Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Indian commandoes fought Thursday to wrest
control of two luxury hotels and a Jewish center from suspected
Muslim militants, a day after a chain of attacks across Mumbai left
at least 119 people dead and the city shellshocked.


      Gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the day and night
from the besieged headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish
outreach group Chabad Lubavitch and the Taj Mahal and Oberoi
hotels, two of the top gathering spots for the Mumbai elite.
Throughout the day, commandoes brought hostages, trapped guests and
corpses out of the hotels in small groups while fires erupted
periodically and firefighters battled the flames.

      State officials said 119 people had died and 288 were injured.


      The well-planned attacks began Wednesday night and officials
said the gunmen were prepared, even carrying large bags of almonds
to keep up their energy during the fight. Their main targets
appeared to be Americans, Britons and Jews, though most of the dead
seemed to be Indians and foreign tourists caught in the random
gunfire.


      The gunmen - some of whom strode casually through their targets
in khakis and T-shirts - clearly came ready for a siege.


      "They have AK-47s and grenades. They have bags full of grenades
and have come fully prepared," said Maj. Gen. R.K. Hooda.
Vice-Admiral J.S. Bedi, a top naval officer.


      Ratan Tata, who runs the company that owns the elegant Taj
Mahal, said they appeared to have scouted their targets in advance.


      "They seem to know their way around the back office, the
kitchen. There has been a considerable amount of detailed
planning," he told a news conference.


      Throughout the day, black-clad Indian commandos moved through
the two hotels room by room in a bid to free the dozens of trapped
people.


      The Maharashtra state home ministry said dozens of hostages had
been freed from the Oberoi and dozens more were still trapped
inside. More than 400 people were brought out of the Taj Mahal, and
army forces were still scouring the building for survivors early
Friday morning.


      Late Thursday night, authorities said they had killed three
gunmen at the Taj and were sweeping the Oberoi in search of
hostages and trapped people.


      It remained unclear just how many people had been taken hostage,
how many were hiding inside the hotels and how many dead still lay
uncounted.


      There were conflicting reports about hostages at the Jewish
center. A diplomat closely monitoring the site said people were
still being held there, though an Indian state official said
earlier eight hostages had been released. Both sources spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to
the media.


      The diplomat said the eight people had likely been hiding in a
nearby building.


      On Thursday morning, a woman, child and an Indian cook were led
out of the building by police, said one witness. The child was
identified as Moshe Holtzberg, 2, the son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach
Holtzberg, the main representative at Chabad house. The child was
unharmed, but his clothes were soaked in blood.


      Sandra Samuel, 44, the cook who pulled the boy out the building,
said she saw Rabbi Holtzberg, his wife Rivka and two other
unidentified guests lying on the floor, apparently "unconscious."


      India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on
Muslim militants in recent years, but most of those attacks have
been coordinated bombings that struck random crowded places:
markets, street corners, parks.


      These attacks were far more sophisticated - and more brazen.


      They began at about 9:20 p.m. with the shooters spraying gunfire
across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world's
busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack
roughly every 15 minutes - the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant,
one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were
10 targets in all.


      Indian media showed pictures of black and yellow rubber dinghies
found by the city's shoreline, apparently used by the gunmen to
reach the area. Both of the luxury hotels targeted overlook the
Arabian Sea, which surrounds the peninsula of Mumbai.


      At the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, a soaring 19th
century architectural monument, gunmen fired bullets through the
crowded terminal, leaving the floor spattered with blood and
corpses.

      "They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In
seconds, people fell to the ground," said Nasim Inam, a witness.


      Analysts around the world were debating whether the gunmen could
have been tied to - or inspired by - al-Qaida.


      "It's clear that it is al-Qaida style," but probably not
carried out by the group's militants, said Rohan Gunaratna, of the
International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
in Singapore and author of "Inside Al-Qaida."


      "Yesterday's attack is a watershed because for the first time,
the terrorists deliberately attacked international targets," he
said, noting that symbolic high-profile targets had been chosen,
apparently to magnify the effects of the violence.


      Indian media reports said a previously unknown group calling
itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility in e-mails to
several media outlets. The Deccan is a region in southern India
that was traditionally ruled by Muslim kings.


      Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces" for the
violence - a phrase sometimes used to refer to Pakistani militants,
whom Indian authorities often blame attacks on.


      "The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with
external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by
choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing
foreigners," he said in address to the nation.


      Survivors of the hotel attacks said the gunmen had specifically
targeted Britons and Americans.


      Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen dining at the Oberoi, told
reporters that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant
into a stairway and ordered everyone to put up their hands.


      The gunmen "stopped once and asked, 'Where are you from? Any
British or American? Show your ID.' My friend said, 'Tell them
you're Italian.' And there I was with my hands up basically
thinking I was in a lot of trouble."


      Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were
forced to walk upstairs.


      One man brought out of the Oberoi, a who identified himself as a
Pole but did not give his name, told reporters he had seen many
bodies inside, but refused to elaborate, saying he had promised
police not to discuss details of the rescue operation.


      Among the dead were at least four Australians and a Japanese,
said the state home ministry. An Italian, a Briton and a German
were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.


      At least three top Indian police officers - including the chief
of the anti-terror squad - were among those killed, said Roy.


      Among those foreigners still held captive in all three buildings
were Americans, British, Italians, Swedes, Canadians, Yemenis, New
Zealanders, Spaniards, Turks, French, a Singaporean and Israelis.


      The United States, Pakistan and other countries condemned the
attacks.


      The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but
Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on
Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006
that killed 187 people.


      Mumbai is one of the most populated cities in the world with
some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling
mansions.


      India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years,
which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this
largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.


      Since May, a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen
has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130
people. The most recent was in September, when explosions struck a
park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing
21 people and wounding about 100.


      Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of
India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14
percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence
since British-ruled India was split into independent India and
Pakistan in 1947.

Gallery

Death toll rises, hostages held in Mumbai attacks

Slideshow: Attacks in Mumbai (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

Indian commandoes killed the last three gunman at a landmark hotel late Thursday and were sweeping another luxury hotel in search of hostages and trapped people after suspected Muslim militants stormed targets across Mumbai, leaving 119 people dead.

Commandos with dogs arrive at the Taj Hotel

PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

Indian policemen prepare to take position

INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images

An Indian man stands at the site of an attack

Indian policemen walk through the shooting site

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Military Take Control Of Scenes Of Mumbai Attacks

119 killed as gunmen rampage in India city

Go Deeper.

Like this?