125 killed in Mumbai terrorist attacks

Source: Xinhua | 11-28-2008 10:00

MUMBAI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- As many as 125 people, including 14police personnel, have been killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the police told Xinhua on Friday morning.

A fire breaks out of the dome of the Taj hotel in Mumbai, India, Nov. 27, 2008. All hostages at Taj Hotel have been rescued, but there could still be some people trapped at Trident Hotel  and Nariman House where operations were on to flush out militants, Maharashtra police chief A N Roy said Thursday.(Xinhua Photo)

Indian commandos are still battling to flush out militants still resisting in three pockets in the country's financial capital on Friday, over 24 hours after ten near-simultaneous firings and explosions in the vicinity of posh hotels in South Mumbai.

Early on Friday morning, sporadic gunfire and explosions continued at a Jewish center. Police said militants were also still holed up at the Taj Mahal hotel and the nearby Trident Oberoi hotel along with an unknown number of hostages.

TAJ HOTEL

Commandos killed at least three gunmen at the Taj Intercontinental Hotel late on Thursday and were sweeping another luxury hotel and a Jewish residential complex in search of hostages and trapped people a day after terrorists stormed targets across southern Mumbai.

Occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard from the Taj and the nearby Hotel Trident Oberoi as commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) threw a ring around the two places and the Nariman Bhavan, a Jewish residential complex, to isolate a small number of gunmen holding hostages, foreigners included.

In pictures: All hostages at Mumbai's Taj Hotel rescued >>

At last three terrorists were killed at the Taj and one is still holding out, news agencies reported.

"There is one terrorist in the Taj (hotel). He has been injured and I think we will be able to mop up the operation there very quickly," said J K Dutt, Director General of the elite National Security Guards commandos.

Three suspected terrorists, including a Pakistani national, were arrested from the Taj hotel late Thursday night.

All hostages have been freed from the Taj hotel, one of the first of 10 targets of the terrorists.

Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said earlier that terrorists had set up control centers inside the two hotels and the operation to flush them out would be over soon. Government sources say security forces are now preparing for a final assault on the Oberoi and Nariman Bhavan.