In the hours that followed, evacuations happened in waves.
There followed another round of ground combat and several explosions.
The Indian commandos stated on November 29 that all terrorists had been driven out of the Taj.
At a UN counterterrorism conference in Mumbai in October of this year, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought up the idea of designating the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack’s planners as international terrorists. The Taj Mahal Palace hotel, one of the locations of the 2008 terror attack, hosted the conference, which was attended by representatives of all 15 UNSC members.
Senior Home Ministry officials played an audio tape of one of the attack coordinators, Sajid Mir. He can be heard instructing terrorists to fire at Nariman House on the audio clip.
China intervened before the UN in September of this year to prevent Sajid Mir’s designation as a global terrorist, a proposal of India and the US.
