India marks Mumbai attacks

INDIA: India was set to mark the second anniversary of the militant attacks on Mumbai yesterday with memorial events and prayer meetings to honour the 166 victims killed during 60 hours of carnage.

Police and security forces who tackled the 10 Islamist gunmen were due to parade through the city, while mourners also planned to gather at the hotels, railway station, cafe and Jewish centre where the massacres took place.

The attackers arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, and authorities only regained full control of the city three days later.

Live television footage was shown around the world as commandos battled with the militants and terrified civilians tried to escape the bloodbath. About 300 people were injured.

Nine of the gunmen were killed and the sole survivor, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was condemned to death by a Mumbai court in May. He is challenging the sentence.

Both New Delhi and Washington blame the attacks on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

Police officers were due to unveil a memorial to Constable Tukaram Ombale at Chowpatty beach in south Mumbai, where he lost his life as he tackled Kasab.

Earlier this month US President Barack Obama visited the city, and met the families of victims and survivors, as well as paying his respects at a memorial in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, which was one of the militants’ prime targets.

Obama and his delegation made a point of staying overnight at the hotel, the scene of a three-day siege, in what was seen as a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity.

The US President did not include a visit to Pakistan on his four-nation tour of Asia, despite it being a key US ally in the war against Islamist extremism.

India has accused Islamabad of not doing enough to bring the plotters behind the attacks to justice, and the incident still colours relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals, while Delhi remains wary of attacks from Pakistan-based Islamist militants.

Security was raised in Mumbai ahead of Friday, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

“With (the) terror threat lingering over the city in the view of the second anniversary of 26/11, we have made elaborate security arrangements and Mumbai has been put on alert,” senior city policeman Rajkumar Vhatkar said.

Separately, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday that India test-fired a medium-range version of its nuclear-capable Agni-I missile, which has a range of 700 kilometres (440 miles) off the coast of the state of Orissa.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram will attend a commemoration function in Mumbai, while other senior politicians will lay wreaths at a martyrs’ memorial at a police club.

A multi-faith meeting will be held at the Gateway of India monument in the evening. MUMBAI, Friday, AFP