Mumbai: Terrorist attacks killing nearly 20 people.

[dhilipkumar]

MUMBAI, Nov 26: Heavy exchanges of gunfire were taking place at around 2 this morning between police and terrorists, who were holed up in two luxury hotels in south Mumbai, after the worst terrorist attack in India had seen at least 80 people killed and over 150 injured.

The army was called out as terror attacks swept through the city late at night, with a third 5-star hotel in a suburb also having came under attack. Police claimed to have killed two terrorists, even as a police vehicle was hijacked by the attackers.

The terrorists opened fire at nearly half a dozen places in south Mumbai at around 10pm on Wednesday, and soon took hundreds, including foreigners and businessmen, hostage. Gunmen opened fire from AK-47 rifles at the city's busiest railway terminal, CST, killing nearly 20 people.

Fear swept through the city, as frequent gunfire was heard from public places. Explosive-laden vehicles, including a taxi near the international airport, blew up. The authorities decided to call in the army early this morning and sought additional commandos from Delhi.Terrorists took hundreds hostage in the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels in south Mumbai, minutes after they had fired with their AK-47 rifles. They threw hand-grenades at the Oberoi hotel, setting two floors aflame.

Commandos tried unsuccessfully to enter the two hotels for at least three hours. At around 1am, a fierce gun-battle broke out at the historic Taj hotel outside the Gateway of India, and flames could be seen leaping out of the dome.The terrorists also entered a hospital and fired at patients and police. Later, they hijacked a police vehicle and disappeared into the night.

Police were clueless about the number of terrorists, their identity or their background. The surprise attack took the city of 15 million by surprise, with gunshots being heard in the tourist district of Colaba at around 10 pm.Soon the city streets were deserted as policemen with bullet-proof vests took over south Mumbai. All roads were sealed to prevent the terrorists from escaping.Eyewitnesses at the two hotels and at the CST railway station said the terrorists were firing indiscriminately. At the busy railway terminus, scores of passengers fell victim to the bullets. Even after midnight, the blood-stained platforms were uncleared and injured passengers could be seen lying there.

Police warned residents to stay at home as more attacks are feared.

Agencies add: Indian TV channels reported that the chief of Mumbai's police anti-terrorist squad, Hemant Karkare, was among those killed.Attackers also targeted the Cafe Leopold, a famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in Mumbai. "I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj hotel on business. "They had bombs."

"They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs," he told the NDTV news channel, smoke stains all over his face. "Young boys, maybe 20 years old, 25 years old. They had two guns."Maharashtra state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that an encounter was going on at the two hotels and the situation was grave. "Our men are on the job," he added.

Maharashtra police chief A.N. Roy said: "These are terrorist strikes in at least seven places."

Some of the injured were evacuated from the Taj on the hotel's golden luggage carts, while waiters in black and white formal wear and chefs were seen leaving the Oberoi."The lobby of the Taj hotel is on fire," a police spokesman said. "We are trying to find out how many people are inside the hotel."

Sourav Mishra, a Reuters reporter, who was with friends at the Cafe Leopold when gunmen opened fire around 9:30pm, had suffered injuries."Fifty-eight bodies have been brought in. There are another 50 who are injured, some critical, who have been transferred to the nearby J.J. Hospital," a spokesman for the city's St George's Hospital said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attacks and said the Maharashtra state government would be given all the assistance required.The head of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, was staying in the Taj hotel at the time of attack but she and her delegation escaped unhurt, a government spokesman in Madrid said.

The BBC News website said a British member of the European Parliament, Sajjad Karim, was also in the hotel at the time and saw a gunman open fire in the lobby."All I saw was one man on foot carrying a machine gun-type of weapon -- which I then saw him firing from and I saw people hitting the floor, people right next to me," he was quoted as saying.One British guest told local Indian television that he had been among a dozen people herded together by two heavily armed men and taken up to the hotel's upper floors."They were very young, like boys really, wearing jeans and T-shirts," the guest said.

"They said they wanted anyone with British and American passports and then they took us up the stairs. I think they wanted to take us to the roof," he said, adding that he and another hostage had managed to escape when they reached the 18th floor.As he was speaking, there was a loud explosion from the roof of the hotel.It was not immediately clear if some hostages were still being held.British Foreign Secretary David Miliband "unreservedly" condemned the attacks, saying they were yet another reminder "of the threat we face from violent extremists."

[dhilipkumar]

Bush, Obama condemn Mumbai attacks; offer assistance

The Bush Administration and President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday strongly condemned the deadly attacks in Mumbai, offering assistance to the Indian government and convening defence and intelligence officials amid a "grave and urgent threat" of terrorism.

"President (George) Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks in Mumbai, India," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.The United States condemns this terrorist attack -- which left at least 80 people dead and over 275 injured -- and will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy, she said.

"This afternoon, the White House National Security Council convened officials from counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies as well as the State and Defence Departments," Perino said."The US government continues to monitor the situation, including the safety and security of our citizens, and stands ready to assist and support the Indian government," the senior White House official said, adding the President has been updated regularly.

Strongly condemning a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai's financial hub, Obama said it only demonstrated "the grave and urgent threat" of terrorism and nations must work to "root out and destroy terrorist networks."
"President-elect Obama strongly condemns terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India," Obama's Chief National security Spokesperson Brooke Anderson said in a statement.

[ganeshbala]

Hi Acumens

Again that was Sad  News For the Indians ...

At least 80 people, including a foreign tourist and four top police officers, were killed and over 250 injured as terrorists struck in yet another series of planned and synchronised gunfire and bomb attacks in the heart of India's financial capital late Wednesday, authorities said.

Terrorists were reported to be holding tourists and other guests hostage in two five-star hotels, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi), facing the waterfront across the Arabian Sea close to the city's most important landmark, the Gateway of India.

Four top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the 10 policemen killed in the gunbattles with the terrorists, police confirmed. Among terror targets was the city's busiest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly the Victoria Terminus that is a World Heritage site.

A nationwide alert was sounded and all airports in the country put on high-security surveillance following the attacks that came less than a month after over 50 people died in serial terror bombings in the northeastern state of Assam.

Army was called in to bring the situation under control and restore the sense of security in the city that was literally shaken the attacks, one of the worst in the country.

[NAREN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f_cPpqILig

[dwarakesh]

Hundreds dead as blasts rock Mumbai

A series of bomb blasts and shootings have rocked Mumbai tonight. The attacks are centred on the city's international hotels as well as transport hubs, including the domestic and international airports.

Two bombs have exploded at the Taj Mahal, and the army has entered both the Taj and the Oberoi. One MP is reported dead at the Taj, with two more believed to be still inside.

Hostages are being held at at least two hotels, with the terrorists said to be "looking for anyone with a British or American passport". An EU trade delegation was staying at the Taj.

Hospitals have reported receiving 80 bodies and more than 900 are believed to have been injured. MP Krishna Das, additional commissioner Ashok Kamte and the chief of the Mumbai anti-terrorism squad, Hemant Karkare, are amongst those killed, along with seven policemen.

Nine suspects have been arrested. Police earlier suggested that Fidayeen Islamic terrorists are responsible, but media have received a statement frm a previously unknown group called Deccan Mujihideen claiming responsibility. At least 24 terrorists are believed to be still at large. However, Hindu extremists are also reported to have been arrested.

The terrorists opened fire in one of Mumbai's smartest hotels - the Oberoi - at 22.45 local time, leaving seven dead and 25 injured. Navy commandos are now entering the hotel. In a bombing at the Taj Mahal hotel (pictured), MP Krishna Das and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were killed, and 15 people, seven of them foreigners, are reported to be being held hostage there. The top floor is on fire.

Nearby, a boatload of explosives is believed to have exploded. The police have called in the army and National Security Guard for help, and the Maharashta chief minister, who is on his way to the city from Kerala, has asked New Delhi for more assistance.

There has also been an explosion at the Trident Hotel, where more hostages are being held, and two more blasts were reported at Mazgaon and BPT Colony at  00:15 hours. Terrorists are believed to have hijacked a police van, as unidentified firing from a van was witnessed, injuring one person. A VP petrol pump near the Colaba district was blown up, as was the Metro Cinema hall, with one bomb exploding inside a taxi near Vile Parle, just a kilometre away from the airport.

According to sources, Gujurat police warned Mumbai police that as many as 50 terrorists had infiltrated the city.

Firing was reported at Colaba, Nariman House, and Café Leopold - an area which attracts a lot of foreign tourists. There are reports of  firing at the Mariott hotel in Juhu, where two terrorists were shot after a long chase and several rounds of firing, and casualties were taken to a nearby hospital. Some people were injured in the firing near the Oberoi hotel and were taken to hospital in police vans and ambulances.

Ministers have asked locals to stay put till the situation gets under control.

[ganeshbala]

India's most audacious terror attack began when a group of men carrying a huge quantity of arms and ammunition got off at the Gateway of India jetty, Mumbai's most identifiable landmark, and literally crossed the road to begin the night of mayhem.

Intelligence sources said the terrorists landed at the Gateway of India, across the road from the 565-room Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, one of the seven places in the city they laid siege to, Wednesday night.

After having alighted at the jetty, the assailants went about their task commandeering vehicles to attack the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, the Leopold café and enter the Taj and the Oberoi Trident hotels where they continue to hold tourists as hostages.

At any given point, the jetty at the Gateway of India has 2,000 boats. Though the popular tourist spot is also manned, they still managed to get through.

[dhilipkumar]

MPs escape terrorist attack in Mumbai

MUMBAI: It was a narrow escape for four MPs, who were having dinner at the Taj Hotel, when the terrorists struck the luxury establishment last night

Bhupendrasinh Solanki, BJP MP from Godhra in Gujarat, N N Krishnan Das of CPM from Palghat in Kerala, Mani Tripathi, a BSP parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh and one more MP from Maharashtra were visiting the metropolis as members of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation.

Solanki, who also witnessed the 2001 Parliament attack, said he had checked into the hotel at around 6 PM along with 15 officials and the MPs and came down to the ground floor from the room three hours later to have dinner.

"We were in the dining hall at Taj hotel. All of a sudden some terrorists came in and started firing. I heard the loud sound of blasts and bullets," Solanki said.

He said the firing was rapid and they mistook it for crackers.

"The waiters told us that it seemed to be a terrorist attack. The senior staff then took all of us to the back of the hotel. We were in the swimming pool area and were asked to lie on the ground".

Solanki said all the MPs and Parliamentary officials were holed up on the floor for some 60 to 80 minutes before being taken to safety through a rear door of the hotel.

"I left the hotel at around 11 PM. Then I was taken to nearby police station and spent the whole night there. I was present when the terrorists attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001 but I think it is the biggest terror attack in the country," he said.

[Kalyan]

A senior home ministry official said on Thursday that 20-30 people could still be held hostage in the Trident/Oberoi hotel in Mumbai
after attacks by militants.

"Twenty to thirty people are expected to be still hostage at Oberoi hotel....Exact number is not known," M.L. Kumawat, special secretary for internal security at the home ministry, told a news conference.

He said that the 21st to the 8th floors in the Oberoi have been cleared by security agencies, while the ground floor to the 4th floor at the Taj hotel has also been cleared.

[dhilipkumar]

Attackers killed as siege appears to end

MUMBAI, India – After nearly 60 hours of violence, police officials early Saturday said that the last remaining terrorists who conducted a series of attacks in the commercial heart of Mumbai had been killed, according to Indian television.

Briefing reporters a short while ago outside the Taj hotel, where the last terrorists had been holed up, J.K. Dutt, director general of the National Security Guard, said that three of the attackers had been killed.

According to a report on the Web site of the news network, IBN, Dutt said that one of the terrorists was shot and killed as he attempted to lob a grenade."We found the dead bodies of two terrorists inside the hotel lobby," Dutt was quoted as saying. "They had AK 47 guns on them."

Although some news reports suggested that the killing of the attackers Saturday morning indicated that the siege was over, Dutt said he could not confirm that the Taj had been cleared of all threats, including unexploded ammunition. "I can't say that our operation is over," he said, according to the IDN report. "To make sure that there is no other threat, we are still searching each and every room of the hotel."

But television reports indicated that the security services were in complete control of the hotel.

The killings at the Taj came on the third day of a siege that has shaken India, raised tensions with neighboring Pakistan and prompted searing questions about the failure of the authorities to anticipate the tragedy or to react swiftly enough as it unfolded.On Friday, commandos had cleared attackers from one hotel and a Jewish center after more than 150 people had died in the terrorists' coordinated assaults. Most of the dead were apparently Indian citizens, but at least 22 foreigners were killed. As myriad accounts emerged of the carnage, a transcontinental vigil over the fate of a rabbi from New York and his wife, who ran the Jewish center, ended in a dramatic commando raid and, finally, with the news of the couple's deaths.

The main success of the day for the authorities came at the Oberoi hotel. The authorities said that two gunmen had been killed and 93 foreigners — some of them wearing Air France and Lufthansa uniforms — had been rescued, though 30 bodies were found. Exhausted survivors offered harrowing accounts of their ordeal, trapped on the upper floors of the high-rise hotel while gunmen prowled below. The National Security Guard said it recovered two AK-47s, a 9-millimeter pistol and some grenades.For the first time, after several veiled accusations that Pakistan was involved, Indian officials specifically linked the attacks to their neighbor and longtime nemesis. India's foreign minister blamed "elements in Pakistan" for the attacks , spreading the repercussions of the attacks beyond India's borders. American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday that there was mounting evidence that a Pakistani militant group — Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has long been involved in the conflict with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir — was responsible.

The Indian authorities were beginning to face sharp questions about why operations to flush out a handful of assailants at the Jewish center and a second hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, had not moved more rapidly. And many other basic questions remained for a crisis that unfolded so publicly, on televisions, Web sites and Twitter feeds across the world. Who were the attackers? The police tally was at least eight killed and one captured alive, but could so few militants have caused such mayhem? How had they managed to plan and coordinate such an operation and then fight off highly trained commandos for so long?

The army's operation at the Taj was entering its "final phase" late on Friday, the Indian military said. Commandos were battling at least one terrorist who was moving between two floors of the hotel. The army said two other gunmen had been killed there overnight on Thursday.

Indian commandos said the attackers at the hotels were well trained, with one carrying a backpack packed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and they seemed to know the buildings' layout better than the security forces, indicating a high degree of preparation and sophistication. Some were seen arriving by boat; others may have been guests at the hotels for days.The leader of a commando unit involved in a gun battle on Thursday morning inside the Taj said during a news conference on Friday that he had seen a dozen dead bodies in one of the rooms.

[ganeshbala]

Mumbai siege ends, death toll 148,59-hour

India's longest terror drama that lasted just short of 59 hours ended dramatically Saturday as commandos from three agencies combined with clinical precision to eliminate three militants who had taken over the iconic Taj hotel and virtually held this commercial capital to ransom, killing 148 people and casting a shadow over ties with Pakistan.

"Finally, we have been able to win the battle and do the job (assigned to us)," a visibly tired J.K. Dutt, the head of the National Security Guard (NSG), told reporters after the decisive 20-minute phase of the operation.

Plumes of thick, black smoke billowed out of the ground floor windows at the hotel's northern end Saturday after two retail outlets were torched Saturday to smoke out the militants as some 200 commandos drawn from the NSG, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Mumbai police launched their calibrated attack.

The ploy worked, even as the fire brigade quickly swung into action to douse the angry flames.

The first indication that the authorities intended to go in for the kill came at around 3.30 a.m., when, after a comparative lull of two hours, NSG commandos initially targeted the militants.

A group of six to seven strategically positioned commandos targeted a first-floor window at the northern end of the building where, eyewitnesses said, at least one militant had been cornered.

Other commandos, meanwhile, sprinted toward a corridor linking the new tower of the hotel with its heritage wing where the action was taking place to gain access to the first floor and mount pressure on the militants.

[NAREN]

Braveheart dies in rescue operation

"Tigers, it is action time," shouted major Sandeep Unikrishnan, on deputation with the National Security Guards (NSG), while entering the dimly lit lobby of Taj Mahal Hotel on Thursday morning. Leading from the front, he had a mission to rescue those trapped inside the hotel.



However, on Friday afternoon, Unikrishnan died a hero's death while fighting terrorists.
Soaked in blood and pierced with bullets, Unikrishnan's body was found around 1.30 pm on the third floor of the hotel. "We lost contact with him around noon which means he fought alone before the terrorists killed him," an NSG official told DNA.

"There was blood all around and they were firing at us from all directions. The burst of gunshots were specifically aimed at the commandos positioned in and around the hotel," the officer said, adding that it took nearly half-an hour to take possession of the body.

"One has to be very careful since the terrorists specifically target members of the combat unit who come to collect the body," the officer said.

He said that even after identifying the body it took sometime to take it out since the terrorists were still firing at them. "We took the body to JJ hospital for embalming," he added. The major's family in Bangalore was informed about the death and his body was flown in a special IAF aircraft on Friday night. 

[ganeshbala]

A British couple told broadcaster Sky News on Thursday how they had escaped the siege at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, after a highly coordinated attack by suspected Muslim militants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrkC0mdjiTA

[dhilipkumar]

Taj to reopen on December 21

MUMBAI: The Tata Group on Saturday confirmed that the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower will reopen its doors on December 21, 2008. "The Taj Mahal

Palace and Tower to shine again,'' a press release said, "with the Taj Mahal Tower playing host to the world again.'' ( Watch )

Raymond Bickson, MD and CEO, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd, said, "We dedicate our reopening to city of Mumbai as affirmation of the values of courage, resilience and dignity. To reopen the Taj with such speed with no loss of attention to details, shows our resolve to commemorate all the innocent and brave people who lost their lives during the terror attacks. In their honour, the Taj will shine again in all its brilliance. Everyone who works at the Taj stands in awe of the bravery and sacrifice shown by their colleagues. They have set a standard of selfless service that all of us can only aspire to.''

TOI had reported in its edition dated December 10, that the tower wing of the Taj Hotel will reopen around Christmas.