Indian army commandos were yesterday battling Islamist gunmen who launched coordinated attacks against luxury hotels and other targets in Mumbai, taking foreign hostages and killing more than 100 people.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the attackers had come from “outside the country,” and also warned “neighbors” who provide a haven to anti-India militants — seen as a veiled reference to Pakistan.
A top policeman said troops were fighting their way through the financial and entertainment capital’s famous Taj Mahal hotel but said “we are in the final stages of operations.”
“We are confident that we’ll be able to counter the terrorists,” state police chief A.N. Roy said, as sporadic gunfire and explosions continued to echo in Mumbai yesterday evening.
Some 200 people were still believed trapped in another five-star hotel, the Oberoi/Trident, the hotel group’s vice-chairman said, while a rabbi was being held at an office-residential complex which also houses a Jewish center.
Gunmen from the little-known Deccan Mujahidin group, who claimed responsibility for the attacks, exchanged fire with commandos throughout Wednesday night and yesterday, reporters on the scene said.
Eight other locations, including Mumbai’s main train station, a hospital and a popular restaurant, were sprayed with gunfire and grenades late on Wednesday after the gunmen reportedly landed in the city by speedboat.
The Indian navy said it was following up on suspicions that the gunmen had been dropped off by a larger boat or ship.
One of the gunmen holed up in the Oberoi/Trident told the India TV channel by phone that they wanted an end to persecution of Indian Muslims and the release of all fellow Islamic militants detained in India.
“Muslims in India should not be persecuted. We love this as our country but when our mothers and sisters were being killed, where was everybody?” he said from inside.
State officials said 101 people were killed in the assaults, involving small groups of gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades. The attacks began around 10:30pm on Wednesday.
Up to 287 other people were also reported wounded.
Nine foreign nationals were among the dead — including a Japanese businessman, an Australian and an Italian — while Americans, Israelis and Canadians were said to be among those held.
The main Bombay Stock Exchange, itself hit by a terror attack in 1993, was closed until further notice, as were shops, schools and businesses.
In a televised address to the nation, Singh appealed for calm.
“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,” the prime minister said.
“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 of the country,” he said.
“We will take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them,” Singh said.
India has in the past frequently accused Pakistan of backing Islamic militants active in India, and has recently pointed at neighboring Bangladesh as a possible source of cross-border militancy.
The prime minister, however, did not identify any country by name.
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