Carnage in India attacks

27/11/2008| IslamWeb

Groups of heavily armed men have attacked several high-profile hotels and restaurants in the Indian city of Mumbai, leaving at least 101 people dead and more than 250 injured.

Attackers were still holding hostages early on Thursday and are engaged in a standoff with security forces at two of the city's best known hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberioi Trident.

Police said six attackers had been killed and nine others arrested hours after the attacks began on Wednesday night, but Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state where Mumbai is located, said the situation was not yet under control.

"We're gong to catch them dead or alive," R R Patil, home minister for Maharashtra state, told reporters.

"An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."

Six foreigners are among the dead, police have said.

By dawn on Thursday Indian army troops called in to support the police had begun moving into the two hotels and there were reports of gun battles.

Police loudspeakers have announced a curfew around the areas where the attacks have taken place.

Western hostages

Authorities have said that the attackers had first made their way to the Taj hotel on an inflatable boat.

"We have been told that there were 12 people [on the boat]; they split up into smaller groups and then went off to the various locations were the attacks took place," James Wright, reporting for Al Jazeera, said.

Indian authorities said several foreigners were thought to be held hostage at the Taj Mahal hotel, but it was not immediately clear if hostages at the Oberoi were Indians or foreigners, said Anees Ahmed, a senior state official.

Witnesses at both hotels said the attackers singled out British and American citizens.

"They kept shouting: 'Who has US or UK passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the Taj Mahal.

Several European legislators, visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit, are reportedly among those who have barricaded themselves inside the hotel.

It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, part of which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.

Indian police, said eight locations were targeted in what they called terrorist attacks, including the two hotels.

Other hotels, the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, Leopold's restaurant, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai have also been hit.

A Jewish rabbi and his family are also thought to be under threat after gunmen stormed the building in which they were staying.

"The name of the place is Chabad house in South Mumbai. I hear commandos are storming the apartment block, which is a four-storey building," Jonathan Solomon, the chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, said.

"A rabbi is in there with his family ... I do not know the number of gunmen in there. I don't know how many family members are in there."

'Shock' at attacks

Al Jazeera's Riz Khan, reporting from Mumbai, said the targeted buildings are popular not only with tourists but local elites as well, and were clearly chosen by the attackers to give their assaults maximum exposure.

Shai Venkatraman, a correspondent with the private New Delhi Television channel, said that Mumbai was in a shock of shock following the coordinated attacks.

"Mumbai is not new to terror but this has really shocked people. There is a stunned silence," she told Al Jazeera.

"This has really damaged Mumbai's reputation, even though it is a city that is usually quick to come back. But this time, the attack has really shaken the people.

"The situation at the Taj hotel is especially bad. There are reports that there are about four terrorists there and we are hearing that about 20 to 25 people are trapped at the hotel.

 "There are no negotiations going on. At the moment, there are just exchanges of gunfire."

Anti-terror chief killed

At least three senior Indian police officers, including Hemant Karkare, the chief of the city's anti-terrorism squad, were among those killed, police official AN Roy said.

Maharashtra's chief minister said 11 police officers were killed in all.

The motive for the attacks was not immediately clear, but India has witnessed a series of coordinated attacks in recent months.

PHOTO CAPTION

Pigeons fly as the Taj Hotel continues to burn in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008.

Al-Jazeera