Seventeen years ago, India was shaken when Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists launched 12 coordinated attacks across Mumbai, striking the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Chabad (Nariman) House, and other locations in the country’s financial capital. The assault killed 166 people and injured over 300. Nine of the ten terrorists were killed, while the lone surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive.

In this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan revisit the assault that became the Kargil of India’s internal security. They take you deep inside the shadowy world of terrorist training, high-risk counter-terror operations and the elite response mechanisms that shaped India’s modern security doctrine.

From Special Forces–style training used by the attackers, to the MARCOS team’s first response and the intense close-quarters battle inside the Taj Hotel and Chabard House. Unnithan revisits the tactics, planning and coordination failures that emerged during the 26/11 Mumbai Attack, offering rare insights into what changed and what still hasn’t.

The two discuss:

- Terrorist training methods

-Frontline decision-making

-The evolution of India’s counter-terror capabilities

Tune in!

Produced by Taniya Dutta

Sound mixed by Aman Pal