Mumbai terror attack: 12th anniversary being observed

The twelfth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks being observed today(Thursday).The Mumbai terror attack left a massive scar on the psyche of the city. In order to observe the day, Mumbai police organized an event to pay homage to the martyred security personnel and it will be attended by only a limited number of people in view of the pandemic.The then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai's additional police commissioner Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were among those killed in the attack.

 On the night of November 26, 2008, ten heavily armed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists landed in Mumbai and went on a rampage. More than 160 people, including foreign nationals, were killed in the attack that lasted for four days. Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.The 26/11 attack transformed India's outlook towards national security and led to strengthening its maritime surveillance and inter-agency coordination and dissemination of information.

Asserting that it stands with India and remains resolute in the fight against terrorism, the US said it is committed to hold the perpetrators of the heinous 26/11 terror attacks accountable to ensure justice for the victims. “Through the Rewards for Justice programme, we seek to ensure that all those responsible for this heinous attack face justice,” US State Department deputy spokesman Cale Brown said on Wednesday. The Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station were some of the locations targeted. The Rewards for Justice programme is offering a reward of up to USD 5 million for information about the individuals responsible for these attacks. Key members of this heinous plot remain at large and the investigation remains active and ongoing. This reward offer extends to any individual who bears responsibility for this act of terror, the State Department said.