BFF-61 Mumbai attacks anniversary draws solemn tributes and new pressure on Pakistan

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BFF-61

INDIA-ATTACKS-ANNIVERSARY

Mumbai attacks anniversary draws solemn tributes and new pressure on
Pakistan

MUMBAI, Nov 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – India marked the 10th anniversary of
the Mumbai terror attacks Monday with ceremonies at sites across the city
that became battlegrounds in the wave of violence that killed scores and
dealt a critical blow to relations with neighbouring Pakistan.

Armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, 10 Islamic militants
killed 166 people and injured hundreds more in a three-day rampage through
India’s financial capital which started on Wednesday November 26, 2008.

A decade on, the United States offered a new $5 million reward for the
capture of the remaining attackers and called on Islamabad to cooperate with
the hunt for the planners of the assault.

The attackers belonged to Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT).

At a solemn ceremony Mumbai’s police remembered more than a dozen
officers and commandos killed in the operation against the militants.

Relatives of the victims and local dignitaries laid wreaths and
sprinkled rose petals at a police memorial honouring the dead while the
force’s brass band played the “Last Post”.

“A grateful nation bows to our brave police and security forces who
valiantly fought the terrorists during the Mumbai attacks,” said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, who called the attacks “gruesome”.

Played out on TV news channels around the world, the bloody events —
widely known as 26/11 — have been compared in India to New York’s suffering
on September 11, 2001.

The co-ordinated attacks on the city of nearly 20 million people hit
luxury hotels, the main railway station, a restaurant popular with tourists
and a Jewish centre.

– Wanted leader –

Residents and railway officials also paid their respects at Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus train station where Mohammed Kasab, the only gunman caught
alive, and another attacker killed almost 60 people and wounded at least 100
others.

The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel held a private service to remember
the 31 people who died there.

Over 60 hours, four attackers shot dead guests and hotel staff,
detonated explosives and set ablaze parts of the building — including its
famous dome. Dramatic scenes of Indian commandos battling the heavily armed
gunmen, and guests tried to escape from windows down bedsheet ropes were
beamed around the world on live television. Indian security forces only
retook control of the hotel on the morning of November 29.

More than 30 people also died at the Oberoi and Trident hotels in a 42-
hour siege involving shootings, explosions and hostage-taking.

Six hostages — including a rabbi and his pregnant wife — were killed
at Nariman House, a Jewish cultural and religious centre.

The current rabbi, Israel Kozlovsky, unveiled a new memorial listing the
names of all those who died in the 26/11 attacks.

“Those who gave their life for the country, those who gave their life
for us, they deserve to be remembered and they deserve to get their honour
and tribute,” he told AFP.

Kasab, the gunman caught at the railway station, was executed by India
in 2012 after being found guilty of charges including murder and waging war
against India.

The LeT called him “a hero” in a comment that highlighted the deep-
rooted rivalry between India and Pakistan since their division in 1947.

Indian politicians and officials routinely condemn Pakistan for not
taking action against LeT leader Hafez Saeed who remains free even though he
is designated a terrorist by the United Nations. Pakistan says that evidence
provided by India against Saeed is too vague.

Six Americans were among the Mumbai victims and the US State Department
announced a $5 million prize for the capture of the remaining planners of the
attacks.

The United States already has a $10 million bounty offered for Saeed and
$2 million for Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, another senior group leader.

“It is an affront to the families of the victims that, after 10 years,
those who planned the Mumbai attack have still not been convicted for their
involvement,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

“We call upon all countries, particularly Pakistan, to uphold their UN
Security Council obligations to implement sanctions against the terrorists
responsible for this atrocity, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and its
affiliates.”

BSS/AFP/ARS/1957 hrs