Ten heavily armed men, associated with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, sailed towards the Mumbai coastline in November 2008, wreaking havoc in the financial capital of India. The terrorists launched a series of terror attacks starting November 26 in Mumbai, killing at least 174 people and leaving hundreds injured. The mayhem lasted for three days, until November 29 in which the terrorists targeted many famous sites in Mumbai, including The Taj Palace & Tower, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, etc.

Here is a timeline of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks:

November 23, 2008

Ten heavily armed men left Pakistan’s port city Karachi by boat. The men hijack an Indian trawler, the Kuber, and when they neared the coastline of India killed four of the five crewmen and forced the last boatman alive to take them to the Mumbai coast.

November 26, 2008

In the evening, they killed the boat’s captain when they reach within four nautical miles (7 kilometres) of Mumbai.

After around 8 pm, the terrorists then proceed to board three inflatable speedboats, going towards Colaba jetty. Six of the 10 men disembarked while the rest keep sailing. The separated terrorists emerge at Badhwar Park, where they split up again and head two different ways.

Around 9.20 pm, four terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, enter the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway stations, fire shots that killed around 58 people, injured more than 100. 

Around 9.30 pm, the terrorists blow up a gas station near the Nariman House business and residential complex to divert attention. The terrorists kill a couple, a Kosher food inspector, and five Israelis hostages. 

By 9.48 pm, four terrorists attack the third site, Leopold Cafe, 10 people are killed and many are injured. They also planted bombs in two taxis that killed 5, wounded 15. The terrorists, then, proceeded to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. 

Around 9.35 pm – 9.45 pm, two terrorists, who attacked Leopold Cafe, enter the Taj Mahal Palace and two others enter the Oberoi Hotel by 10 pm and attack both the places. 

Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, who attacked CST, arrive at the Cama Hospital by 10.30 pm. Kasab and Khan leave the hospital and open fire at a group of police officers, killing six of them including the chief of the city’s Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare. By 10.59 pm, Khan is killed and Kasab gets arrested. 

The terror attacks, rescue, and excavation of hostages from the attack sites continued on the following two days and ended on the morning of November 29, when the last terrorists were killed and the three-day siege of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel ended.