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Showing posts with label mumbai blast article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mumbai blast article. Show all posts

Indian forces kill last gunmen in Mumbai

Posted by Posted by Linda on Saturday, November 29, 2008 , under , | comments (0)



MUMBAI, India – Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that killed 195 people and rocked the nation.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 565-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found six hostages dead.

A dozen suspected terrorists hit 10 sites around Mumbai on Wednesday night, and the last holdout was the Taj hotel. "There were three terrorists, we have killed them," said J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit.

At least 16 foreigners and 20 soldiers and police were among the dead. Some 295 people were also wounded in the violence.

Explosions continued rock the hotel after the battle as soldiers blasted open doors and detonated explosives found on the gunmen as they swept the hotel once more looking for survivors and booby traps left by the militants.

Some hotel guests were still believed to be in their rooms. "They are still scared, so even when we request them to come out and identify ourselves, they are naturally afraid," said Dutt.

Outside, anxious relatives stood in groups hoping family members trapped inside would walk out. Many had been keeping a vigil since the attack began.

With the end of one of the most brazen terror attacks in India's history, attention turned from the military operation to questions of who was behind the attack and the heavy toll on human life.

The bodies of New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, were found at the Jewish center. Their son, Moshe, who turned 2 on Saturday, was scooped up by an employee Thursday as she fled the building. Two Israelis and another American were also killed in the house, said Rabbi Zalman Schmotkin, a spokesman for the Chabad Lubavitch movement, which ran the center.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry later said the body of an unidentified third woman was also found inside the five-story building.

Among the foreigners killed were Americans, Germans, Canadians, Israelis and nationals from Britain, Italy, Japan, China, Thailand, Australia and Singapore.

By Saturday morning the death toll was at 195, the deadliest attack in India since the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai killed 257 people. But officials said the toll from the three days of carnage was likely to rise as more bodies were brought out of the hotels.

Even as the battle ended, Indians began burying their dead, many of them security force members killed fighting the gunmen.

In the southern city of Bangalore, black-clad commandos formed an honor guard as the flag-draped coffin of Maj. Gen. Unnikrishnan, who was killed in the fighting at the Taj, passed by. "He gave up his own life to save the others," said Dutt.

Bhushan Gagrani, the Maharashtra state government spokesman, told The Associated Press at least 11 gunmen had been killed and one captured alive after the attack that shook the city and the country.

"There is a limit a city can take. This is a very, very different kind of fear. It will be sometime before things get back to normal," said Ayesha Dar, a 33-year-old homemaker.

Authorities scrambled to identify those responsible for the unprecedented attack, with Indian officials pointing across the border at rival Pakistan, and Pakistani leaders promising to cooperate in the investigation. A team of FBI agents was ordered to fly to India to help investigate.

The attack was claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, but Indian officials pointed the finger at neighboring Pakistan.

On Saturday the Indian navy said it was investigating whether a trawler found drifting off the coast of Mumbai, with a bound corpse on board, was used in the attack

Navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said the trawler, called "Kuber," was found Thursday and brought to Mumbai. Television footage showed a bound body lying face down on the deck.

Media reports said the man was the boat's skipper and had been killed when the trawler was hijacked after it sailed from Karachi, Pakistan. That could not be immediately confirmed.

Indian security officers believe many of the gunmen may have reached the city from a boat using a black and yellow rubber dinghy found near the site of the attacks.

India's foreign minister said the blame appeared to point to Pakistan. "According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks," Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

Jaiprakash Jaiswal, India's home minister, said the captured gunmen had been identified as a Pakistani.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani insisted on Friday that his country was not involved. On Saturday Pakistan withdrew a pledge to send its spy chief to India to help probe the attacks.

Zahid Bashir, a spokesman for Gilani, told The Associated Press on Saturday a lower-ranking intelligence official would travel instead.

Indian soldiers hold their positions outside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

President-elect Barack Obama said he was closely monitoring the situation. "These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them," he said in a statement.

The attackers were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy during a long siege. One backpack found contained 400 rounds of ammunition.

India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but this was more sophisticated — and more brazen.

Fresh blasts rock Mumbai hotels as death toll climbs

Posted by Posted by Linda on Thursday, November 27, 2008 , under , , , | comments (0)



MUMBAI, India -- Fresh explosions have rocked Mumbai hotels as Indian police battle to release hostages the day after gunmen carried out attacks across the city, killing more than 100 people.

Fresh explosions have been heard at the Taj Mahal hotel, where police are trying to free hostages.

Fresh explosions have been heard at the Taj Mahal hotel, where police are trying to free hostages.

A standoff continued at the Oberoi Hotel, where about 100 members of a specialized unit of the Indian police undertook an operation to rescue four to five foreigners hostage on the 19th floor.

CNN producer Phil O'Sullivan reported a "very loud explosion came from right deep in the hotel."

At the nearby Taj Mahal hotel, CNN's Sara Sidner reported another blast had rocked the building. Video Watch more on explosion at hotel »

As concerned family members stood outside, medics took stretchers into the hotel and brought out bodies covered in white sheets. Police were going floor to floor to flush out gunmen. About five of them were believed to be holed up in the Taj; another three in Oberoi, Maharashtra state officials said.

Maharashtra official Bhushan Gagrani said the Taj situation was "almost sorted out" and that police expected to clear the Oberoi by tonight. Hostages remained, but he didn't say how many. Read more from witnesses

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested the group behind the attacks was based outside India and probably had "external linkages."

The death toll from the series of coordinated attacks was at 101, including at least six foreigners, by Thursday afternoon authorities said. The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed one of its citizens had been killed. The nationalities of the others was still being checked.

Another 314 people were wounded in the attacks, including seven British and two Australian citizens. Video Watch more on who is responsible »

In addition, at least nine gunmen were killed in fighting with police.

Also among the dead was Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Mumbai police's anti-terror squad, and as many as 11 police officers. Video Watch as new gunfire erupts at the Taj hotel »

An American woman who was still inside the Taj with her husband told CNN by phone Thursday that television feeds into the room had stopped and she did not know what was going on.

"We have water and we're hunkered down and patient and ready to wait it out," she said. "We're OK. Last night was a different story, but today we're OK."

The woman, whom CNN is not identifying so as not to disclose her location, said she heard gunfire outside her room Wednesday night and "a man with an American accent screaming for help."

Authorities found 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, at a restaurant near the Taj, indicating that the attackers may have been planning more violence.

Gunmen also remained holed up in a building called Chabad House, where several Jewish families live. Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. The couple's 18-month-old baby was released unharmed. Read more on group claiming responsibility

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Igal Palmor told CNN that the situation at the house was unclear.

Two women and an infant were seen escaping from the building but three to four residents remained captive inside, an Indian official said.

Police said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the building. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said.

Two women and an infant were seen escaping from the building but three to four residents remained captive inside, said Johny Joseph, the state's chief secretary.

Police surrounded the building and exchanged gunfire in which one of the gunmen reportedly was shot, CNN's sister station CNN-IBN said.

A standoff at a fourth location -- the Cama Hospital for women and infants -- appeared to have been resolved by Thursday morning, CNN-IBN reported. It was not immediately known whether gunmen at the hospital fled or were killed.

Authorities locked down Mumbai and asked residents to stay inside. The stock market in the city -- India's financial hub -- was closed, as were schools and colleges. The city is also home to Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry. Video Watch the attacks on various key Mumbai sites »

Government officials said the attacks caught them completely unaware.

Police say the attackers came by boats to the waterfront near the Gateway of India monument.

Of the nine suspects arrested in connection with the attacks, seven are fishermen. Police also found a boat loaded with explosives near the Taj, which is located on the waterfront.

"Those men were wearing jackets and they carried big big bags," one fisherman told CNN-IBN.

International hot lines

Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs offers these numbers: In Australia: 1-800-002 214. Australians overseas, call 61 2 6261-3305.

India: JJ Hospital, 91 22 2373-5555; St. George Hospital (Dr. Ashok Shinde), 91 98 6905-0622; Police control room, 91 22 2262-5020, 91 22 2262-1855

UK: The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs is directing concerned UK nationals to call 44 (0)20 7008-0000

U.S.: The State Department has established a Consular Call Center: The number is 888-407-4747.

Said another: "We asked, 'Where are you coming from?' They said, 'Go do your work.'"

The gunmen then hijacked cars -- including a police van -- and broke up into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, police said.

One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. They then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a Victorian building. Video Watch analysis on what the intentions were behind the attacks »

As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital. Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj hotels.

A man told local television that he was in the Oberoi around 10 p.m. when gunmen entered the lobby and began rounding up guests, asking for anyone with a U.S. or British passport and taking about 15 of them hostage.

Bhushan Gagrani, a spokesman for Maharashtra, said no one had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

But several Indian news outlets reported receiving e-mails from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen that claimed responsibility for the attacks. CNN was not able to verify the reports.

Reaction from the United Nations, United States and United Kingdom was swift as world leaders joined in condemning the attacks. Read more on the international reaction

India has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a string of bombs that ripped through packed Mumbai commuter trains and platforms during rush hour in July 2006. About 209 people were killed in that attack.

Last July, a series of synchronized bomb blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad left 49 dead and more than 100 wounded, police said.