Explosions, gunshots at Taj
2008-11-28 15:52
Mumbai - A group of Indian commandos left Mumbai's Jewish centre on Friday and local television said the operation had ended, with militants who had been holding foreign hostages now killed or captured.
The building was cloaked with thick smoke after the blast, television pictures showed.
A short way across the city, frequent gunshots and explosions also rang out from the luxury Taj hotel as elite commandos fought cat-and-mouse battles with a lone gunman.
Officials have been vowing to bring a quick end to the nearly two-day-long stand-off that they say has killed 124 people and wounded 284.
At a third site, the Trident-Oberoi Hotel, commandos killed two militants and freed 143 guests earlier in the day. Well-dressed foreigners and Indians, some dragging their suitcases, trickled out and were escorted into waiting buses and cars.
Photographs of the dead
One foreign member of the hotel staff left holding a baby in his arms, others wept as police showed them photographs of dead relatives for identification.
As anger mounted, India blamed "elements" from Pakistan for the coordinated assault on its financial capital, which seemed designed to scare off foreign executives and tourists.
Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy. Urging New Delhi not to play politics, it agreed to send its spy chief to share intelligence on the suicide attacks.
Police said 24 bodies had been found at the Trident-Oberoi on Friday, potentially inflating the death toll still further.
Lone gunman
On Thursday night they had predicted a quick end to the siege at the nearby Taj hotel. But hundreds of elite commandos have still failed to dislodge a lone gunman, thought to be wounded, in the maze of corridors of the 105-year-old hotel.
"He is moving in two floors, there is a dancefloor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights," Lieutenant-General N Thamburaj told reporters.
"This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him."
The head of an elite commando unit said the militants knew the layout of the hotel better than they did and called them "a very determined lot, remorseless".
The commander, his face disguised by a black scarf and sunglasses, said he had seen 50 bodies in the Taj, including 12 to 15 in one room.
Information from Pakistan
On Friday Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the head of Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, to visit to share information.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who says he wants much better relations with India, called Singh by telephone on Friday and agreed to the request for the visit.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on India not to play politics over the attacks.
"Do not bring politics into this issue. This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," he told reporters during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer.
Israel's ambassador to India said he believed about six Israeli nationals had been held hostage at the Jewish centre.