2008 Mumbai attacks

The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organisation, carried out 12 shooting and bombing attacks over four days across Mumbai. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, with more than 300 injured.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Cama Hospital, the Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and in a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. In addition to the mass shootings, an explosion occurred at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle. By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj Hotel had been secured by the Mumbai Police and security forces. On 29 November, India's National Security Guards conducted Operation Black Tornado to flush out the remaining terrorists; it culminated in the death of the last remaining terrorists at the Taj Hotel and ended the attacks.

Before his execution in 2012, Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving attacker, who was captured by Mumbai Police, stated and confessed that the terrorists were members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and were controlled from Pakistan, corroborating initial claims from the Indian Government. Initially denying the claims, Pakistan later confirmed that the sole surviving perpetrator of the attacks was a Pakistani citizen. The subsequent capture and interrogation of David Headley, a Pakistani-American DEA informer, and Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, pointed to the involvement of rogue officials of Pakistan Army and ISI in the terrorist attacks, who provided support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Furthermore, Headley was also accused of traveling to Denmark to scout the Jyllands-Posten office and a nearby synagogue.

On 9 April 2015, the foremost ringleader of the attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was released on bail and disappeared; he was arrested again in Lahore on 2 January 2021. In 2018, former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif questioned the Pakistani government's allowance of those who committed the attacks to cross into India. In 2022, one of the masterminds of the attack, Sajid Majeed Mir —who had earlier been claimed to be dead by the Pakistan Government— was convicted for funding terrorist activities by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.

As of May 2025, it is one of the deadliest terrorist attacks that took place in Mumbai, as well as across India. In April 2025, Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani Canadian, who was a co-conspirator in the attack, was extradited to India from the United States for interrogation by the National Investigation Agency and to face prosecution for his involvement in the attacks.