Slideshow: Terror on the streets of Mumbai

This peaceful fishing village at Cuffe Parade on the edge of Mumbai's financial district was the unwitting launching pad for what is being described as India's 9/11. Authorities say a band of gunmen estimated to have numbered up to 25 disembarked onto rubber dinghies from a ship offshore before landing here and dispersing to several locations in the city's south. (Varun Sood/FT)

Witnesses described the gunmen as young men in their 20s dressed as typical Mumbai youths in jeans and t-shirts. The government alleges they were members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Islamist terrorist outfit from Pakistan.

The men reached the luxury five-star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, by around 10 pm where they entered through the lightly guarded back entrance, slaughtering a guard and sniffer dog. Within hours the building, a Mumbai landmark, was ablaze.

Police take cover as stray bullets whistle from the Taj across a square near the Gateway of India. The British colonial era monument on the waterfront in front of the Taj is one of Mumbai's best known tourist spots.

Guests trapped in the Taj desperately try to escape as fighting rages inside the building. The Taj and the Trident-Oberoi hotel complex several blocks away are patronized by Indian industrialists, celebrities and most international businessmen who visit Mumbai.

Troops disembark at the Trident-Oberoi hotel complex. The gunmen entered through a lower door at the seaside hotel, killing a guard and then spraying the restaurants with gunfire. Most of those killed in the hotel were shot during the initial 30 minutes of the violence before police were able to arrive on the scene. (James Fontanella-Khan/FT)

Indian soldiers carry one of their injured from the Taj. India's police and anti-terrorist forces were commended for their bravery in the attacks. But they were criticized as being slow to react and unprepared and ill-equipped to face a determined force of terrorists, despite numerous other attacks in the past year.

Bystanders look at debris outside Leopold's Café. Terrorists opened fire at point blank range, scattering tourists and locals gathered in the café, the city's best-known backpacker hangout immortalized in the novel Shantaram. (Joe Leahy/FT)

A patch of dried blood in a doorway on a sidestreet leading from Leopold's to the Taj, one block away, where residents say a man was killed. The terrorists had carefully planned the attacks and had extensive supplies of grenades and ammunition. (Joe Leahy/FT)

A blood-stained shoe on the street in front of Leopold's. The café reopened briefly on Sunday after the attacks as an act of defiance in the face of the terror attacks. (Joe Leahy/FT)

Firemen take a breather during the attacks. Firemen risked their lives to put out fires at the Taj. But they were unable to save the wife and two children of the Taj's general manager, Karambir Kang, who died in fires on the upper floor. (Joe Leahy/FT)

A grieving relative of a terrorist attack victim is consoled outside the St. Georges Hospital in Mumbai. Authorities estimate 172 people died in the attacks and hundreds more were injured.

Senior security forces officers arrive at Nariman House, also known as Chabad House, where militants are holding a Jewish Rabbi, his wife and three others hostage. The apartment block not far from the Taj was surrounded by a crowded slum. (James Fontanella-Khan/FT)

One of 17 commandos of the Indian National Security Guard abseils from a helicopter onto the rooftop of Chabad House, the Jewish religious centre taken by Islamic militants

A resident takes cover as commandoes fire at suspected militants holed up at Chabad House

A commando watches as his comrades set off a bomb in a lower floor of Chabad House. Earlier, an explosion ripped open a staircase in the concrete building, sending debris across the surrounding slums. (Joe Leahy/FT)

Hundreds of people gather on the rooftops surrounding Chabad House to watch the action, turning the anti-terrorist operation into a spectator sport. The crowds erupted into patriotic cheers when the commandos killed the terrorists around dusk but all five hostages also died in the violence. (Joe Leahy/FT)

The aftermath of the attacks. A grenade damaged service station near Chabad House. (Joe Leahy/FT)

A gutted floor of the Taj. Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata group, which owns the Taj, praised the courage of his staff, 10 of whom were killed in the violence. But he called for the government to implement a comprehensive anti-terrorist strategy to avoid future such tragedies. (James Fontanella-Khan/FT)

Workmen board up the outside of the Taj. The Tata group has not said how long it might take to repair the hotel. Once the pride of India's financial capital, it is now also a symbol of the failure of its government to take adequate steps to protect its citizens from terrorism. (Joe Leahy/FT)