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.
Also See: ANALYSIS: India’s ‘mujahidin’ groups: a home-grown insurgency?、 India-England Tests to go ahead
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS