Police battle gunmen through siege hotels
Guests flee as troops take on militants one bedroom at a time
An Indian National Security Guard (NSG) commando abseils from a helicopter in Mumbai. Photo: Pedro Ugarte, Getty Images
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BLACK-CLAD Indian commandos waged bloody room-to-room battles with well-armed militants holed up in two luxury Mumbai hotels yesterday, in a bid to free hostages and trapped guests following an unprecedented attack in India's financial hub.
The attackers killed at least 119 people and left more than 300 wounded.
The death toll is expected to rise after India's crack security services team, known as the Black Cats, finish flushing out the gunmen and gain full access to the scenes of carnage.
With Indians wondering who had inflicted this co-ordinated campaign of terror that struck 10 sites around the city, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was swift to point the finger at long-time foe Pakistan, saying the gunmen likely had outside support.
"The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of terror by choosing high-profile targets," he said in a broadcast to his rattled nation.
"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."
The Islamic extremist attackers, armed with AK47 assault rifles and carrying bags of extra magazines, grenades and explosives, were making a desperate last stand at the grand seafront Taj Mahal Palace and the Trident-Oberoi. Fires continued to lick at parts of both buildings.
Much still remains unclear about the attacks that started late on Wednesday night. What is known is that roughly two-dozen heavily armed men, wearing black shirts and black jeans and thought to be in their early 20s, had had been involved in a considerable amount of sophisticated planning. They reportedly came ashore in rubber dinghies close to Mumbai's iconic Gateway of India, commandeered a vehicle and sprayed passers-by with bullets, then raced to the luxury hotels and Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station. One report said there was evidence the men had mounted a reconnaissance mission to help prepare for the assaults.
Indian authorities said about a dozen attackers had been killed, and that, since Wednesday night, 400 guests had been evacuated from the Taj hotel and at least 60 from the Trident-Oberoi. What remained unclear was how many were still inside, barricaded in their rooms or held hostage by the remaining gunmen.
But relief was writ large of the faces of all those who had managed to escape. Marilyn Ernsteen, of Chicago, emerged on the street outside the Taj, clutching a copy of the appropriately titled Nicholas Sparks novel, 'The Lucky One'.
"I was very scared," she said brokenly. She had been ending a three-week holiday with her husband, Joseph. He said: "We were in our room at around 11.15 when we got a telephone call saying, 'Please stay in your room'. We could hear explosions, lots of gunfire. We just kept the door shut. This morning, at about 9am, I said, 'I've had enough of that'. I put my head out of the door, yelled, and then we walked out by a back staircase."
Gunfire
At the Trident-Oberoi hotel in the leafy Nariman Point neighbourhood, gunfire broke out intermittently and there were reports of an explosion. Police had cordoned off the building and helicopters clattered overhead. A Polish citizen, who was among a trickle of guests to get out of the Oberoi, told reporters he had seen many bodies inside but refused to give details, saying he had promised police not to discuss details of the rescue operation.
At the 105-year-old Taj Mahal, India's most famous hotel, police had taken up defensive positions around the perimeter while commandos were hunting the terrorists inside. Local television showed images of Black Cat teams working their way through the 800 rooms, turning on the lights once they were sure a room had been cleared. Near by, the Cafe Leopold, a popular expat haunt that was among the first places to be attacked, remained closed, its chaotic, furniture-strewn interior visible behind the shutters.
Commandos were also surrounding a Jewish community centre, run by an ultra-orthodox group called the Chabad Lubavitch, where Rabbi Gavriel Noach and his wife were being held hostage. Later, there were reports that eight people had been freed including the couple's toddler son, Moshe. One gunman, barricaded inside the centre, phoned an Indian television channel to offer talks with the government and to rail against the treatment of Muslims in Kashmir. "Ask the government to talk and we will free the hostages," said the man with a Kashmiri accent who identified himself as Imran.
The wounded were taken to hospitals across the city. Yesterday, the families of those caught up in the various incidents waited anxiously for news. At the city's Sir Jamshedjee Jeejebhoy hospital, 76-year-old Mohan Lal Narang and his daughter were sitting on a bench, clearly dazed. They had enquired about a missing aunt and were told there was no record, so they asked to see the bodies. "She was among them." Mr Narang, said. "We cannot believe that we have lost our entire family." His brother and nephew had also perished after going to the Taj for dinner. A previously unknown group, the Deccan Mujahideen, has claimed responsibility. (© Independent News Service)
- Andrew Buncombe in Mumbai
