Main article: Timeline of the 2008 Mumbai attacks
The first events were detailed around 20:00 Indian Standard Time (IST) on 26 November, when 10 men in inflatable speedboats came ashore at two locations in Colaba. They reportedly told local Marathi-speaking fishermen who asked them who they were to "mind their own business" before they split up and headed two different ways. The fishermen's subsequent report to police received little response.[50]
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) 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,[51] using AK-47 rifles.[52] The attackers killed 58 people and injured 104 others,[52] their assault ending at about 22:45.[51] Security forces and emergency services arrived shortly afterwards. The two gunmen fled the scene and fired at pedestrians and police officers in the streets, killing eight police officers. The attackers passed a police station. Many of the outgunned police officers were afraid to confront the attackers, and instead switched off the lights and secured the gates. The attackers then headed towards Cama Hospital with an intention to kill patients,[53] but the hospital staff locked all of the patient wards. A team of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad led by police chief Hemant Karkare searched the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and then left in pursuit of Kasab and Khan. Kasab and Khan opened fire on the vehicle in a lane next to the hospital and the police returned fire. Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and one of their officers were killed, though the only survivor, Constable Arun Jadhav, was wounded.[54] Kasab and Khan seized the police vehicle but later abandoned it and seized a passenger car instead. They then ran into a police roadblock, which had been set up after Jadhav radioed for help.[55] A gun battle then ensued in which Khan was killed and Kasab was wounded. After a physical struggle, Kasab was arrested.[56] A police officer, Tukaram Omble was also killed.
Only one of the 10 terrorists, Ajmal Kasab, survived the attack. He was hanged in Yerwada jail.[142] Killed during the onslaught were:
- Abdul Rehman
- Abdul Rahman Chhota
- Abu Ali
- Fahad Ullah
- Ismail Khan
- Babar Imran
- Abu Umar
- Abu Sohrab
- Shoaib alias Soheb
Main articles: Attribution of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Erroneous reporting on the 2008 Mumbai attacks
The Mumbai attacks were planned and directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan, and carried out by ten young armed men trained and sent to Mumbai and directed from inside Pakistan via mobile phones and VoIP.[19][93][94]
In July 2009 Pakistani authorities confirmed that LeT plotted and financed the attacks from LeT camps in Karachi and Thatta.[95] In November 2009, Pakistani authorities charged seven men they had arrested earlier, of planning and executing the assault.[96]
Mumbai police originally identified 37 suspects—including two army officers—for their alleged involvement in the plot. All but two of the suspects, many of whom are identified only through aliases, are Pakistani.[97] Two more suspects arrested in the United States in October 2009 for other attacks were also found to have been involved in planning the Mumbai attacks.[98][99] One of these men, Pakistani AmericanDavid Headley, was found to have made several trips to India before the attacks and gathered video and GPS information on behalf of the plotters.
In April 2011, the United States issued arrest warrants for four Pakistani men as suspects in the attack. The men, Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa, Mazhar Iqbal alias "Major Iqbal", are believed to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba and helped plan and train the attackers.[100]
Negotiations with Pakistan[edit]
Pakistan initially denied that Pakistanis were responsible for the attacks, blaming plotters in Bangladesh and Indian criminals,[101] a claim refuted by India,[102] and saying they needed information from India on other bombings first.[103]
Pakistani authorities finally agreed that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani on 7 January 2009,[21][104][105] and registered a case against three other Pakistani nationals.[106]
The Indian government supplied evidence to Pakistan and other governments, in the form of interrogations, weapons, and call records of conversations during the attacks.[107][108] In addition, Indian government officials said that the attacks were so sophisticated that they must have had official backing from Pakistani "agencies", an accusation denied by Pakistan.[94][104]
Under US and UN pressure, Pakistan arrested a few members of Jamaat ud-Dawa and briefly put its founder under house arrest, but he was found to be free a few days later.[109]A year after the attacks, Mumbai police continued to complain that Pakistani authorities were not cooperating by providing information for their investigation.[110] Meanwhile, journalists in Pakistan said security agencies were preventing them from interviewing people from Kasab's village.[111][112] Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the Pakistani authorities had not shared any information about American suspects Headley and Rana, but that the FBI had been more forthcoming.[113]
An Indian report, summarising intelligence gained from India's interrogation of David Headley,[114] was released in October 2010. It alleged that Pakistan's intelligence agency (ISI) had provided support for the attacks by providing funding for reconnaissance missions in Mumbai.[115] The report included Headley's claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba's chief military commander, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, had close ties to the ISI.[114] He alleged that "every big action of LeT is done in close coordination with [the] ISI."[115]
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