Published 14:41 IST, November 26th 2020
26/11 anniversary: US reiterates its resolve to bring attack conspirators to justice
Marking the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, US said that it was standing alongside India in bringing the perpetrators of attacks to justice
Marking the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, US States Department said that it was standing alongside India in bringing the perpetrators of “heinous” attacks to justice. Re-affirming America’s commitments, Clae Brown, a spokesman for the department shared a link to the country’s 'Rewards for Justice’ programme on Twitter. According to the programme, anyone who provides information about individuals responsible for the attacks would be rewarded with a sum of up to $5 million.
"Six Americans were killed during the three-day siege: Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum," the department revealed citing one of the reasons behind the programme.
Main conspirators indicted by US
David Coleman Headley, who has been labelled as one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks, was sentenced to 35 years of prison by a US Federal court in March 2010 charging him with 12 counts of terrorism. Meanwhile, Tahawwur Rana, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for providing material support to LeT. In June 2011, Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but he was convicted of funding the terror group LeT. Other names on which US has offered a reward include Sajid Mir, Major Iqbal, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal.
26/11 Mumbai terror attack
Twelve years ago, at least 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a banned Islamic terrorist organisation laid siege to the city of Mumbai for 72 hours. The main target of the attackers included Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Nariman House and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus while having blueprints of all four sites.
In its nature, the attack is termed as one of a kind because it was for the first time when terrorists from across the border, entered India and held the financial capital hostage for three days. The local police, at the time, was not equipped to handle an attack of that magnitude and had to wait for National Security Guards (NSG) to arrive. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was followed by NSG conducting Operation Black tornado on November 29 to take out the remaining attackers at the Taj Hotel and ended the attacks.
Updated 15:15 IST, November 26th 2020