REPORT: Bombay Under Siege - UPDATED
(streaming IBN coverage here)
Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), the commercial capital of India, the largest democracy in the world, was attacked overnight by terrorists.
At least ten targets including the Taj, Oberoi, and Trident Hotels, the popular Café Leopold, Cama Hospital, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, and a cinema hall were targeted by rebels. Reports range from five to seven ten separate locations. Reports say that rebels opened fire in lobbies, evacuated rooms, and demanded that visitors carrying US and British passports step forward.
Both All three hotels are reported to have been taken hostage. Army commandoes stormed the Oberoi and the Taj to release the hostages. The Trident and Oberoi Hotels are still under the control of the terrorists with hundreds of hostages. Seven terrorists hold hostages in the Oberoi and have demanded that all Mujahideen imprisioned by India be released in exchange for the hostages. CITV reports that hostages are still being held by Deccan Mujahedeen inside of the Taj, though many were freed with the initial surge of commandoes.
Mumbai is in lockdown.
The AP is reporting at least 101 dead and 314 wounded.
The Times of India reports an unknown outfit, "Deccan Mujahedeen", has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Deccan Mujahedeen is said to be a possibly an offshoot of the Indian Mujahideen which is suspected to be a faction related to Pakistan-based, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who has suspected ties to al-Qaida:
MUMBAI: A group calling itself the "Deccan Mujahedeen" claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attacks in Mumbai that killed 80 people, and injured over 900.
The outfit sent emails to various media outlets saying it carried out the attacks across the city.
Another little-known Islamic group, the Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahedeen, had claimed responsibility for serial blasts last month in Assam that claimed nearly 80 lives.
Six weeks earlier, New Delhi had been hit by a series of bombs in crowded markets that left more than 20 dead. Those blasts were claimed by a group calling itself the Indian Mujahedeen.
80 dead and over 900 injured and that seven foreigners are among the 15 hundreds were taken hostage at the Taj:
MUMBAI: Two terrorists carrying guns tonight took 15 people, half of them foreigners, hostage on the roof of the luxury Taj Hotel, one of the hostages who managed to escape said.
Two youths in their 20s came to the restaurant of the hotel and took 15 people to the roof of the hotel, Rakesh Patel, a businessman from London who lives in Hong Kong, told a TV channel giving the first eyewitness account of what happened in the five-star hotel in South Mumbai.
"The two young boys came to the restaurant and took us upstairs. We were taken to the 18th floor from where we escaped", he said.
Replying to a question, Patel said the terrorists wanted to know if any one of the hostages was carrying American and British passports.
They clearly wanted foreigners, he added.
BBC News: Mumbai rocked by deadly shootings:
Gunmen have opened fire at a number of sites in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killing at least 60 people and injuring about 200 more.
Police said shooting was continuing and that the incidents were co-ordinated terrorist attacks. Gunmen are thought to have taken hostages at two hotels.
At least seven sites have been targeted across India's financial capital.
There has been a wave of bombings in Indian cities in recent months which has left scores of people dead. <!-- E SF -->
Most of the attacks have been blamed on Muslim militants, although police have also arrested suspected Hindu extremists.
Indiscriminate firing
On Wednesday, gunmen opened fire at sites including a train station, two five-star hotels, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists.<!-- S IANC --> <!-- E IANC --> <!-- S ILIN -->
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At least two blasts, suspected to be grenade attacks, were reported alongside the shootings.
Police said the gunmen had fired indiscriminately.
At least 10 people were killed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, they said.
"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," said AN Roy, police commissioner of Maharashtra state.
Some gunmen were still holed up in buildings that had been targeted, officials said.
Gunmen were reported to be holding westerners hostage at the Taj Mahal and another nearby hotel, the Trident.
Local TV images showed blood-splattered streets, bodies being taken into ambulances and dramatic shots of what appeared to fresh blasts inside the Taj Mahal hotel.
One eyewitness told the BBC he had seen a gunman opening fire in the lobby of Taj Mahal hotel.
He said he had seen people fall before he fled the lobby.
"All I saw was one man on foot carrying a machine gun type of weapon - which I then saw him firing from and I saw people hitting the floor, people right next to me," he said.
The Oberoi hotel was also targeted.
One witness told local television that the gunmen were looking for people with British or US passports.
"They wanted foreigners," said the man, who said he was in India on business.
A series of attacks in Mumbai in July 2006 killed almost 190 people and injured more than 700.
Bombs were detonated on commuter trains during rush hour.
Police accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of planning the attacks, which they said were carried out by an Islamist militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Pakistan rejected the allegation, saying there was no evidence that its intelligence staff were involved.
The shootings come at a time when ties between India and Pakistan have improved.
The two countries have a joint anti-terror mechanism whereby they are supposed to share information on terrorist attacks
CNN reports that government spokesmen have reported 78 dead, including the state of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hermant Karkare, while police have confirmed 26 dead. Half of the hotels' patrons are US or British nationals. The US State Dept. has not confirmed any Americans dead.
UPDATE 1 (4:15 PM CST):
CNN-IBN reports that nine targets attacked by the Deccan Mujahedeen, an "Islamic sepratist group" possibly aligned with Kashmiri separatists.
CNN-IBN TV is reporting that a police jeep has been hijacked and people inside opened fire on a crowd of people gathered near the Taj and that a source on the ground says that "this attack was aimed specifically at Westerners."
The Times of India has updated the number of those injured to an estimated 900. Three "top cops" are reported dead:
Mumbai: Three police officers, including chief of ATS Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and additional commissioner Ashok Kamte succumbed to their injuries in Wednesday's terror attack.
UPDATE 2 (4:25 PM CST):
BBC News: "Witnesses tell of Mumbai violence":
Alan Jones was in Mumbai on business, and was at the Trident Hotel, which adjoins the Oberoi Hotel, with a colleague when the attacks happened.
"We took the lift to the lobby and heard bangs as the door opened. A Japanese man, one of four men in the lift, was shot and wounded at that precise moment.
"I frantically pressed the "close door" button but had to move the shot man's foot for the doors to close.
"We headed back to our rooms on the 28th floor of the hotel but were quickly instructed by staff to go to a "safe" room in the basement.
"There, we met many residents, but nowhere near all of them. After approximately an hour, we were escorted from the hotel, and, with the help of our local office, made our way back to the office we've been working at.
"It's still near the affected area but feels more secure.
"We're under the impression that there are still gunmen in the Oberoi -Trident complex, with many residents still inside.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Alex Chamberlain, a British man in Mumbai on business, said he had escaped from the Oberoi hotel which was on fire.
He told the British television broadcaster, Sky, that when he was in the hotel a gunman ordered people upstairs.
"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, 'don't be a hero, don't say you are British'.
"I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically."
Fearing that he would be asphyxiated by smoke in the stairwell, Mr Chamberlain said he had managed to escape through a fire exit with another person.
But his Indian friend was "still on the roof of that hotel somewhere" while armed police surrounded the building.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mumbai resident Sanvar Oberoi said he was near the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station - one of the targets - when the attacks began.
"On hearing two loud distinct bomb sounds we rushed back home.
"On our way back at Marine Drive, a long stretch of sea-facing road, we saw the deployment of a large police personnel and safety measures being carried out such as evacuations.
"We saw a team of ambulances and police vehicles racing past on the other side of the road.
"Even in the posh area of Nepeansea Road and Malabar Hill all apartment buildings' gates were tight shut and police check posts set up.
"Colleges and offices have announced that they are shut for tomorrow. The entire city is in panic and shock.
"Cell phone networks are down, slow, congested.
"Mumbai indeed has seen its share of terrorism but never in the past 18 years to such a large and bold extent."
UPDATE 3 (4:40 PM CST):
The army has moved into the Oberoi Hotel.
CNN-IBN TV reports that the Cama Hospital has been taken hostage. As of now, government officals have identified nine suspects. Three have been arrested and four are dead.
What was earlier viewed as a attack on Westerners is now said to be motivated by the effort to cripple the city in terror, given the strategic targets that include civilian locations in the railway station and the hostage sitation at Cama.
UPDATE 4 (5:18 PM CST):
The Times of India: "Army storms Mumbai's besieged five-star hotels":
MUMBAI: Indian Army personnel early on Thursday stormed the two besieged five-star hotels in Mumbai to nab terrorists who had left at least 80 dead hours earlier and to free a number of people including foreign tourists held captive there, officials said.
Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team was already at the Hotel Taj Intercontinental where the holed-up terrorists hurled a grenade towards advancing army troopers, the police officials said.
Two terrorists were killed in encounter at the Taj hotel.
Police officials said nine suspected terrorists were caught and two killed in shootouts following the yet another series of planned and synchronised attacks in the heart of India's financial capital around midnight on Wednesday.
Exchange of fire "is on between police and terrorists at Taj and Trident. Our people have surrounded them and the ATS team has arrived at the Taj hotel," said A.N. Roy, Maharashtra director general of police.
UPDATE 5 (7:13 PM CST):
CNN-IBN is reporting the death toll to be at least 87 has confirmed 87 dead and 185 wounded.
The Times of India:
MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday termed as "very grave" the situation in Mumbai arising out of Wednesday night's terror attacks across the city that left 80 people, including 11 policemen, dead.
He said some terrorists were holed up at the Taj Hotel at Colaba and Trident (formerly Oberoi) hotels.
Deshmukh said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured all cooperation to help tackle the aftermath of terror attacks.
Eleven policemen, including five officers, were killed in the attacks, he said.
The chief minister, who rushed back here from Kerala, said Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had assured Central government's assistance to tackle the situation.
Around 200 NSG commandos would soon reach Mumbai, Deshmukh said adding five columns of army and two columns of navy commands have been deployed.
Deshmukh refuted reports that Cama hospital in south Mumbai was in control of terrorists.
The chief minister strongly condemned the terror strikes and asked people not to believe in rumours.
Deshmukh assured the people that his government will take stringent action against the culprits involved in the attacks.
CNN-IBN has been reporting of loud blasts inside the Taj and the roof has been on fire for hours. Witnesses are reporting a fire in the lobby of the Oberoi Hotel.
Blogger for The Weekly Standard, Bill Roggio writes:
While it is certainly possible that the group is taking credit for another’s handiwork, the Indian Mujahideen has been implicated as being behind several recent attacks in India.
The group claimed credit for the July 25 and 26 bombings in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. At least 36 Indians were killed and more than 120 were wounded in the attacks. The Indian Mujahideen took credit for the Sept. 13 attacks in New Delhi that resulted in 18 killed and more than 90 wounded. The group also claimed credit for the bombings in Jaipur last May (60 killed, more than 200 wounded), and bombings in Uttar Pradesh in November 2007 (14 killed, 50 wounded).
Indian intelligence believes the Indian Mujahideen is a front group created by Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami to confuse investigators and cover the tracks of the Students' Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a radical Islamist movement. The groups receive support from Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence and are al Qaeda affiliates.
Rohan Gunaratna, Indian terrorism analyst, has been quoted as saying on CNN that no other group but the Indian Mujahideen could organize an attack such as today's.
UPDATE 6 (7:41 PM CST):
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
BBC News profile of LeT can be found here.
Animesh Roul of Counterterrorism Blog:
India Times has a chronology of terror attacks in India, which have killed over 600 in the past 6 years...
The incidents took place one day after the reported arrest of Lashkar -e-Toiba linked Raheel Sheikh by the Interpol in London. Raheel is one of the alleged masterminds of the conspiracy and was involved in the funding of the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial train blasts that killed nearly 200 commuters and wounded over 500 people on that fateful day.
Still no mention of Sheikh's arrest in London yesterday for his role in the Mumbai 7/11 bombing anywhere in the MSM. This further explains the singling out of people with US and UK passports. Islamic terrorists have a long history of hostage situations involving tourists and travelers offering their freedom for the release of imprisoned comrades i.e. Munich.
It is now daylight in Mumbai. The city is still locked down and the fire seems to be out at the Taj. New Delhi TV (NDTV), an Indian 24/7 news network estimates 100 hostages are still being held in the Taj by three or four terrorists, among other locations including the Trident and Oberoi Hotels.
Side note: The Rachel Maddow Show will be selling the American public on Obamanomics tonight after a day like this. Way to go, GENBC.
UPDATE 7 (9:08 PM CST):
Updates on HotAir.com:
Update: No details yet but IBN says 50 people have been rescued from the Hotel Taj.
Update: MSNBC was streaming IBN just now and a correspondent speculated that we’re looking at maybe 100 suspects here, maybe more. How was a group that large trained and equipped well enough to carry out coordinated attacks without anyone leaking or Indian counterterror knowing about it? See now why Roggio thinks ISI might be at work here?
Update: There have been six separate explosions at the Hotel Taj, apparently, and 10 separate attacks across the city in all, according to IBN. I would never have guessed that any terror group was capable of pulling this off, be it AQ, Hezbollah, or whoever.
India Times has posted multiple videos of the terrorists:
NDTV is reporting a cinema hall also targeted in today's attack and that and estimated 100 people have been rescued from the Taj. Hundreds are still being held hostage in the Taj and Trident Hotels. Shots have been heard randomly from outside the Taj and NDTV is estimated more hostages at the Trident than at the Taj. Hostages are calling NDTV while holed in their rooms. Our prayers go out to these people in this time of their amazing terror.
A terrorism analyst on FNC's Hannity & Colmes is still the only person to discuss yesterday's arrest of Raheel Skeikh by Interpol in England on the MSM. He hypothesized that today's attacks were set in the event that he were apprehended.
Still no word as to the terrorists' demands. I don't think it's a stretch to take a guess that they're demanding the release of Sheikh as one of their demands.
Side note: FNC's On the Record with Greta van Susteren is replaying an interview she did with Gov. Sarah Palin and Keith Olbermann is being a union apologist and whining about Glenn Beck -- on a day like this. Sick.
UPDATE 8 (9:35 PM CST):
The Times of India, CNN-IBN and NDTV are reporting the Army commandoes stormed the Taj and over 100 hostages have been released twelve hours after the initial attacks.
UPDATE 9 (11:51 PM CST):
Ramola Talwar Badam of the AP is reporting:
Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and an unknown number of people were held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said 101 people were killed and 287 injured. . . .
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. . . .
"We're gong to catch them dead or alive," [State Home Minister R.R.] Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."
Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal.
Nasim Inam's hands shook when he spoke of seeing four attackers gunning down commuters as they walked to catch late trains home.
"They wore black T-shirts and blue jeans. They were carrying big guns," said Inam. "They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In seconds, people fell to the ground."
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. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed.
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 state government ordered schools and colleges closed Thursday.
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.
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.
101 dead. 287 injured.
For those unaware, a railway station in Mumbai is the equivalent of a small airport in the US. Mujahideen opened fire in to a crowded Mumbai railway station and ran away like the cowards they are.
The Indian Mujahideen has been on a rampage in India, as of late -- especially since LeT was banished from Pakistan. (See the BBC profile on LeT.)
CNN International TV (CITV) is reporting that the fire still burns at the Taj, but it's under control. The Oberoi still has fires being fought.
CITV is also reporting that the twelve "gunmen" who attack the Taj arrived off the shore by boat and that the several hundred yards surrounding the Taj is usually heavily secured. A few days ago, that security was laxed.
There is no recent word on the hundreds of Trident hostages.
Keith Olbermann has just reported, sourcing nothing, that the "number of 220 injured has been reduced to 120" at 7:15 PM CST. The AP, CNN, The Times of India, NDTV, Fox News, and Yahoo! said that you were wrong, at that time, asshole. As of the time of your verbal diarrhea, 87 human beings had been confirmed as having lost their lives, sir. The number of those injured always greatly exceeds those injured.
Then, there's The Times of India. Yes, Mr. Olbermann. You know, those brown people dodging bullets today to collect data for the paper of record in the largest democracy in the world while you were getting you hair sculpted and researching more ways for The Daily Kos readers to put the pillow under their knees for you?
Mr. Olbermann had the nerve to brush this event off and the international media coverage of it as an act of fearmongering. More people have died today at the hands of Mujahideen than did in the Munich Massacre. Fuck you, Mr. Olbermann!
UPDATE 10 (12:43 AM CST):
We have demands from the terrorists that have been relayed to the public.
The Times of India is reporting:
A militant holed up inside Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel told a news channel on Thursday that seven attackers were holding hostages inside the luxury establishment.
"There are seven of us inside hotel Oberoi," the man identified as Sahadullah told the channel. "We want all Mujahideens held in India released and only after that we will release the people."
"Release all the Mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled," he said.
The Army surge on the Oberoi failed. Seven terrorists are still holed up inside with hostages and they've made a demand: all Mujahideens imprisoned in India must be released for the hostages to have their release. No mention of Sheikh has been reported, but Westerners were targeted in the hotels and Sheikh is imprisoned by Interpol.
CITV reports that hostages are still being held by Deccan Mujahedeen inside of the Taj, though many were freed with the initial surge of commandoes.
UPDATE 11 (4:39 AM CST):
Sixteen hours later and CNN is reporting the AP's statistics of 101 dead, 314 wounded, and hostages are still under the authority of the Deccan Mujahedeen at the Taj, Oberoi, and Trident Hotels. Explosions were heard and smoke is coming out of the Oberoi.
Phil O'Sullivan, reporting for CNN from Mumbai, just said that terrorists haven't made any demands (so, we should just accept the confusion of aggressive nihilism and go to bed).
Apparently, he's getting his info from Keith Olbermann's funnel because The Times of India published the terrorists' demands over four hours ago.
Prayers remained with those men and women confined in terror.
6dbl5321 is a freelance political media consultant, DePaul University College of Law student, and Young Professional Member at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Categories: Current Events, Miscellany, War/Military, World Affairs
Tags: Raheel Sheikh, Bombay, Mumbai, Pakistan, Mujahideen, Terrorism, india, LeT
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