Mumbai Terror Attacks, November 26, 2008

[Love,]

My heart hurts so much to hear of this. :cry:

 

I send my prayers and my most heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the many victims of these horrific, monstrous, and inhumane attacks on innocent people.

 

104 killed as gunmen rampage in India city

By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer Anita Chang, Associated Press Writer 27 mins ago

 

MUMBAI, India – A trickle of bodies and hostages emerged from a luxury hotel Thursday as Indian commandoes tried to free people trapped by suspected Muslim militants who attacked at least 10 targets in India's financial capital of Mumbai, killing 104 people.

 

More than 300 were also wounded in the highly coordinated attacks Wednesday night by bands of gunmen who invaded two five star hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station, a Jewish center and at least five other sites, armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives.

 

A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a series of nationwide terror attacks over the past three years that have dented India's image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 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," he said in address to the nation.

 

Among the dead were at least one Australian, a Japanese and a British national, said Pradeep Indulkar, a senior government official of Maharashtra state, whose capital is Mumbai. An Italian and a German were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.

 

Police said 104 people were killed and 314 injured. Officials said eight militants were also killed.

 

The most high-profile target was the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower 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 Taj Mahal hotel Thursday afternoon, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area.

 

Soldiers outside the hotel said the operation would take a long time as forces were moving slowly, from room to room, looking for gunmen and traps.

 

In the afternoon, bodies and hostages slowly emerged from the building. At least three bodies, covered in white cloth, were wheeled out.

 

Throughout the day, explosions and gunfire were heard and toward dusk flames again blossomed from a window of the Taj.

 

About a dozen people, including foreigners, were also evacuated from the hotel and whisked into a waiting ambulance. Several of them carried small pieces of luggage. One older man was carried into the ambulance by police.

 

The attackers, dressed in black shirts and jeans, had stormed into the hotel at about 9:45 p.m. and opened fire indiscriminately.

 

"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai before a European Union-India summit.

 

Suddenly "another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone.

 

The shooting was followed by a series of explosions that set fire to parts of the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Screams were heard and black smoke and flames billowed, continuing to burn until dawn.

 

Dalbir Bains, who runs a lingerie shop in Mumbai, was about to eat her steak by the pool at the hotel when she heard the sound of gunfire. She said 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 as quiet as possible while explosions were going 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 and attacked the Oberoi Hotel, another five-star landmark.

 

The gunmen appeared to be holed up inside all three buildings on Thursday, nearly 18 hours later, holding foreign and local hostages, as Indian commandos surrounded the buildings.

 

Among those foreigners held captive were Americans, British, Italians, Swedes, Canadians, Yemenis, New Zealanders, Spaniards, Turks, a Singaporean and Israelis.

 

"We're going to catch them dead or alive," Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."

 

Gunfire and explosions were heard from the Taj Mahal, the Oberoi and the Chabad facility.

 

"It seems that the terrorists commandeered a police vehicle which allowed them easy access to the area of the Chabad house," said a spokesman for the Lubavitch movement in New York, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin.

 

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.

 

The child was identified as Moshe Holtzberg, 2, the son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, the main representative at Chabad house. The child was unharmed, but his clothes were soaked in blood.

 

Sandra Samuel,44, the cook who pulled the boy out the building, said she saw Rabbi Holzberg, his wife Rivka and two other unidentified guests lying on the floor, apparently "unconscious.

 

At the nearby Oberoi hotel, soldiers could be seen on the roof of neighboring buildings. A banner hung out of one window read "save us." From the road, no one could be seen inside the room.

 

At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said and A.N. Roy, a top police official.

 

The attackers appeared to have been targeting Britons and Americans.

 

Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered everyone to put up their hands.

 

"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything — and thank God they didn't," he said.

 

Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.

 

The United States and Pakistan were among the countries that condemned the attacks.

 

In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the U.S. "condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy."

 

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.

 

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.

 

"There have been a lot of warnings about India lately and there are very strong suspicions of a link to al-Qaida."

 

Later Thursday the Indian navy said its forces were boarding a cargo vessel suspected of ties to the attacks.

 

Navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said Thursday that the ship, the MV Alpha, had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan.

 

The navy has "located the ship and now we are in the process of boarding it and searching it," he said. Earlier, Indian media showed pictures of black and yellow rubber dinghies found by the shore, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed.

 

India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.

 

Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.

 

Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947.

 

___

 

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.

 

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

Edited November 27, 2008 at 01:02 PM by Love,

[dj4celine]

I've been watching the news since early morning and it's so scary and one can only imagine what the people in the city must be going through. My prayers to the families who've lost their family members

 

This is getting really frustrating with militants and 'external forces' trying to tarnish India's image by attacking public places and killing innocent people. I don't know what they want to prove by committing such heinous acts not just here but anywhere around the world. Sick and crazy devils I just hope that another communal riot doesn't occur

[Alex_Incognito]

This is so awful. Keep safe, Dhruv!

[dj4celine]

The number of dead now has risen to 125 and 327 injured

[Bradders]

[destin139]

My best friend is in Mumbai on her gap year with a Christian charity called Oasis Trust. Where she is staying is no more than 20 mins away from the hotels in Mumbai and the gunmen have been searching out those with British and American passports to hold hostage. I last spoke to her last Friday and have no idea how or where she is. Please keep her and her team in your thoughts and prayers. I pray that she is safe and God will protect her from the horrible violence.

 

My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by these terrible atrocities in Mumbai. The families and friends ofthe victims are in my prayers.

I pray that India will come out of this stronger and even more united with the world.

[KimboCosmo]

This is really scary...

 

I pray the families and friends involved in this are ok and that they will get over this tragedy.

[dj4celine]

The numbers have now risen to 155 dead and 330 injured

 

The saddest news bit I saw was about the 2 year old son of the Rabbi who was in the Chabad house which is called Nariman House. The young boy was very lucky when his nanny took him out just when the terrorists stormed into the house. Both of his parents are reported to have been killed. Now the young boy is an orphan. He is supposed to celebrate his 3rd birthday tomorrow

 

This world is so fcuked up

[destin139]

My best friend is in Mumbai on her gap year with a Christian charity called Oasis Trust. Where she is staying is no more than 20 mins away from the hotels in Mumbai and the gunmen have been searching out those with British and American passports to hold hostage. I last spoke to her last Friday and have no idea how or where she is. Please keep her and her team in your thoughts and prayers. I pray that she is safe and God will protect her from the horrible violence.

 

I spoke to my friend today - she and her team are fine although a little shaken up. I really pray that peace comes to reign in Mumbai and my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims

[dj4celine]

Glad to know that your friend is safe, Destin139. Prayers and good wishes are what the people there need right now

[destin139]

Thanks dj4celine - I'm so glad too!! I spoke to her this morning and she said that the whole city just seems to be in shock. people are trying to get back to normal but everyone in the area has been affected in some way.

[rakesh]

im genuinely glad to know that the people outside India seem concerned and expressing their sincere thoughts on this atrocity that happened to, not only our pride that was the Taj Hotel which was part of our History but also the deep wounds that caused to us all, physically for some , and mentally for the whole nation. it means a lot to know that u're all remembering our country and keeping us all in ur prayers. so Thank You Lots!!!

Much Love

 

VIOLENCE & TERRORISM SUCKS!!!!

[destin139]

im genuinely glad to know that the people outside India seem concerned and expressing their sincere thoughts on this atrocity that happened to, not only our pride that was the Taj Hotel which was part of our History but also the deep wounds that caused to us all, physically for some , and mentally for the whole nation. it means a lot to know that u're all remembering our country and keeping us all in ur prayers. so Thank You Lots!!!

Much Love

 

VIOLENCE & TERRORISM SUCKS!!!!

 

I dont think anyone can be un-moved by what has happened in Mumbai over the last week... it all came so suddenly.

India continues to be in my thoughts and prayers...