MUMBAI BURNS

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MUMBAI BURNS AGAIN :
TERRORISM
 
 
The Taj Hotel, Mumbai's landmark hotel, is caught fire after ...

MUMBAI, India – Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 82 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.

Parts of the city remained under siege as dawn approached Thursday, with police and gunmen exchanging occasional gunfire at two hotels and an unknown number of people still held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Soldiers also took up positions across the city.

A raging fire and explosions struck the landmark Taj Mahal hotel shortly after midnight. Screams could be heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from windows and balconies with extension ladders.

Fire brigade personel at the fire-engulfed Taj Mahal hotel, ....

The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans, witnesses said. Officials said at least 200 people were wounded.

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.

State home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said two more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were captured. They declined to provide any further details.

An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify the claim.

Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations in this crowded but wealthy city.

Indian policemen prepare to take position at the site of attack ...

Gunmen who burst into the Taj "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting: `Who has U.S. or U.K. passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the hotel.

Authorities believed seven to 15 foreigners were hostages at the Taj Mahal, but it was not immediately clear if hostages at the Oberoi were Indians or foreigners, said Anees Ahmed, a top state official. It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.

State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking. He said he could not address reports that Westerners might be among the hostages.

"The United States condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "President Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks."

Johnny Joseph, chief secretary for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said 82 people had been killed and 120 had been wounded.

Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans were admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshot wounds. All were brought in from the Taj Mahal, the officials said.

An Indian policeman prepare to take position at the site of ....

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

Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal. Press Trust of India quoted the chief of the Mumbai railway police, A.K. Sharma, as saying several men armed with rifles and grenades were holed up at the station.

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. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers.

Officials also reported that terrorists attacked the city's Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, but it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed in those places.

Smoke rises from the Taj Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. ...

A British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi hotel told Sky News television that the gunmen who struck there singled out Britons and Americans.

Alex Chamberlain said a gunman, a young man of 22 or 23, ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and ordered everyone to put up their hands. He said the gunman spoke in Hindi or Urdu.

"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.

Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations.

"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 ahead of a European Union-India summit.

As he turned to get away, "all of a sudden 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.

Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out.

The British Foreign Office said it was advising all British citizens in Mumbai to stay indoors.

Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, strongly condemned the attacks. "Today's attacks in Mumbai which have claimed many innocent victims remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists," Miliband said in a statement.

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 a series of explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.

Mumbai has been hit repeatedly by terror attacks since March 1993, when Muslim underworld figures tied to Pakistani militants allegedly carried out a series of bombings on Mumbai's stock exchange, trains, hotels and gas stations. Authorities say those attacks, which killed 257 people and wounded more than 1,100, were carried out to avenge the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in religious riots that had swept India.

Ten years later, in 2003, 52 people were killed in Mumbai bombings blamed on Muslim militants and in 2006 a series of seven blasts on railway trains and at commuter rail stations killed at least 187.

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.

Replies (3)

Yes sir I do believe that the mumbai terrorist attacks have been carried out just b'coz of lapse in security measures & control from the intelligence agencies.

I feel that now the govt should think of providing & arranging adequate security measures to its countrypeople & the guests at large. The govt should implement strict anti-terrorism laws.

Unless the time is not that far when the country people will not have any faith on the security agencies & specifically the police.

But I do believe that we country people are very much aware of our responsibilities for our country and should behave in that manner in future.

Regards.

Dear Brothers

We impotent Indian Lead by the Horse raiders, can see, assimilate & adopt these kind of activities, cann't do anything more than these. We may Salute to our Security guards. As usual we forgot all may a week/month. Again our Manmohan Fight for chair & retain the chair by compromising the stake of majority. We the real impotent Indians. Otherwise we should publicly Hang the terrorist(includng Those assist Terrorist), Bloody Parents, Spouse &  their Chldren. But our Manmohan Talk about the Human rights for Terrorist not for us.


 

BRAVO!
 
SALAM MUMBAI,
SALAM OUR COMMANDOS
SALAM OUR POLICE FORCE
SALAM INDIA
 
YES ALL OF US NEEDS TO CELEBRATE THIS VICTORY.
AND WHILE DOING SO, WE NEED TO REMEMBER TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR SURROUNDING. 
 
UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL
 
DURING THIS COMING MONTHS  I THINK ALL OUR LEADERS WILL BE BUSY IN BLAMING EACH OTHER .  THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SECURITY OF THE NATION, PEOPLE IN GENERAL IS NOT ONLY IN THE HANDS OF POLICE OR SECURITY FORCES.  BUT WE OURSELVES HAVE TO BE ALERT AND HELP THEM. WE WANT OURSELVES TO BE PROTECTED BY OTHERS?
 
THESE TERRORISTS HAD FULL PLAN OF WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO.  THIS WHOLE SCENE LOOKS LIKE INSPIRED FROM THE FILMS LIKE DHOOM.  IS IT NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FILM PRODUCERS / WRITERS TO AVOIDE SUCH KIND OF TRAINING THROUGH FILMS?
 
WE NEED TO THINK.
 
WHO IS STAYING NEAR US. WE HAVE SEEN THAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN BOMB BLASTS WERE STAYING IN PUNE IN APARTMENTS AND WE NEVER KNEW ABOUT THEM.  THE APARTMENT SYSTEMS HAS CREATED COMPARTMENTS WHERE PEOPLE ARE CAGED. THE SOCIETY  SHOULD ARRANGE FOR FAMILY GET TOGETHERS ONCE IN A WHILE.  OUR FESTIVALS ARE MEANT FOR THAT. TO COME TOGETHER, TO ENJOY AND TO KNOW EACH OTHER.  WHY NOT START NOW.
 
KEEP YOURSELF UPDATE ABOUT
 
NEW  NEIGHBOUR
NEW COLLEGUES / SERVENTS
RIKSHAW DRIVERS / CAR / TAXI DRIVERS
 
THIS IS THE TIME WHEN WE SHOULD MAKE OUR MILITARY FORCE  STRONGER, THEREBY GIVING EMPLOYMENT TO THE NEEDY.  MAKING MORE AND MORE FORCE READY FOR SUCH TERRORS.


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