Mumbai Attacked: Terror attack in Taj Mahal, Trident Oberoi hotel, CST, Cama Hospital, Ville Parle, Leopold Cafe Colaba, GT hospital, Nepean Sea Road,
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Death toll mounts to 160 in Mumbai mayhem
MUMBAI: Indian authorities were still fighting gunmen at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel, but other standoffs around the city, including ones at the Oberoi Hotel and a Jewish center have come to an end on Friday evening.
Nearly 160 people were killed at nine locations and over 300 people got injured. Nine gunmen and eight foreigners were among the dead, officials said.
Commandos ended a siege of the luxury Oberoi hotel while other forces rappelled from helicopters to storm the besieged Jewish center, two days after a chain of militant attacks across India's financial center left at least 160 people dead and the city in panic.
While explosions and gunfire continued intermittently at the elegant Taj Mahal hotel Friday, officials said commandos had killed the two last gunmen inside the nearby Oberoi.
"The hotel is under our control,'' J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard unit, told reporters, adding that 24 bodies had been found. Dozens of people – including a man clutching a baby – had been evacuated from Oberoi earlier.
The airborne assault on the center run by the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch was punctuated by gunshots and explosions – and at one point an intense exchange of fire that lasted several minutes – as forces cleared it floor by floor, according to a foreign news agency.
Israel's ambassador to India, Mark Sofer, said they believed there were up to nine hostages inside. Sofer denied reports that Israeli commandos were taking part in the operation.
Security officials said their operations were almost over.
"It's just a matter of a few hours that we'll be able to wrap up things,'' Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters Friday.
The group rescued from the Oberoi, many holding passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians. Some carried luggage with Canadian flags. One man in a chef's uniform was holding a small baby. About 20 airline crewmembers were freed, including staff from Lufthansa and Air France.
The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked.
Late Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out of the Taj hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. But Friday morning, army commanders said that while three gunmen had been killed, two to three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.
A few hours after that, Thamburaj, the security official, said at least one gunman was still alive inside the hotel and had cut of electricity on the floor where he was hiding. Shortly after that announcement, another round of explosions and gunfire were heard coming from the hotel.
Earlier Friday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, in Islamabad, denied involvement by his country: ``I will say in very categorical terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents.''
The gunmen were well prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy.
A U.S. investigative team was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official said Thursday evening, speaking on condition of anonymity because the U.S. and Indian governments were still working out final details.
A previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility in e-mails to several media outlets.
Survivors of the hotel attacks said the gunmen had specifically targeted Britons and Americans, though most of the dead seemed to be Indians and whoever else was caught in the random gunfire.
The United States, Pakistan and other countries condemned the attacks.
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ISI chief to visit India: PM's office
ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan's military intelligence agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), will soon go to India to help investigate the Mumbai attacks, the premier's spokesman told foreign news agency.
ISI lieutenant general Ahmed Shuja Pasha will leave shortly to share intelligence with Indian security officials, said premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's spokesman, Zahid Bashir.
"Initially, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a request to our prime minister that he should send the ISI Chief to India to help in ongoing investigations and further intelligence sharing," he said.
"The prime minister of Pakistan responded positively and said both governments need to work out modalities for the early arrival of the ISI chief in India."
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Americans still at risk in India: US State Dept
WASHINGTON: US nationals remain in danger following a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, the US State Department said Friday, after confirming that two Americans had been killed and two others injured.
"There are still Americans at risk on the ground," said spokesman Gordon
Duguid.
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17 foreigners killed in Mumbai attacks
NEW DELHI: At least 17 foreigners died in the militant attacks in Mumbai, according to announcements by officials in India and in the victims' home countries.
"Three of those killed were Germans, one Japanese national, one Canadian and one Australian," India's Internal Security Secretary M. L. Kumawat said on Friday.
Kumawat said the information was based on reports from commandos who fought gunmen in two Mumbai hotels and a Jewish cultural centre.
The bodies of five Israeli hostages were also recovered later Friday from the Jewish centre after it was stormed by Indian troops, an Israeli diplomat said.
The US State Department in Washington said two US citizens, a father and daughter, were also among those killed in the attacks.
It identified them as Alan and Naomi Scherr and said they were members of the Synchronicity Foundation, a meditation community in Virginia.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that two French nationals had died.
The Singapore foreign ministry said Lo Hoei Yen, 28, was killed after she was taken hostage in the Oberoi/Trident hotel.
The previous day a British-Cypriot businessman was named by the British government as among the dead.
Andreas Liveras, 73, was killed hours after he gave an interview describing how he was trapped in the Taj Mahal hotel.
The overall death toll stood at least 130 on Friday evening, but was expected to rise as little information was available about the various scenes of carnage.
More foreign deaths were likely to come to light as the security operation progressed. Among the injured were victims from China, Oman, the Philippines and several European countries, officials said.
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PM calls Manmohan, condemns Mumbai mayhem
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani called his Indian counterpart Manmohan Sindh and expressed profound grief over loss of lives in the wake Mumbai terror attacks that left 130 people dead.
Prime Minister strongly denounced the acts of terrorism in Mumbai and assured Indian Premier of his full cooperation.
He further said Pakistani government and people are with Indian people in the hours of grief.
It may be recalled here that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qurehsi is also scheduled to meet Manmohan Singh today.
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93 rescued as Mumbai commandos operation on
MUMBAI: Heavy gunfire erupted on Friday after NSG commandos were dropped by helicopter onto the roof of Nariman House in Mumbai, where militants NSG commando airdropped from chopper atop Nariman House in Mumbai.
The death toll in a series of coordinated attacks by militants in Mumbai rose to 130, a senior police official said.
At least 93 hostages, majority of them foreigners, rescued from Oberoi hotel.
The group, some of whom were carrying luggage with Canadian flags on, were taken away in cars without speaking to reporters.
The group included one man dressed in Chef's uniform and a small baby.
Police said militants were still holed up as well at the Taj Mahal hotel and the nearby Oberoi-Trident hotel along with an unknown number of hostages.
Earlier, three fresh explosions rocked Nariman House early on Friday as security forces battled hard through the night to end the siege of Taj and Trident luxury hotels by heavily-armed terrorists.
As NSG commandos closed in on Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex in Colaba in south Mumbai, for a final assault, two explosions within a span of ten to 15 minutes slowed down their operation. A third explosion was heard at 4.47 am.
"The operation to clean up the Nariman House is still going on," Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) J K Dutt told reporters adding, "it is just a matter of time and it will end soon".
Dutt said the operations at Hotel Taj was by and large over with just one injured terrorist still holed-up in the building. "He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," he said.
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Five Chinese trapped in Mumbai hotel: state media
BEIJING: Five Chinese nationals remained trapped in one of the hotels under siege in the Indian city of Mumbai, which has been hit by a wave of deadly terrorist attacks, state media reported Friday.
The five were in the Oberoi/Trident hotel, according to a reporter speaking live from Mumbai on China's state television , who quoted Zhang Ruhai, head of the Chinese consulate in India's financial hub.
"The hotel has two buildings, and two Hong Kong citizens in one of the buildings were rescued when the incident happened, but five Chinese citizens have been trapped in the other building," the reporter said.
"They dare not go out of the hotel because of the gun battles, so they're trapped at the hotel and still in danger."
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Mumbai stock market re-opens today
MUMBAI: India's main stock market will reopen for trading on Friday after a coordinated attack by gunmen across the city of Mumbai that left 125 people dead forced a closure the previous day.
"The exchanges are ready to open for full trading hours," a market official said. Trading opens at 9:55 am (0425 GMT) and closes at 15:30 pm (1000 GMT), he added.
Authorities shut down the stock, bond and foreign exchanges as troops surrounded the Taj Mahala and Oberoi/Trident five-star hotels that had been invaded by gunmen with automatic weapons and grenades.
Business leaders have expressed widespread fears that the attacks will dent confidence in India's economy, which is already reeling from a huge withdrawal of foreign funds from its formerly booming stock market.
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Qureshi meets Manmohan today
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to personally condole over Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Talking to a TV channel, he said: “I am meeting Prime Minister Singh on Friday to condole with him and extending Pakistan’s support and solidarity with the Indian people.”
Replying to a question of possible use of neighbouring country’s land in these attacks, the minister said our experience from past tell us that we should not jump to conclusions.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has just constituted a federal level investigating team which will look into the incident. We need to calm and compose.”
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Death toll from Mumbai attacks rises to 130: police
NEW DELHI: The death toll in a series of coordinated attacks by militants in Mumbai rose to 130 on Friday, a senior police official said.
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Commandos storm Mumbai Jewish centre, gunfire erupts
MUMBAI: At least 17 commandos Friday abseiled from a helicopter onto the roof of a Jewish centre in Mumbai taken by Islamic militants and entered the building as gunfire erupted.
The centre was one of several targets in the city attacked by gunmen. Officials said an unknown number of hostages, including Israelis, were believed to be held inside by three gunmen.
The black-clad soldiers had taken up positions on stairs and balconies around the outside of the building as equipment was dropped from the helicopter hovering above. The Israeli embassy denied any Israeli forces were involved in the assault.
Intermittent loud explosions and rapid gunfire were heard from inside Nariman House, a business and residential complex where the Jewish centre is located.
Hundreds of people gathered on nearby rooftops to observe the operation, with some neighbouring buildings in the closely packed residential area being evacuated.
Seven hostages were rescued from the complex late on Thursday, Indian security officials said.
The building was one of at least 10 sites targeted by gunmen who launched coordinated attacks in India's financial capital on Wednesday evening.
Inside is a Jewish prayer and study centre run by the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch movement, offering drug prevention services as well as doubling up as a hostel for tourists and backpackers.
Pak-India ties should not be affected over Mumbai mayhem: Haqqani
NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington, Hussain Ahmed Haqqani has said that relations between Pakistan and India should not be affected over Mumbai terror attacks that have left over hundred people dead.
Speaking to an American TV, Haqani said that Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are democratic countries that should make joint efforts for elimination of terrorism.
He hoped future of two neighbouring countries is bright. President Asif Ali Zardari also telephoned Sonia Gandhi for expressing sympathy, he added.
Haqqani said that two countries should start a joint struggle for averting the militants’ nefarious designs.
