Dear Friends,
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It was that month of the year when the World was getting prepared for Christmas and also the new year soon when India encountered One of the deadliest terror attacks and it was in 2008 November and it is famously known 26/11 attack.
The terror attack that took place for almost 4 days (26th November to 29th November 2008) which almost shook Mumbai and India as the finance capital of India, yes, that's how Mumbai is known as it went on to witness the most infamous terror attacks as 10 terrorists from Pakistan (from the terrorism activity group of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The day(s) when the terror attack happened, I happen to be few kilometers away from Mumbai city as I used to work in a place called Thane which is about 20 kms away from Mumbai.
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The attack killed approximately 175 people and injured more than 300.
The terrorists were reportedly infiltered through sea route and reached Mumbai's Colaba around 8 PM IST on 26th November 2008.
There were 10 of them in total and split into small groups and attacked Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, which is One of the busiest railway stations and also the Leopold Cafe and city's posh hotels Taj Mahal Hotel and Hotel Oberoi Trident.
They opened the firing inside hotels, the railway terminus and the cafe killing many and also held hostages in the 2 hotels mentioned above including many foreign people who were either on some Government official visits or were on vacation.
The firing and hostage activity continued for almost 4 days and by the time it ended on 29th November, 9 of the 10 terrorists were killed and the lone captured terrorist, Ajmal Kasab underwent trial till 2012 and he was sentenced to death.
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It wasn't the First time that the Mumbai witnessed a terror attack, as many as 14 terror attacks happened in Mumbai since 1993 including the 26/11 attack and more than 700 people have been killed and close to 2.5 K people have also been injured so fa in these attacks.
Mumbai being the finance hub, is always on the radars of these terror attacks and city which never sleeps, will continue to fight these attacks and plans of attacks with Mumbai Police at the front of mitigating such attacks.
As in other attacks, city soon rebounded back with repair/re-construction of the buildings and the twin hotels of Tajmahal and Oberoi Trident have been back functioning and terrorist attack will always be in the minds of people who visit these 2 hotels.
Survival during attack days:
As I mentioned, I was staying staying just few kilometers away from Mumbai as I was working for an IT company in Thane which is about 20 milometers away and were told not to come out of the house and work from house wherever possible.
As bachelors in mid 20's me nd my 3 other housemates stayed in the home and survived by just eating noodles and other snacks items as we depended on cooks and those days will always be on my mind whenever I hear something about Mumbai.
It will be One of the most disturbing terror attacks and we have to appreciate the army, navy, police department and National Security Groups along with local people who kept on fighting the terrorist attacks and many have lost lives and it will be fitting to remember them all as we move on.
Revenge is worst and attacking on innocent people for some political gain or revenge is not going to help the political relations between countries.
India has barred all political ties with Pakistan since this and many trials of reviving the ties hasn't been that successful as these kind of attacks keeps happening at borders as there are continued attacks from terrorists across borders in Jammu and Kashmir and this seems to be an endless story as the fight for Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) continues.
Inspiration to write this blog:
Well, it's been more than 15 years since this terror attack and I just remembered it now (One more time) as there is a topic Terror Stories - Share One you Know or Create One by team of Leo as part of Monthly Prompts as mentioned in this blog and this is my response to that.
I would like to invite you to go through the link and be inspired to write blogs on various diversified topics mentioned in the monthly prompts.
I hope this inspires you and makes you think about the similar incidents happened in your life and come out with a blog.
Take care and wishing all Happy Sunday :)