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Enlarge Photo An Indian National Security Guard (NSG) helicopter circles near a Jewish centre in Mumbai November...

Fri, Nov 28 11:40 AM

Foreign and Indian guests holed up by militants in a luxury hotel were being evacuated room by room on Friday, as commandos stormed a nearby Jewish centre where Israeli hostages were being held by Islamist gunmen.

Well-dressed guests, some dragging their suitcases, emerged from the Trident-Oberoi hotel and were escorted into waiting buses and cars, as the end of the siege appeared imminent. One man held a baby in his arms.

"They are evacuating everyone," said one Indian woman leaving the hotel with her husband. "Everyone is being taken care of."

Army Commander Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj said at least one militant may still be holding two hostages in the luxury Taj Mahal Hotel, 36 hours after the brazen, coordinated attacks in the city that police said killed at least 121 people.

He told reporters that almost all guests and staff had been evacuated from the Taj and the operation would be wrapped up there in a few hours.

Hours earlier just across the city, Indian commandos, their faces covered by balaclavas, rappeled from helicopters onto the roof of a Jewish centre to flush out another group of militants there.

At the centre, in a crowded part of the city, a Reuters witness said troops fired inside to provide cover as commandos made at least three sorties and took up positions on the roof.

Mumbai, a city of 18 million, is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic might and home to the "Bollywood" film industry.

Hindu-dominated India, which has a sizeable Muslim minority, has been hit by militant attacks for decades. But this strike seemed aimed at crippling its ability to draw foreign investment.

Australia upgraded its travel warning for India on Friday, telling its nationals to reconsider any plans to go there "because of the very high risk of terrorist activity".

India's markets closed on Thursday. The main stock exchange reopened on Friday, initially falling but soon recovering most of its losses.

PINNING BLAME

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pinned blame for the attacks on militant groups based in India's neighbours, usually an allusion to Pakistan, raising prospects of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

He warned of "a cost" if these nations did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch such attacks.

An estimated 25 men armed with assault rifles and grenades -- at least some of whom arrived by sea -- had fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.

Police said at least seven attackers were killed and nine suspects were taken into custody. They said 12 policemen were killed, including the chief of Mumbai's anti-terrorist squad.

At least eight foreigners, including one Australian, a Briton, an Italian and a Japanese national, were killed. Scores of others were trapped in the fighting or were being held hostage. Police said 279 people were wounded.

PAKISTAN GROUP

The Hindu newspaper said at least three of the attackers taken into custody were members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, based in Pakistan.

The group made its name fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, and has been closely linked in the past to the Pakistani military's Inter Services Intelligence agency, the ISI.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied any role in the attacks.

"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country," Prime Minister Singh said on Thursday.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them," he said in a televised address.

Pakistan, condemning the assault, promised full cooperation.

The militants appeared to specifically target Britons, Americans and Israelis, witnesses said. About 10 Israelis were being held in several different sites, authorities said.

The attacks brought the biggest chaos to the city since serial bombings in 1993, blamed on the city's Muslim crime syndicates, killed 260 people and injured hundreds.