AMagazine MUMBAI: Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish group's headquarters in India's financial capital, killing at least 101 people, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege Thursday, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and dozens of people were believed held hostage or trapped in besieged buildings. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said 101 people were killed and 287 injured.
Officials said at least eight militants had also been killed since the overnight attacks that targeted at least 10 separate sites began around 9:30 p.m.
Gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, the New York-based group said. Indian commandos surrounded the building in the morning, and media reports said gunfire was heard from the building.
Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around Mumbai's landmark Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.
Small groups of militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades burst into luxury hotels, a hospital and a railway station late on Wednesday, as well as an iconic cafe popular with foreign tourists, firing indiscriminately and tossing grenades.
They appeared to target British and Americans as they sought hostages before settling in for a prolonged siege.
"There are many people trapped inside the two hotels it seems, and we are hearing reports of constant gunfire, mostly from the Taj hotel," a duty officer at the Mumbai police control room said.
Police said they had shot dead four gunmen and arrested nine suspects. They said 12 policemen were killed, including Hemant Karkare, the chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai.
As dawn broke on the red, white and grey brick facade of the Taj on Mumbai's waterfront, the hotel was surrounded by armed police, ambulances and fire engines, with intermittent firing heard, and flames and smoke still escaping from the roof.
At least two guests, trapped in their rooms in the Taj, phoned TV stations. One said the firedoors were locked, another said he had seen two dead bodies by the swimming pool.
"Two of my colleagues are still in there and the last we heard from them was three hours ago and then the phone battery died," said a German national who escaped the Taj. "We don't know where they are."
India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years. Most have been blamed on Islamist militants, although police have also suspected Hindu extremists of carrying out some bombings.
The latest attacks came amid a slew of state elections, including in Kashmir, and could be an embarrassment for the ruling Congress party ahead of national elections next year, as well as potentially destabilising for the country.
"The fact that they were trying to segregate British and American passport holders, definitely suggests Islamist fervour," said strategic expert Uday Bhaskar. "This has very, very grave implications for India's own domestic socio-economic harmony and this is a very serious turn of events."
In Mumbai, officials admitted the battle was not yet over.
"The situation is still not under control and we are trying to flush out any more terrorists hiding inside the two hotels," said Vilasrao Deshmukh, Maharashtra state chief minister.
A Maharashtra state official later told CNN that police had brought the situation under control.
The Mumbai attacks are also bound to spook investors in one of Asia's largest and fastest-growing economies. Mumbai has seen several major bomb attacks in the past, but never anything so obviously targeted at foreigners.
"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 Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."
"They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs," he told the NDTV channel, smoke stains covering his face. "Young boys, maybe 20 years old, 25 years old. They had two guns."
Japan's foreign ministry said at least one Japanese national had been killed and one injured in the attacks, while South Korea said 26 of its nationals had escaped unharmed.
Police said at least 250 people were wounded in the attacks which also targeted the Cafe Leopold, perhaps the most famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in the city and is featured in the bestselling novel Shantaram.
Early Thursday, state home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents in Mumbai when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said four more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were arrested. They declined to provide any further details.
"We're going to catch them dead or alive," Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."
The state government ordered schools and colleges and the Bombay Stock Exchange closed Thursday.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking. He said he could not address reports that Westerners might be among the hostages.
"We condemn these attacks and the loss of innocent life," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
In Washington, the White House and US President-elect Barack Obama condemned the attacks, as did France, current president of the European Union, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Bruce McIndoe, a travel security expert and President of iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, a private intelligence firm, said he had already advised his corporate clients to postpone travel to Mumbai, and warned there would be "ripple effects".
Australia's foreign ministry told the country's citizens they should avoid travel to Mumbai and those already there should remain in a safe location and follow the advice of local authorities.
