India remembers Bombay attacks

Bombay's police paraded past some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary…

Bombay's police paraded past some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratched up tensions with Pakistan.

Onlookers waved Indian flags and banners with slogans like "End The Violence" as police commandoes, showing off new weapons and armoured vehicles, tracked the route of ten militants who disembarked in Bombay, also known as Mumbai, a year ago to rampage through the city.

Other residents lit candles outside a Jewish centre, one of several sites from luxury hotels to the city's biggest railway station targeted by the Pakistan-based gunmen for three days.

The attacks highlighted the lack of preparedness of India to militant attacks and showed how regional tension in South Asia could undermine the stability of Asia's economic powerhouse as it emerges on the global stage.

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Nine militants were killed by police in the attacks. The lone survivor, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, is under trial and could face the gallows if found guilty.

Some local residents shouted "Hang Kasab" as they walked past the seafront Taj Mahal Hotel, where the militants guided by handlers in Pakistan by telephone, battled commandoes for nearly three days through a myriad of plush corridors.

India has broken off peace talks with Pakistan since the attacks.

New Delhi has sought to bring international pressure on Islamabad to act against militants operating from its soil, including the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba blamed for the masterminding the raids.

A Pakistani court yesterday indicted seven Pakistani suspects on terror charges in connection with last year's attack on Bombay.

Reuters