Write short notes on 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and Rescue operations.
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26/11 MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS: 10 THINGS TO REMEMBER
According to investigation by various agencies, 10 terrorists were spotted by a local fisherman as they disembarked from their dinghy boat near Badhwar Park. They offloaded their bags full of explosives and carried AK47 assault rifles in their rucksacks.
Of the ten LeT terrorists, eight got off near the fishing sacks on the shore. Two of gunmen went back into the sea. Later, investigation showed that the two headed to their targets at Trident and Oberoi - both 5-star hotels - at Nariman Point.
The eight terrorists, who got off at Machchhimar Nagar near Badhwar Park in Mumbai's Cuffe Parade area, split into four pairs - the fisherman told the investigators. The first eyewitness reportedly challenged the eight men but they ignored his warnings and spread across the city to create mayhem for three days in Mumbai killing around 25 foreigners among others.
Each of the terrorists carried AK47 automatic rifle, around 500 rounds of ammunition, pistols, hand grenades and improvised explosive devices. The ammunition possessed by them proved enough for the Mumbai police and special commandos to keep them at toes for next three days.
Around 9.20 pm took place the first attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Fifty-eight people were killed at the CST railway station in an indiscriminate gunfiring that lasted for about one-and-a-half-hour. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan had targeted the CST.
The second attack was reported about 8-10 minutes later from the Nariman House area, the second group of terrorists blew up a gas station before attacking Jewish Chabad Lubavitch outreach centre. The rabbi, his wife and five Israeli hostages were killed. Miraculously, the two-year-old child of the rabbi survived as his housemaid smuggled the baby to safety.
Leopold Cafe, another upscale restaurant was the third target of the terrorists, who opened fire at the dining crowd almost at the same time as the attack at the Nariman House locality. The terrorists - identified later as Shoaib and Umer, who targeted the diners at Leopold Cafe, headed to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and planted bombs in taxis on their way.
At the Taj, terrorists Shoaib and Umer met with LeT gunmen - identified as Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Ali, who had left IED for the Leopold Cafe attackers outside the iconic hotel. The Taj came under attack between 9.35 pm and 10 pm. Oberoi-Trident Hotel was the last site to be attacked by the terrorists around the same time as the Taj. The terrorists entered the hotel through restaurant and started pumping bullets into the gathered crowd.
Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist to be captured alive. After attacking CST railway station, he and Ismail Khan had targeted the Cama Hospital. From there he ambushed a police team, killed six officials including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and hijacked their jeep.
Kasab and Ismail Khan were intercepted near Girgaum Chowpatty, where Tukaram Omble grabbed the barrel of the rifle the former was firing from. This gave the police team time to overpower Kasab and capture him. He was tried and sentenced to death in May 2010. Kasab was hanged at the Yerawada jail in Pune in November 2012.