Mumbai Terrorist Attack

MUMBAI, India — Indian commandos took control of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, the last nest of terrorist resistance, on Saturday morning, after a lengthy assault that left three terrorists dead and sections of the hotel in flames, the head of the commando unit said in a televised news conference.

Soldiers were still combing the hotel, going room to room in search of remaining gunmen, but the siege appeared finally to have ended, J. K. Dutt, director general of the National Security Guard, an elite commando force, said in the news conference at 9 a.m. Firefighters were permitted to begin pouring water over the flames that had burned out of control in the hotel’s lower floors for as much as an hour while the commandos battled the terrorists.

It was the third day of a siege that has shaken India, raised tensions with neighboring Pakistan and prompted questions about the failure of the authorities to anticipate the tragedy or to react swiftly enough as it unfolded.

All told, after attackers were cleared from a second hotel and a Jewish center on Friday, more than 150 people had died. Most of the dead were apparently Indian citizens, but at least 22 foreigners were killed. Among the dead reported were a rabbi from Brooklyn and his wife, who ran the Jewish center.

The main success for the authorities on Friday came at the second hotel, the Oberoi. The authorities said that two gunmen had been killed and 93 foreigners — some of them wearing Air France and Lufthansa uniforms — had been rescued, though 30 bodies were found. Survivors offered harrowing accounts of their ordeal, trapped on the upper floors of the high-rise hotel while gunmen prowled below. The National Security Guard said it recovered two AK-47s, a 9-millimeter pistol and some grenades.

For the first time, after several veiled accusations that Pakistan was involved, Indian officials specifically linked the attacks to their neighbor and longtime nemesis. India’s foreign minister blamed “elements in Pakistan” for the attacks , spreading the repercussions of the attacks beyond India’s borders. American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday that there was mounting evidence that a Pakistani militant group — Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has long been involved in the conflict with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir — was responsible.

The Indian authorities were beginning to face sharp questions about why operations to flush out a handful of assailants at the Jewish center and at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower had not moved more rapidly. And many other basic questions remained for a crisis that unfolded so publicly, on televisions, Web sites and Twitter feeds across the world. Who were the attackers? The police tally was at least 11 killed and one captured alive, but could so few militants have caused such mayhem?

Indian commandos said the attackers at the hotels were well trained, with one carrying a backpack packed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and they seemed to know the buildings’ layout better than the security forces, indicating a high degree of preparation. Some were seen arriving by boat; others may have been guests at the hotels for days.

The leader of a commando unit involved in a gun battle on Thursday morning inside the Taj said during a news conference on Friday that he had seen a dozen dead bodies in one of the rooms.

His team found a gunman’s backpack, which contained dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian and American money, and seven credit cards from some of the world’s leading banks, he said. The pack also had a national identity card from the island of Mauritius.

The attackers were “very, very familiar with the layout of the hotel,” said the commander, who disguised his face with a scarf and tinted glasses to hide his identity. He said the militants, who appeared to be under 30 years old, were “determined” and “remorseless.”

Mumbai Terrorist Attack 26 11 pictures photos images

At least 101 people have died in the attacks, and parts of Mumbai are still under siege

The sudden and coordinated attacks by Islamist gunmen in Mumbai on Wednesday continue to grip the Indian city on Thursday. The “Deccan Mujahideen” have claimed resonsibility, but no one seems to know if the group is homegrown or linked to a wider international network.

Explosions were heard even after a hostage standoff ended at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel on Thursday morning, and another hotel was still under siege as the city reeled from a coordinated terrorist assault which has killed 101 people and injured over 300.

Police were searching the Taj Mahal Palace room by room at about 10:30 on Thursday morning, according to the BBC, but by 11:15 witnesses reported hearing new explosions from inside the hotel, which was already burning from a suspected grenade explosion on Wednesday night. Other witnesses reported explosions at the Trident/Oberoi Hotel and the Nariman House, a Jewish center in Mumbai. All three buildings — targets of a terrorist assault on Mumbai on Wednesday — had been entered by Indian military commandos, according to Indian media.

Islamist gunmen had arrived by boats and invaded at least 10 “soft targets” on Wednesday evening, including the Jewish center, the two hotels, the landmark Café Leopold, hospitals and a railway station, where they sprayed commuters at random with bullets. Hostage standoffs at the Taj Mahal and Trident/Oberoi led — even hours later — to gun skirmishes with police and, at the Taj Mahal, images of a fire.

Indian soldiers take their positions outside the Taj Hotel, where on Thursday gunmen were still holding guests hostage.

The mood among security forces is tense. With the attackers still holed up in several luxury hotels, its unclear how many hostages remain at risk.

This is video still of a man presumed to be one of the terrorists. A group calling itself Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the late night assaults.

The terrorists were heavily armed with assault rifles and grenades. Reports suggest they started shooting wildly as they stormed various target-locations in their coordinated attack.

Troops from the Indian Central Reserve Police Force were out in force on Thursday in Mumbai.

Indian bystanders and media representatives take cover in front of the Taj hotel, responding to a volley of gunfire.

Firemen try to douse a fire at the 5-star Taj hotel.

The scenes of destruction have turned the city into a battlefield.

At Mumbai’s main train station, soldiers survey the scene of destruction left by the heavily armed shooters.

Footage from Indian TV station of a car destroyed in the attacks.

In addition to the 101 reported fatalities, at least 250 people were wounded.

A policeman takes stock of the bloody aftermath of the attack at the train station.

The attacks have claimed many victims. Here a policeman is helping a wounded child.

The attacks seem to have been aimed at western tourists visiting India’s financial capital.

Some of the injured are being transported out of the attacked hotels on luggage carriages.

Crowds have been gathering around to witness the live battles between the police and terrorist gunmen.

Police stand guard at a train station in downtown Bombay.

Police stand guard as investigators look for evidence to get a fuller picture of what has happened.