The 2008 Mumbai Attacks

The 2008 Mumbai Attacks

From Urban Warfare Project by John Spencer

December 12, 2025 · 54 min

About this episode

John Spencer and retired Colonel Liam Collins discuss the 2008 Mumbai attacks and their implications for urban warfare.

On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistan-based members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group infiltrated Mumbai and launched nearly simultaneous attacks on five sites across the city. They paralyzed a metropolis of nearly eighteen million people for more than sixty hours. By the end of the siege, the attackers had killed 174 people and wounded hundreds more. In this episode, John Spencer is joined by retired Colonel Liam Collins to discuss their extensive research into the attacks. Drawing on a firsthand battlefield assessment conducted in Mumbai, including visits to every attack location, they examine how a small terrorist force exploited the density, complexity, and flows of a megacity to overwhelm local security forces and force a national-level response.

People in this episode

Host: John Spencer

Guest: Liam Collins

Topics covered

  • Mumbai Attacks
  • terrorism
  • urban warfare
  • security forces
  • Lashkar-e-Taiba

Keywords

  • terrorist group
  • attack locations
  • megacity
  • national response

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Pakistan, Mumbai

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