At Least 82 Killed As Gunmen Rampage In India City

[des_yeo03]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081127/tap-as-india-shooting-d3b07b8.html

[Hades]

Terrible.... All these incident always happen around the world :|

Curse the terrorist!! :angry:

[des_yeo03]

Mumbai attacks leave at least 125 dead, Pakistan accused

MUMBAI (AFP) - - Indian commandos battled into the early hours of Friday to end a multiple hostage crisis in Mumbai after suspected Pakistan-based Islamic militants killed 125 people across the city.

Officials said they had almost cleared a luxury hotel where gunmen have been holed up for more than 24 hours, with major operations still underway in another hotel where many guests, including foreigners, were hunkered down or being held hostage.

Security forces were also trying to secure a massive office-residential complex that also houses a Jewish centre, where an uncertain number of Israelis were believed to be trapped.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the militants, who carried out a rampage of gunfire and grenade blasts, had come from "outside the country," while the military official leading the operation to flush them out said they were from arch-rival Pakistan.

Major General R.K. Hooda told reporters they had "pretended" to be Indian, and the Press Trust of India said one Pakistani militant had been detained.

Pakistan's government fiercely denied any involvement.

More than 24 hours after the attacks began, military officials said special forces had successfully cleared the landmark Taj Mahal Palace hotel of all but one injured gunman.

"I think we should be able to mop up the operation very quickly," National Security Guards director general J.K. Dutt said.

Efforts continued to flush out militants at the Oberoi/Trident hotel and at the separate office-residential complex.

Inside the besieged buildings, scores of guests were believed to be trapped in their rooms -- too terrified to move.

"We've been waiting for hours and hours for the army to come and say we can go downstairs," said a Western woman, contacted by AFP on her mobile phone, from inside the Oberoi/Trident.

"We have to keep silent. They could be looking for hostages," she said.

According to hospital sources quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI), nine foreign nationals were among the dead -- including a Japanese businessman, an Australian, a Briton, a German and an Italian.

The Israeli embassy said around 10-20 Israeli nationals were among those held or trapped, along with Americans, French and Canadians.

Guests who escaped the hotels recounted how the gunmen had specifically tried to round up US and British citizens.

At least five gunmen had been shot dead and one captured, police said. Fourteen security personnel were also killed, including the head of Mumbai's anti-terror squad.

In an audacious operation apparently tailored to gain maximum international attention, the militants used small groups to attack a total of about a dozen targets in India's financial hub , including the main railway station, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists.

In an address to the nation, the Indian prime minister said the attacks were clearly "well-planned and well-orchestrated" and warned "neighbours" who provided a haven to anti-India militants that there would "be a cost" to pay.

An unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen claimed responsibility, with one gunman telling an Indian TV channel by phone that the outfit was of Indian origin and motivated by the treatment of Indian Muslims.

But the PTI news agency said Indian officials had pointed the finger at the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba -- best known for an assault on the Indian parliament in 2001.

The agency said the Pakistani detainee told Indian investigators that a group of 12 militants had been dropped off by a merchant vessel 10 nautical miles outside Indian waters, and had reached Mumbai in a small speedboat.

Home ministry sources said two Pakistani merchant vessels had been detained off the Indian coast.

Mumbai police chief Hassan Gafoor said more than 125 people had died. "The situation is very fluid and the toll could rise further," he told AFP.

Up to 327 people were reported wounded.

The main Bombay Stock Exchange was closed until further notice, as were shops, schools and businesses.

England's cricketers abandoned their ongoing one-day series against India and opted to fly home.

Prime Minister Singh said the aim had clearly been to spread panic by choosing high profile targets and "indiscriminately killing foreigners."

Witnesses said the gunmen had been very particular in their choice of hotel hostages.

"They said they wanted anyone with British and American passports," said one British guest at the Taj, Rakesh Patel.

The United States and Britain led global condemnation, with Washington describing the attacks as "horrific," and US president-elect Barack Obama pledging to work with India to "root out and destroy terrorist networks."

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081127/tap-india-attacks-5bb9277.html

[cyc]

actually I'd wanted to comment but my comments wouldn't be appropiate so I'll keep 'em to myself... I'll juz sing the song

"I like to teach... the world to sing... in perfect har-mony"

[Koo]

I dun like the Indian "commando" especially one of the "special force" unit nickname the "black cats" . Their history of unsuccessful hostage rescue is well know and somehow befits their nickname too.:duh: (i'm not racist but do know a bit of "black cats" unsuccess past missions)

I predict at least some 200+ people will die as a final result of the Mumbai attacks/hostage rescue.

[des_yeo03]

India battles to bring attack under control

MUMBAI (AFP) - - Special forces stormed a Mumbai Jewish centre and battled to free guests at two hotels Friday, as India blamed Pakistan for an audacious Islamist militant attack that left at least 130 people dead.

Troops and security forces were still trying to bring the situation under control more than 36 hours later in India's financial capital, where around a dozen sites were targeted in a brazen assault on Wednesday night.

It was not known how many hostages and attackers, if any, remained at large on Friday afternoon, and it was unclear if 24 bodies found inside the Oberoi/Trident hotel were in addition to the 130 already reported dead.

Officials said the Oberoi hotel was now under the control of authorities, while heavy gunfire was heard at the Taj Mahal, the other five-star hotel targeted in the attack which also hit a hospital and Mumbai's train station.

Commandos stormed a Jewish centre which had also been hit, as security forces tried to flush out any remaining militants from the attack, which Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee blamed on neighbouring Pakistan.

"According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible ," the minister said. He said proof of that involvement "cannot be disclosed at this time," the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

An Indian commando said the guerrillas had shot at almost anyone who crossed their paths during the shocking attack, apparently launched by a group of young militants who arrived in the port city by boat.

"They were the kind of people with no remorse -- anybody and whomsoever came in front of them they fired," said the soldier, a member of India's marine commando force who would not reveal his identity to reporters.

He said he had seen "blood all over" and bodies "strewn here and there," and that military response teams had tried to avoid harming the civilians who had been trapped in the hotels when the attack was launched.

"We could have got those terrorists but for so many hotel guests," he said.

As world leaders condemned the attack, Indian suspicion fell on Pakistan -- whose feared intelligence services have been implicated in attacks inside India in the past. The nuclear-armed nations have fought three wars in the past.

Mukherjee's accusation was the first time that an Indian official had accused Pakistan by name of involvement in the latest bloodshed.

India has also been grappling with homegrown unrest from Muslims and Maoists, and few details had been made public about the identity, motivations or even numbers of attackers.

One of the gunmen holed up inside the Oberoi on Thursday told India TV by phone that the Islamists had carried out the attacks, which included shooting up the Mumbai train station, because of alleged persecution of Indian Muslims.

PTI reported earlier that Indian officials were pointing the finger at the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba -- notorious for a deadly assault on the Indian parliament in 2001 that almost pushed India and Pakistan to war.

Police officials said 130 people had been confirmed dead and that more than 370 were wounded. Eyewitnesses who survived the ordeal recounted scenes of terror and carnage.

An Australian man who survived the attack at the Taj Mahal hotel and was rescued by soldiers, Paul Guest, told Australian radio there were scenes of unimaginable carnage.

"There was blood all over the floor and bits of bodies," he said.

The Israeli embassy said around 10-20 Israeli nationals were among those held hostage or trapped. Israeli media reported that India had turned down an offer for help and security advice.

Indian media reports said up to nine foreign nationals were among the dead. A Japanese businessman, two Australians, a Briton, a German, a Canadian and an Italian are believed to be dead.

Witnesses said the attackers had at first gone through the sites looking for people with US and British passports.

India's relations with the United States have flourished in recent years as the country of 1.1 billion people moved away from its close ties to Russia and embraced a market economy that has dramatically raised growth.

Both the United States and Britain expressed condolences and offered to help investigate the incident in Mumbai, which has been hit by terror attacks before. Nearly 190 people were killed in train bombings in 2006.

"It is clear that we have got to help the Indian government deal with this terrorist incident and we have sent people from the Metropolitan Police to help," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

India's newspapers laid much of the blame at the door of the country's intelligence agencies, which they said had failed spectacularly in allowing a handful of gunmen to wreak such havoc and devastation.

The Indian Express singled out Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which said he had "special responsibility" because he had been "partly distracted" by modernising the country's foreign policy and its economy.

"He has not been able to make the slightest difference to our internal security," the paper said.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081128/tap-india-attacks-5bb9277.html

[Koo]

The SG lady hostage is back in SG already.

[des_yeo03]

The SG lady hostage is back in SG already.

This piece of information is from?

Singaporean held hostage at Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel killed

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Foreign Ministry says the Singaporean Chinese woman held hostage at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai has been killed.

Speaking at a news conference at the Ministry, Director of the Consular Directorate Jai Sohan Singh said they were told at 9:35pm Singapore time that she died tragically.

This was after her husband, who had flown up to Mumbai, made a final confirmation of her identity. She is 28—year—old Lo Hwei Yen, a lawyer at a Singapore—based offshore law firm, who was in Mumbai on a working trip.

Indian authorities had found her body on the 19th floor of the hotel. The Singapore Foreign Ministry is helping the family to make arrangements to bring back the body.

The Foreign Ministry confirms there are no more Singaporeans stranded in any of the hotels in the Indian financial capital which was hit by coordinated terror attacks on Wednesday night.

115 Singaporeans were known to be in Mumbai either for work or leisure during the attacks that have killed some 130 people.

Meanwhile, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has expressed his sadness over the death of Ms Lo. He knows the family and had attended her wedding last year.

Upon learning the tragic news, SM Goh went to visit the family who were in a state of shock.

"Unfortunately, what we feared came true," Mr Goh told reporters.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20081128/tap-947-singaporean-held-hostage-mumbais-231650b.html

[des_yeo03]

Shock and sadness at Singaporean hostage’s death

SINGAPORE: When she met friends at a wedding two weeks ago, Ms Lo Hwei Yen told them that she was headed to India for work. She seemed excited about the trip, said the friends who met her.

On Friday, Ms Lo, 28, was identified as the Singaporean hostage held in the Mumbai terror attacks. Her body was found on the 19th floor of the Oberoi Hotel.

Friends whom TODAY spoke to expressed shock and sadness at the sudden loss.

“She was so young,” said a former Victoria Junior College classmate, who declined to be named. Another who saw her at the wedding said: “She seemed very radiant the last two times I saw her. I was very happy for her.”

Ms Lo, the eldest of three sisters, was engaged to Mr Michael Puhaindran in 2006 and they got married in Bali last year.

Friends described Ms Lo — who also attended Methodist Girls’ School — as “bubbly”, “bright”, “confident” and “outgoing”. At National University of Singapore, she was an active student who took part in many activities. Friends from law school said she was popular and known by many, including her juniors.

A former colleague who had known her since 2005 said: “She was bright and outgoing like any young lawyer entering the profession. It seemed the world was her oyster.”

Ms Lo was at law firm Drew and Napier between 2004 to 2006. She left it for a brief stint at another law firm Rajah and Tann, before she joined international law firm Stephenson Harwood where she had worked since last year.

Rumours of Ms Lo’s fate had been circulating since Friday afternoon. On Friday evening, as word about a media briefing was to be held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spread, one friend, who knew her, spoke for many when he said: “Many of her friends are still hoping there is some good news.”

As friends turned to news websites about the Mumbai attacks, Ms Lo’s name stood out for some.

Said a former junior college schoolmate: “Her name was quite unique among all those I knew. Most are Hui Yan or Hwee Yen. She’s Hwei Yen with an 'I’, with a nice radiant smile. She will always stand unique in her friends’ hearts.”

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20081129/tap-024-shock-sadness-singaporean-hostag-231650b.html

[Hades]

This piece of information is from?


Yesterday Wan Bao newspaper did report it. I guess she is not the only Singaporean hostage in Mumbai :|

[des_yeo03]

Battle for Mumbai ends, death toll rises to 195

MUMBAI (AFP) - - Commandos Saturday killed the last remaining gunmen in Mumbai's Taj Hotel to end a devastating attack by Islamic militants on India's financial capital that left 195 dead, including 22 foreigners .

Shortly after dawn broke on the third day of the siege in Mumbai, heavy gunfire and loud explosions signalled the final commando offensive against the militants, who had held hundreds of security personnel at bay for 60 hours.

"All operations are over. All the terrorists have been killed," Mumbai police chief Hassan Gafoor said, as the special forces units emerged from the smoke-filled hotel and firemen moved in to douse a fierce blaze.

On Friday, elite troops had stormed a Mumbai Jewish centre and killed two gunmen -- but also found five dead Israeli hostages, including a US-based rabbi and his wife, who were murdered as the commandos closed in.

Another luxury hotel that was attacked, the Oberoi/Trident, was declared clear of militants late Friday, with scores of trapped guests rescued and 24 bodies found.

"They were the kind of people with no remorse -- anybody and whomsoever came in front of them they fired," an Indian commando said of the young gunmen.

The head of the commando forces, J.K. Dutt, said his men were conducting a final sweep of the battle-scarred Taj.

"We are now going through each and every room to make sure it is safe," Dutt said, appealing to any guests still hidden in the hotel to make themselves known.

Mumbai disaster official R. Jadhav told AFP that 195 people had been killed and nearly 300 injured in the battle, which began when the dozen or so militants split into groups to attack multiple targets across the city, including the main railway station and a hospital.

TV channels described the attacks as "India's 9/11."

There were concerns that the death toll could rise still further as emergency services combed the warren of rooms at the main siege sites for more bodies.

The 22 foreigners killed included the Israelis, five Americans, two French nationals, two Australians, two Canadians, a German, a Japanese, a British Cypriot, an Italian, a Singaporean and a Thai.

Around 15 security personnel were killed, including the head of Mumbai's anti-terrorist squad who was cremated with full honours Saturday at a funeral attended by thousands.

Eleven militants were confirmed dead and one captured. Indian intelligence sources said the detained gunman had confessed to coming from Pakistan.

One group entered Mumbai by boat, while others were believed to have been inside the city -- stockpiling arms and explosives -- well before the attacks were launched.

The crisis risked escalating into a major stand-off between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan , with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying that "some elements in Pakistan" were responsible for the assault.

A number of Indian officials suggested the militants were from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba -- notorious for a deadly assault on the Indian parliament in 2001 that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the edge of war.

Pakistani leaders insisted their government had nothing to do with the attacks and appealed to India not to get drawn into a dangerous "blame game."

The two countries have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Survivors have given terrifying accounts of the carnage in the hotels. Many said they hid in the dark for hours, barricaded in rooms or hiding under beds, inside wardrobes or bathrooms.

"I cannot believe what I have seen in the last 36 hours. I have seen dead bodies, blood everywhere and only heard gunshots," said Muneer Al Mahaj after he was rescued.

South African security guard Faisul Nagel was having dinner with colleagues at a restaurant in the Taj hotel when the assault began. They barricaded the restaurant and moved everyone into the kitchen.

"We basically put the lights off in the restaurant just to create an element of surprise. And we armed ourselves with kitchen knives and meat cleavers," he told AFP.

They ended up helping around 120 people escape -- including a 90-year-old woman who had to be carried in her chair down 25 flights of stairs.

Witnesses said the attackers had specifically rounded up people with US and British passports.

Both the United States and Britain expressed condolences and offered to help investigate the assault on Mumbai, which has been hit by terror attacks before. Nearly 190 people were killed in train bombings in 2006.

US President George W. Bush said he was "deeply saddened," and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was sending police to help with the probe.

India's newspapers laid much of the blame at the door of the intelligence agencies.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081129/tap-india-attacks-5bb9277.html

[cyc]

at least this episode is concluded now... the involvement of commandoes shows the Indian govt unwillingness to negotiate with the terrorist... I think this is good that it didn't escalate into another "South Korean govt negotiate with terrorist directly to secure the release of the South Korean church group" incident... with the terrorist holding hostages, they must be thinking it's a lifeline for 'em, but the message to 'em is "u do stupid things like that, u DIE"!!!

[Hades]

Finally all terrorists have been eliminated. Served them right!! I won't feel sorry and never pity on them.

Cheers for the India Commandos squad team :supz:

But is Pakistan really the master mind who planned this incident??

[Koo]

Eh, no all terrorist involved in the Mumbai attack die, there is 1 sole survivor and the mastermind/or more involved in their support,command and control are not caught, likely they are said to be hiding in Pakistan or else where. (satellite phone found with dead terrorist)

The whole attack is very well coordinated no thanks to the slow Indian response, support and the weak information of all the hotel building plans. This lend to the 4hr+ delay whereby the already late Indian commandos/special force/counter terrorist squad is drag into.

[cyc]

yeah, juz read the papers, there's one survivor... not trying to be sadist, but wht they shld do to him is to tie all his 4 limbs up, stuff his mouth to prevent him from suiciding, then torture him everyday until the day he dies... how to torture him leh? like tickling him whenever his abt to fall asleep, pour ice water onto him during winter & some pain treatment once in a while :evil:

PS: of coz keep him alive by feeding nutrients into him thru' tubes

[Darkbane]

yeah, juz read the papers, there's one survivor... not trying to be sadist, but wht they shld do to him is to tie all his 4 limbs up, stuff his mouth to prevent him from suiciding, then torture him everyday until the day he dies... how to torture him leh? like tickling him whenever his abt to fall asleep, pour ice water onto him during winter & some pain treatment once in a while :evil:

PS: of coz keep him alive by feeding nutrients into him thru' tubes

through which hole?? hehe.... should cut some skin from him bit by bit everyday.... then when the pus flow... squeeze some lemon... wooooooooooooooo........ then feed him his own skin.... :evil: :evil:

[des_yeo03]

India claims Mumbai gunman tied to Pakistani group

MUMBAI, India - The only gunman captured after the 60-hour terrorist siege of Mumbai said he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said.

The gunman was one of 10 who paralyzed the city in an attack that killed at least 174 people and revealed the weakness of India's security apparatus. India's top law enforcement official resigned Sunday, bowing to growing criticism that the attackers appeared better trained, better coordinated and better armed than police.

The announcement blaming militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, threatened to escalate tensions between India and Pakistan. However, Indian officials have been cautious about accusing Pakistan's government of complicity.

Lashkar, long seen as a creation of the Pakistani intelligence service to help fight India in disputed Kashmir, was banned in Pakistan in 2002 under pressure from the U.S., a year after Washington and Britain listed it a terrorist group. It is since believed to have emerged under another name, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, though that group has denied links to the Mumbai attack.

Authorities were still removing bodies from the bullet-and-grenade-scarred Taj Mahal hotel, after commandos finally ended the three-day stretch of violence Saturday.

As more details of the response to the attack emerged, a picture formed of woefully unprepared security forces.

"These guys could do it next week again in Mumbai and our responses would be exactly the same," said Ajai Sahni, head of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management who has close ties to India's police and intelligence.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to strengthen maritime and air security and look into creating a new federal investigative agency.

Joint Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said the only known surviving gunman, Ajmal Qasab, told police he was trained at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan.

"Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the terrorist acts in the city," he said.

A spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Zardari's spokesman dismissed the claim.

"We have demanded evidence of the complicity of any Pakistani group. No evidence has yet been provided," said spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

In the first wave of the attacks, two young gunmen armed with assault rifles blithely ignored more than 60 police officers patrolling the city's main train station and sprayed bullets into the crowd.

Bapu Thombre, assistant commissioner with the Mumbai railway police, said the police were armed mainly with batons or World War I-era rifles and spread out across the station.

"They are not trained to respond to major attacks," he said.

The gunmen continued their rampage outside the station. They eventually ambushed a police van, killed five officers inside _ including the city's counterterrorism chief _ and hijacked the vehicle as two wounded officers lay bleeding in the back seat.

"The way Mumbai police handled the situation, they were not combat ready," said Jimmy Katrak, a security consultant. "You don't need the Indian army to neutralize eight to nine people."

Constable Arun Jadhav, one of the wounded policemen, said the men laughed when they noticed the dead officers wore bulletproof vests.

With no SWAT team in this city of 18 million, authorities called in the only unit in the country trained to deal with such crises. But the National Security Guards, which largely devotes its resources to protecting top officials, is based outside of New Delhi and it took the commandos nearly 10 hours to reach the scene.

That gave the gunmen time to consolidate control over two luxury hotels and a Jewish center, said Sahni.

As the siege dragged on, local police improperly strapped on ill-fitting bulletproof vests. Few had two-way radios to communicate.

Even the commandos lacked night vision goggles and thermal sensors that would have allowed them to locate the hostages and gunmen inside the buildings, Sahni said.

Security forces announced they had killed four gunmen and ended the siege at the mammoth Taj Mahal hotel on Thursday night, only to have fighting erupt there again the next day. Only on Saturday morning did they actually kill the last remaining gunmen.

At the Jewish center, commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the roof and slowly descended the narrow, five-story building in a 10-hour shooting and grenade battle with the two gunmen inside.

From his home in Israel, Assaf Hefetz, a former Israeli police commissioner who created the country's police anti-terror unit three decades ago, watched the slow-motion operation in disbelief.

The commandos should have swarmed the building in a massive, coordinated attack that would have overwhelmed the gunmen and ended the standoff in seconds, he said.

"You have to come from the roof and all the windows and all the doors and create other entrances by demolition charges," he said.

The slow pace of the operations made it appear that the commandos' main goal was to stay safe, Hefetz said.

"You have to take the chance and the danger that your people can be hurt and some of them will be killed, but do it much faster and ensure the operation will be finished (quickly)," Hefetz said.

J. K. Dutt, director-general of the commando unit, defended their tactics.

"We have conducted the operation in the way we are trained and in the way we like to do it," he said.

Singh promised to expand the commando force and set up new bases for it around the country. He called a rare meeting of leaders from the country's main political parties, hours after the resignation of Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Among the foreigners killed in the coordinated shooting rampage in India's financial capital were six Americans. The dead also included Germans, Canadians, Israelis and nationals from Britain, Italy, Japan, China, Thailand, Australia and Singapore.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081201/tap-as-india-shooting-10th-ld-writethru-d3b07b8.html

[cyc]

geez, now then I know India so jia-lat

[cyc]

Husband of hostage killed in Mumbai recalls last few agonising hours

SINGAPORE: Their final few weeks of marriage were truly the best time of his life. Breaking his silence for the first time, husband of Singaporean hostage Lo Hwei Yen killed in the Mumbai attacks, Michael Puhaindran gave an insight into the life of the 28-year-old.

Puhaindran proposed to Lo in the Maldives within eight months of meeting her.

He said: "Everything I did, I did for her. My whole life revolved around her and she truly was the meaning of my life."

But after a beautiful Bali wedding, things went horribly wrong last Wednesday.

The first sign of trouble came when Puhaindran received a call at midnight Singapore time when Lo heard gunshots while having dinner.

"About 15 minutes later, she or I called. We spoke. She said she was in a stairwell on the 10th floor and she was with security and some staff, and they were waiting for the police," he said.

After that phone call was a few agonising silent hours of waiting.

Then came another call in the early hours of the morning which confirmed Puhaindran's fears.

"She was talking in a very steady voice; she was extremely brave. Her voice didn't even waver. (She said) that she was being held hostage by gunmen and she said they were armed with machine guns and grenades," said Puhaindran.

He contacted Singapore authorities.

Then came the final call.

"She said they said they still see activity, still in a very steady voice and still talking to me. I was trying to remain calm as well. Only in her last sentence, she said 'please tell them to hurry up'. And that's when I couldn't really take it, and said that I love her very much, and she said the same thing. So at least the last words I said to her were those words," Puhaindran continued.

Puhaindran recalled her last final e-mail.

"This one came in about 6.36 am Singapore time. She ended off by saying if I don't make it out of here I love you all. Despite everything she was facing, she still had the strength and courage to tell her friends she loved them. I do want you to tell people she was a brave Singaporean," Puhaindran added.

Finally on Friday, he was let into the Oberoi hotel.

He said: "They were still detonating grenades. Initially they did not want us go back but MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) got us permission to get to the 19th floor. Everything was pitch black because there was no electricity. The floors were slippery. I think the sprinklers must have gone off. Then (they) showed her to me and I was able to touch her cheek and she still looked very beautiful."

While questions remain unanswered about the siege, for many like Puhaindran who lost loved ones during the terror attacks, picking up the pieces from here will now be hardest.

"She would want me to live my life but it's going to be very hard,” said Puhaindran. -CNA/vm

sad siah :( reading itself made me wanna cry :cry:

[Jankdev]

It was on today's Newpaper cover news. It was tragic.