Mumbai Attacks Recap

While Americans were doing their Thanksgiving thing and the citizens of the rest of the world did whatever it is that they do on any given day, India was rocked by what may end up being their 9/11. At least 138 are dead, with sources putting the death toll as high as 172 as of Monday morning, and hundreds more have been injured in a series coordinated attacks on locations across Mumbai, the world’s most-populous city. The attackers have been called terrorists by the Indian and most international governments, and are believed to be Muslims primarily of Kashmiri origin. The attackers opened fire with a combination of machine guns, car bombs, and other explosives in a vast array of public locations, including a train stations, hotels, docks and a movie theatre. E-mails sent to various news outlets by a group calling itself “Deccan Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the attacks, but international authorities are unsure of what to make of these claims, as their was little record of the group’s existence prior to the attacks on Mumbai. An investigation is obvious ongoing, with much information being obtained via Azam Amir Kasav, a Pakistani man apprehended while reportedly attempting to escape one of the attack sites who is now cooperating with authorities. Kasav claims that the various attacks around Mumbai were in fact related, and that the goal of the attacks was to replicate other international terror acts, including the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the infamous bombings in Islamabad, Pakistan and Jakarta, Indonesia. The casualties of the attacks include citizens of at least 16 countries other than India, including America, Australia, Canada, Germany, Australia, China, Israel, Japan, and Mexico. Kasav claims that foreigners, particularly Jews, were targeted in the attacks. Mumbai is the world’s most populous city and fifth-largest metropolitan area, with a population of over 13 million within the city limits and over 19 million in the total metropolitan area. The city has experienced at least six other terrorist attacks since 2002.