What had happened in Mumbai? or happening?

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Indian troops free hostages in one hotel



Indian commandos have managed to free hostages held overnight in Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel (pictured) after a night of terror attacks across the city that saw at least 101 people confirmed dead. Between 50 and 200 hostages are still being held at the Oberoi hotel as Islamist militant gunmen demand the release of "mujahideens" and militants held in Indian jails.
The gunmen are believed to have arrived in Bombay by boat near the colonial-era landmark the Gateway of India before fanning out across the southern part of the city to hit targets including a backpacker pub, hospitals and a railway station, Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, where 10 people were shot dead.
At least 11 police officers, including anti-terrorism squad chief, Hemant Karkare, were killed in the attacks. There was a taxi bomb in the city's financial district and reports of a bomb boat, which was said to be defused.
Rakesh Patel, a 41-year-old Londoner working for HSBC was in the Taj hotel when gunmen burst in.
He said: "They were asking for any US and UK passport holders and got everyone to drop their phones on the ground. At that point there was a huge blast and in all the smoke I managed to run back down the fire escape."
A previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but it is thought that may be an assumed name, or hoax.

By Jason Burke
FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 27, 2008


Was it al-Qaeda - or a home-grown terrorist? The prime Indian suspect in the spectacular terrorist attacks on Mumbai will be Abdul Subhan Qureshi, a 36-year-old computer engineer who is also believed to have masterminded multiple bombings in Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad earlier this year.
It is too soon to say who is responsible for the co-ordinated strikes by gunmen on India's financial capital - ­ targets included luxury hotels, railway stations and hospitals - but Qureshi, also known as Tauqeer, is the man Indian security services will be fingering.
His profile is typical of the modern Islamic militant - educated, intelligent, the first generation of a family to break through to middle-class status and, as is very often the case, the first to grow up in a city, in this case Mumbai.
Qureshi is not known to be linked with al-Qaeda: his association is with the Indian Mujahideen
Qureshi's parents came from the poor, crowded northern state of Uttar Pradesh but migrated to the city ­ - then called Bombay - and sent their son to Antonio De Souza High School, a church-run institution catering to all major religions.
He went on to get a diploma in industrial electronics in 1995, then a more specialised computing qualification in 1996 before joining a technology firm. From there, after handling several major projects, he moved to a larger computer company and then resigned suddenly, explaining that he wanted to "pursue religious and spiritual matters".
Qureshi is not known to be linked with al-Qaeda: his association is with the Indian Mujahideen, which claimed responsibility for the earlier bombings in other Indian cities and after the Delhi attack issued an explicit threat that Mumbai would be next.
(In emails to the Indian media, a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for last night's attacks, but it is not known to anti-terrorist experts and may turn out to be a hoax.)
If Qureshi is responsible, the question is whether he has miscalculated with this latest attack. The tipping point in a terrorist campaign comes when a community becomes sick of the violence. Then you get the stream of intelligence that leads to an individual.
This has happened in Iraq ­ with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in Egypt during the 1980s, in France, in Indonesia and in the UK. Tips from within the British Muslim community have led to scores of important arrests in recent years. It is the only way a manhunt can be successful.
Those the bombers claim to represent are least likely to be affected by the attacks
But it's not always that simple. One reason Osama bin Laden is still at large is that the strikes he orchestrates are a long way from the local population that might turn him in. The people who might be sickened enough by the sight of the real effects of his acts find themselves instead under the bombs and missiles of the Pakistani and American militaries.
In India, the situation is complicated too. The people the bombers claim to represent are least likely to be affected by the Islamic militants' attacks, if they are indeed responsible: few among India's 151m Muslims have had the education and economic opportunities to end up in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which, of course, is one of the motivations of the terrorists.
Depriving the terrorists of any legitimacy within the eyes of the traditionally moderate and law-abiding Indian Muslim community will be essential if they are to be stopped.
While Qureshi is without doubt a prime suspect, various aspects of the Mumbai attack point to al-Qaeda, as Robert Fox reports for The First Post: the degree of co-ordination, the timing - Western intelligence has been expecting an atrocity of some sort while Barack Obama waits to take over in Washington - and the reports from eyewitnesses that the gunmen who attacked the Taj and the city's other landmark hotel, the Oberoi, were specifically seeking out guests with American and British passports.
Whoever is responsible for last night's wave of terror has left Mumbai in chaos, with more than 100 killed, including the state's anti-terrorism chief, Hemant Karkare.
Ten were shot dead at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, formerly known as the Victoria terminus. And at both the Taj and the Oberoi, gunmen were still holding Westerners hostage this morning.
Jason Burke is a senior foreign correspondent for the Observer FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 27, 2008

[img][/img]Britons TargetedPosted on November 27, 2008 by americansnews

MUMBAI, India – Black-clad Indian commandoes raided two luxury hotels to try to free hostages Thursday, and explosions and gunshots shook India’s financial capital a day after attacks by suspected Muslim militants killed at least 119 people.
About 10 to 12 gunmen remain holed up inside the hotels and a Jewish center, a top Indian general said. The remaining gunmen appeared to have been killed or captured, Maj. Gen. R.K. Huda told New Delhi Television.
Authorities said 119 people died and 288 were injured when suspected Islamic militants — armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives — launched a highly coordinated attack against 10 sites in the city Wednesday night.
Officials said eight militants were also killed.
Dozens of people were being held hostage at the hotels, as well as a nearby Jewish center, by the well-trained and heavily armed gunmen, authorities said.
While hostages trickled out of the hotels throughout the day, witnesses said many bodies remained inside and the two-day siege showed few signs of ending quickly. Several bodies were carried out of the five-star Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
The attackers had specifically targeted Britons and Americans inside the hotels, witnesses said.
Dozens of people were also apparently still hiding in their hotel rooms, terrified by occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions, as well as fires burning in parts of both hotels, and waiting for authorities to get them to safety.
After dusk Thursday, police brought hostages out of the Oberoi, one of the city’s best-known five-star hotels.
One man, a who identified himself as a Pole but did not give his name, told reporters he had seen many bodies inside, but refused to give more details, saying he had promised police not to discuss details of the rescue operation.
The Maharashtra state home ministry said 84 people had been freed from the Oberoi — 60 of them hostages — and dozens more were still trapped inside.
Police said they were going slowly to protect the captives.
A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a series of terror attacks over the past three years that have dented India’s image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.
Among the dead were at least one Australian, a Japanese and a British national, said Pradeep Indulkar, a senior government official of Maharashtra state. An Italian and a German were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.
The most high-profile target was the Taj Mahal hotel, a landmark of Mumbai luxury since 1903, and a favorite watering hole of the city’s elite.
Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around the hotel Thursday afternoon, and commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area. Into the night, brief exchanges of gunfire and explosions could be heard coming from the building.
The attackers, dressed in black shirts and jeans, stormed into the hotel about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday and opened fire indiscriminately.
Dalbir Bains, who runs a lingerie shop in Mumbai, was about to eat a steak by the hotel pool when she heard gunfire. She ran upstairs, taking refuge in the Sea Lounge restaurant with about 50 other people.
They huddled beneath tables in the dark, trying to remain silent as explosions went off.
“We were trying not to draw attention to ourselves,” she said. The group managed to escape before dawn.
The gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. Around 10:30 a.m., a woman, a child and an Indian cook were seen being led out of the building by police, said one witness.
Chabad spokesman Moni Ender in Israel said there were eight Israelis inside the house, including Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife.
Among those foreigners still held captive in all three buildings were Americans, British, Italians, Swedes, Canadians, Yemenis, New Zealanders, Spaniards, Turks, French, Israelis and a Singaporean.
At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said Roy.
The United States and Pakistan were among the countries that condemned the attacks.
In Washington, President George W. Bush offered Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “support and assistance” as he works to restore order in the populous and growing Southwest Asian nation, according to White House press secretary Dana Perino.
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.
An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify that claim.
Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism specialist with the Swedish National Defense College, said there are “very strong suspicions” that the coordinated Mumbai attacks have a link to al-Qaida.
He said the fact that Britons and Americans were singled out is one indicator, along with the coordinated style of the attacks.
India’s prime minister blamed “external forces.”
“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,” Singh said in address to the nation.
Indian navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said navy officers had boarded a cargo vessel that had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan. Hours later, he said nothing suspicious had been found on board and the ship had been released.
Mumbai, on the western coast of India overlooking the Arabian Sea, is home to splendid Victorian architecture built during the British Raj and is one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling mansions.
Among the other places attacked was the 19th century Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station — a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic architecture — where gunmen sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal, leaving the floor splattered with blood.
“They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In seconds, people fell to the ground,” said Nasim Inam, a witness.
Other gunmen attacked Leopold’s restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital.
___
Associated Press writers Ramola Talwar Badam, Erika Kinetz and Jenny Barchfield in Mumbai, Raphael G. Satter in London and Cristian Salazar in New York contributed to this report.

[img][/img] | Terror in Mumbai




Terror in Mumbai


A gunman armed with an AK-47 assault rifle walks through Chhatrapati Shivaji station during the siege. The terrorists are

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Terror in Mumbai


Employees and guests use curtains to escape the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel where terrorists had been throwing hand grenades at police through the night. As gunmen armed with AK-47s indiscriminately fired shots into the foyer, dozens of hostages fled into the hotel kitchens and the basement where they barricaded themselves in. At the other luxury hotel attacked, the Oberoi Trident, hostages had hung a banner from the window reading 'Save us'.

Massacre in Mumbai: Malaysian woman can't be located

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian woman who checked into the Taj Mahal Palace hotel on a business trip to Mumbai is missing.

Malaysian consul-general in Mumbai Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah said Hema T. Kasipillai, 51, from Bangsar Baru here, had checked into the hotel last Tuesday to attend to a business meeting but has been unaccounted for.

It was learnt that Hema was sent to Mumbai to attend the Indo-Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and Industry meeting by her Kuala Lumpur-based company.

"She had checked into a room on the sixth floor of the hotel," Wan Zaidi said, adding her name is not on a list of hotel guests found to be safe.

"Her colleague, a Belgian, escaped from the hotel when the terrorists stormed in."
Meanwhile, a Singapore woman has been reported among several foreigners held hostage by the terrorists.

Wan Zaidi said the consulate checked with two other places -- the Trident-Oberoi hotel and the Nariman Guest House -- also under seige, but no Malay-sians were found there.

He said six other Malaysians, on a visit to Mumbai, were safe and accounted for.

"About 150 Malaysians working and residing in Mumbai are safe."

Wan Zaidi advised Malaysians intending to travel to Mumbai to defer trips as parts of the city were under curfew.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement, condemned "this senseless act of violence which had targeted civilians".

Malaysia Airlines director of operations Datuk Tajuden Abu Bakar said flights from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, to and from Mumbai, were operating on schedule

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Family members of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar break down during his funeral in Mumbai on Thursday. Salaskar was killed while fighting terrorists at the Cama Hospital in Mumbai during the coordinated terror attack in Mumbai.

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93 hostages freed from Trident HotelNovember 28, 2008 11:46 IST

About 93 hotages, mostly of foreign origin, were rescued from the Trident Hotel on Friday morning. They were escorted from the scene in a bus that was stationed at the nearby Air India building

The bus full of evacuees has been taken to Four Seasons hotel. The staff has formed a cordon outside with the police. Mid-management staff has been coming out and yelling the names of relatives. Unless the kin are there, the evacuees are not sent out.

The forces engaged the two remaining terrorists in Trident Hotel, where no gun shots or explosions were heard since late Thursday night as the security forces launched room-to-room searches. It is believed that at least one of the two terrorists has been gunned down.

Meanwhile, in dramatic scenes after day break on Friday, NSG commandos were air-dropped at the Nariman House in the midst of exchange of fire as army zeroed in on the building in which at least three terrorists are holed up.

Before commandos tightened their grip on Nariman House for the final assault, two explosions within a span of ten to 15 minutes slowed down their operation. A third explosion was heard at 4.47 am.

The media has been pushed back by about 300 yards and routes have been cleared for ambulances.

Fire brigade personnel, wearing bullet proof vests, too have been positioned near Nariman House. At least 3 fire tenders have been pressed into service.

"The operation to clean up the Nariman House is still going on," Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) J K Dutt told media persons just before choppers airdropped the commandos.

"It is just a matter of time and it will end soon," he said.

Dutt said the operations at Taj were by and large over with just one injured terrorist still holed-up in the building.

"He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," he said.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/28mumterror-commandos-push-for-final-assault.htm

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Shri Hemant Karkare
Jt.C.P./Spl. I.G.P. Anti Corruption Bureau, Maharashtra State

Dr. Manmohan Singh asked his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gillani to send the ISI Chief to IndiaBreaking News! In a strongest-ever signal of India's resolve to fight terrorism, Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh asked his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gillani to send the ISI Chief to Delhi to share information about the terror attack in Mumbai. The receipt of such a letter was confirmed by Gillani's spokesperson in Islamabad, says PTI. Latest reports said that Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has called up PM Dr. Manmohan Singh and assured all cooperation in the probe.


Earlier, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is currently in India has condemned the terror attack in Mumbai. He also refuted the reports that terrorists had ferried to Mumbai from Karachi in motor boats. "This is not possible and we shall not run for conclusions and blame each other", said Qureshi.



This is for the first time PM Dr. Manmohan Singh has taken such a tough stance against Pakistan. The Pakistani link with the Mumbai terror attack has been established from the satellite phone received from one of the dead terrorists. In addition, the intelligence sources have hinted at the possible collusion between ISI, Pakistani Army, Underworld and LeT to carry out well-planned terror attack in Mumbai

thanks for this hour-by-hour report mirugam.
great journalistic endeavor...

Thank you,VJ.

I am deeply hurt by this attack on human being.

This is Barbarism, uncivilized Barbarism

Terrorists kill 5 hostages at Nariman House

CNN-IBN

Published on Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 18:16, Updated on Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 19:48 in Nation section

Mumbai: Five hostages have been killed by terrorists holed up inside Nariman House, a Jewish centre, in Colaba (Mumbai) even as National Security Guard commandos have secured major parts of the building.

""We had taken over the second floor of the house when grenade was launched from above. Three hostages were killed by terrorists before they moved upstairs. NSG commandos moved upstairs to kill two terrorists on the fourth floor. Terrorists killed two hostages in this floor," NSG Director General Jyoti Krishan Dutt said.


"Nariman House charge will be given to CRPF and Mumabi Police after the operation is over," Dutt said. "We are on the last floor and any time we will finish this operation," he said.


The fate of terrorists is still unclear.


The Jewish centre had earlier been badly damaged after a strong explosion took place at the third floor of the building.

Portions of the Jewish centre have been damaged after rocket-propelled grenades were launched as part of terrorist flush-out operation.


National Security Guard commandos had stormed the building where at least four people were believed to have been taken hostage by a group of heavily armed terrorists.


There was heavy exchange of fire at Nariman House and terrorists also lobbed grenades on the commando team.


NSG commandos entered the building early on Friday morning after rappelling from a helicopter onto the roof of the Jewish centre.


Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 155 while 327 others have been injured in the terror attacks that began on Wednesday night. The dead include eight foreigners.

MUMBAI: All terrorists holed-up at Taj hotel have reportedly been killed by NSG commandos. Black plumes of smoke are still billowing out of the hotel.

Official reports are awaited.

Black plumes of smoke still billowing out of Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel as Indian security forces exchanged heavy fire with militants holed up inside.

A witness said a fire had broken out within the hotel.

News channels also showed flames at a ground floor area.

Earlier on Saturday morning, fresh explosions were heard and intense gunfire continued at the besieged Taj hotel as NSG commandos engaged in what is believed to be their final assault to flush out the militants.

Media personnel stationed outside Taj hotel asked to step back as skirmish between terrorists and security forces reaches last stage.

After the successful operations at Oberoi-Trident hotel and Nariman House, the Taj hotel remains the only concern for the NSG, which is conducting one of its biggest counter-terror offensives.

Five large explosions were heard from inside Taj Mahal hotel's heritage building early on Saturday followed by intense gunfire between NSG commandos and the terrorists holed-up in the complex.

The first explosion was heard at around 03:40am (local time) from inside the old building of the hotel and within 30 minutes four more large explosions were heard from the same area.

"They (terrorists) are changing their positions. We have to also, on the spot, try and change our tactics, strategies," Director General of NSG J K Dutt said when asked about the Taj siege where militants are still holed up.

"From the intensity of the firing and different area they have occupied, I would say there would be two or three of them," he said.

The NSG chief said the final picture will emerge only after the final operation is over and the checking of the room is complete.

"Our information is that they have been hit," he said and refused to divulge further details.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Taj_siege_ends_terrorists_killed_Reports/articleshow/3771119.cms

good work mirg...you are keeping us all updated.

THANK YOU,VJ.

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