Ten from the Sea of Darkness: A Record of the Three Days that Stopped Mumbai, November 2008.

Ten from the Sea of Darkness: A Record of the Three Days that Stopped Mumbai, November 2008.

In November 2008, Mumbai, India's largest city, was pounded into chaos for three days by just ten terrorists. The Pakistan-based Islamic extremist group Lashkare Toiba (LeT) carefully planned their operation using publicly available information such as Google Earth and tourist guides, and simultaneously attacked key locations in the city in coordination with their commanders in Pakistan via satellite phone and the Internet. The Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, the Leopold Café, and the Jewish compound Nariman House were targeted.

The incident killed 174 people, injured more than 300, and paralyzed transportation, communications, and economic centers. In addition to the brutality of the attack, the use of modern technology in the attack completely overturned the conventional view of terrorism. The testimony of Ajmal Kasab, the sole survivor of the attack, brought to light the existence of a training camp and ties to Pakistani military intelligence, shocking the international community.

Three years later, a suspect was arrested in the Philippines for hacking AT&T and sending illicit funds to LeT, bringing to light the back channels of terrorist financing. Coming from the sea, a group of just ten armed men easily slipped through the boundaries of nations and the robustness of cities, ushering in the 21st century type of threat. The traces of their actions are still etched in the world's memory.