Mumbai Hotel Siege Thwarted

Indian Police Kill Last Remaining Gunmen At Taj Mahal Hotel

(CBS/AP)  Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that left more than 150 people dead and rocked the nation.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 400-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found six hostages dead.

More than 150 people were killed and several hundred wounded in the violence that started when more than a dozen assailants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai Wednesday night. Fifteen foreigners were among the dead.

"The Taj operation is over. The last two terrorists holed up there have been killed," Mumbai Police Chief Hasan Ghafoor told The Associated Press. J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters outside the hotel that his forces would continue to search and clear the hotel.

CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton reported that the chief of the of commando unit which raided the Taj Mahal Friday said he had seen about 50 bodies strewn about inside the luxury hotel.

"The hotel is under our control," J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters, adding that 24 bodies had been found. Dozens of people - including a man clutching a baby - had been evacuated from Oberoi earlier Friday.

With the end of one of the most brazen terror attacks in India's history, attention turned from the military operation to questions of who was behind the attack and the heavy toll on human life.

Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a spokesman for the Chabad Lubavitch movement, said the dead Americans at the Jewish center were New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg; Bentzion Chroman, an Israeli with dual U.S. citizenship; and Leibish Teitlebaum, an American from Brooklyn. Holtzberg's wife was an Israeli citizen.

Two other U.S. victims of the attack, from a Virginia community that promotes a form of meditation, were identified Friday as Alan Scherr, 58, and daughter Naomi, 13, of Faber, Va. They were killed in a cafe Wednesday night at the Oberoi, said Bobbie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Synchronicity Foundation. Read more.

The State Department confirmed that five Americans had died but offered no details.

Authorities scrambled to identify those responsible for the unprecedented attack, with Indian officials pointing across the border at rival Pakistan, and Pakistani leaders promising to cooperate in the investigation. A team of FBI agents was ordered to fly to India to help investigate.

On Friday, commandos killed the last two gunmen inside the luxury Oberoi hotel, where 24 bodies had been found, authorities said. Dozens of people - including a man clutching a baby and about 20 airline crew members - were evacuated from the Oberoi earlier Friday.

As fighting stretched into a fourth day Saturday, the Taj Mahal hotel was wracked by hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions, even though authorities said earlier they cleared it of gunmen.

Indian forces launched grenades and traded gunfire with what authorities believed was one or two militants holed up in the ballroom. What appeared to be a black-clad figure toppled from a first-floor window, but further details were unavailable.

Dalbir Bains, who runs a lingerie shop in Mumbai, had just sat down for dinner by the pool at the Taj Mahal (seen at left) when she heard the first shots. She ran upstairs and huddled under a table in the Sea Lounge restaurant. She and about 50 others who were with her tried to remain as quiet as possible.

By Friday evening, at least nine gunmen had been killed and one arrested, said R. Patil, a top official in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital.

In the most dramatic of the counterstrikes Friday morning, masked Indian commandos rappelled from a helicopter to the rooftop of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center as snipers laid down cover fire.

For nearly 12 hours, explosions and gunfire erupted from the five-story building as the commandos fought their way downward, while thousands of people gathered behind barricades in the streets to watch.

The assault blew huge holes in the center, and, at one point, Indian forces fired a rocket at the building.

Soon after, elated commandos ran outside with their rifles raised over their heads in a sign of triumph.

But inside the Chabad House was a scene of tragedy.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel's Channel 1 TV that the bodies of three women and three men were found at the center. Some of the victims had been bound, Barak said.

Local media reports, quoting top military officials, said two gunmen were found dead in the building.

The attackers were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy during a long siege. One backpack found contained 400 rounds of ammunition.

The gunmen moved skillfully through the blood-slickened corridors of the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, switching off lights to confuse the commandos.

Authorities were working to find out who was behind the attacks, claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen.

President-elect Barack Obama said he was closely monitoring the situation. "These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them," he said in a statement.

India's foreign minister said the blame appeared to point to Pakistan. "According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks," Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

Jaiprakash Jaiswal, India's home minister, said a captured gunmen had been identified as a Pakistani.

Patil, the Maharashtra state official, said: "It is very clear that the terrorists are from Pakistan. We have enough evidence that they are from Pakistan."

Earlier Friday, Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar denied involvement by his country. "I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents."

[earth562]

TrishaB56



SHe (he) is paid by a Saudi/Wahabist organization set up in the United States.

This poster is on this website for over 14 hours a day 7 days a week.

Please check it out for yourself

[downsteamjim]

Previous CBS titles: Hole in Titanic stops leaking; Flames on Hindenberg extinguished; JFK assassination prevented; Hurricane Katrina dissipates

[downsteamjim]

swingset: Maybe someone at CBS could learn to use a dictionary.

[brazzzle]

I agree. Ridiculous headline.

[swingset4u]

Thwarted??? Looked pretty danged successful to me! Thwarted is when you keep it from happening at all.

[trishab56]

Nevertheless, we freed a nation of a genocidal dictator. To blame terrorism on that is intellecually dishonest. Islam is the problem, and it needs to be dealt with on a worldwide level and soon.
-------------------------------------
Posted by renojmc at 08:05 AM : Nov 29, 2008

-You''re a real chutzpah! Come on! Are you blind or are you disconnected from reality? Four Fifth (4/5) of Islam content is Judaism. Read the Quran! Jesus Christ is mentioned in Quran so many times you wonder if this is not old testament! Not once in Torah!

-Terrorism is not the exclusivity of some Muslim nutz. Jewish Barukh Goldstein went on a shooting rampage in the Jerusalem Mount-of-the-Rock Mosque a decade or so ago. Don''t remmber how many kneeling-in-prayer victims...

-Israel went hard on Lebanese civilians (1000 victims) and civilian infrastructure, fresh enough, summer of 2006.

-Civilian Iraqi victims of (Blackwater contractors) in the street of Baghdad and vicinity.

-Tim McVey and his lovely friends...
-Indian Hindu Srinagar Mosque massacre Kashmir and the Red Mosque destruction by Musharraf (our supposed friend) on his own people...

-Don''t turn a blind eye. Muslims are getting massacred in their own countries... by our friend regimes in place.

-http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6983

[trishab56]

Nevertheless, we freed a nation of a genocidal dictator. To blame terrorism on that is intellecually dishonest. Islam is the problem, and it needs to be dealt with on a worldwide level and soon.
-------------------------------------
Posted by renojmc at 08:05 AM : Nov 29, 2008

-You''re a real chutzpah! Come on! Are you blind or are you disconnected from reality? Four Fifth (4/5) of Islam content is Judaism. Read the Quran! Jesus Christ is mentioned in Quran so many times you wonder if this is not old testament! Not once in Torah!

-Terrorism is not the exclusivity of some Muslim nutz. Jewish Barukh Goldstein went on a shooting rampage in the Jerusalem Mount-of-the-Rock Mosque a decade or so ago. Don''t remmber how many kneeling-in-prayer victims...

-Israel went hard on Lebanese civilians (1000 victims) and civilian infrastructure, fresh enough, summer of 2006.

-Civilian Iraqi victims of (Blackwater contractors) in the street of Baghdad and vicinity.

-Tim McVey and his lovely friends...
-Indian Hindu Srinagar Mosque massacre Kashmir and the Red Mosque destruction by Musharraf (our supposed friend) on his own people...

-Don''t turn a blind eye. Muslims are getting massacred in their own countries... by our friend regimes in place.

-http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6983

[trishab56]

Nevertheless, we freed a nation of a genocidal dictator. To blame terrorism on that is intellecually dishonest. Islam is the problem, and it needs to be dealt with on a worldwide level and soon.
-------------------------------------
Posted by renojmc at 08:05 AM : Nov 29, 2008

-You''re a real chutzpah! Come on! Are you blind or are you disconnected from reality? Four Fifth (4/5) of Islam content is Judaism. Read the Quran! Jesus Christ is mentioned in Quran so many times you wonder if this is not old testament! Not once in Torah!

-Terrorism is not the exclusivity of some Muslim nutz. Jewish Barukh Goldstein went on a shooting rampage in the Jerusalem Mount-of-the-Rock Mosque a decade or so ago. Don''t remmber how many kneeling-in-prayer victims...

-Israel went hard on Lebanese civilians (1000 victims) and civilian infrastructure, fresh enough, summer of 2006.

-Civilian Iraqi victims of (Blackwater contractors) in the street of Baghdad and vicinity.

-Tim McVey and his lovely friends...
-Indian Hindu Srinagar Mosque massacre Kashmir and the Red Mosque destruction by Musharraf (our supposed friend) on his own people...

-Don''t turn a blind eye. Muslims are getting massacred in their own countries... by our friend regimes in place.

-http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6983

[trishab56]

Nevertheless, we freed a nation of a genocidal dictator. To blame terrorism on that is intellecually dishonest. Islam is the problem, and it needs to be dealt with on a worldwide level and soon.
-------------------------------------
Posted by renojmc at 08:05 AM : Nov 29, 2008

-You''re a real chutzpah! Come on! Are you blind or are you disconnected from reality? Four Fifth (4/5) of Islam content is Judaism. Read the Quran! Jesus Christ is mentioned in Quran so many times you wonder if this is not old testament! Not once in Torah!

-Terrorism is not the exclusivity of some Muslim nutz. Jewish Barukh Goldstein went on a shooting rampage in the Jerusalem Mount-of-the-Rock Mosque a decade or so ago. Don''t remmber how many kneeling-in-prayer victims...

-Israel went hard on Lebanese civilians (1000 victims) and civilian infrastructure, fresh enough, summer of 2006.

-Civilian Iraqi victims of (Blackwater contractors) in the street of Baghdad and vicinity.

-Tim McVey and his lovely friends...
-Indian Hindu Srinagar Mosque massacre Kashmir and the Red Mosque destruction by Musharraf (our supposed friend) on his own people...

-Don''t turn a blind eye. Muslims are getting massacred in their own countries... by our friend regimes in place.

-http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6983

[earache4]

Yes, but how does this all effect my DELL customer service?

[renojmc]

Posted by psy_war at 07:55 AM : Nov 29, 2008
---------

God, what a completely warped perspective, entirely detached from reality. You need to stop chugging the Kool-aid.

You''re wrong in so many places that I don''t know where to begin. Just recall that nearly all leading democrats where on board with attacking Iraq. And no, Bush didn''t falsify the intelligence. Was the intelligence wrong? Apparently yes. But that''s 20/20 hindsight.

Nevertheless, we freed a nation of a genocidal dictator. To blame terrorism on that is intellecually dishonest. Islam is the problem, and it needs to be dealt with on a worldwide level and soon.

[spinproof]

Pres. Bush is convinced History will vindicate his preemptive policy and he may be right because what this attack by Islamic extremist demonstrates is that they don''t care if they die, they don''t care if they live, they can''t wait to meet Allah, in which case preemptive intervention may be the best policy since you better kill them before they kill you! Fighting an enemy who doesn''t care if they die is a new paradigm and old ways of fighting this type of enemy no longer apply.

[trishab56]

This article form Hindu sources cites names of Islamic origins and they were reported killed in the attack. The terrorists sure had some claims we don''t know, but they sure were not only targetting the Indian Society. Were they? Why is the MSM mum about their claim(s)???????

http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/29/stories/2008112953240400.htm

[trishab56]

-Do you guys know what were those ''terrorists'' claiming? Media has been very mum about their claims. Why would anyone go and start shooting if they had not claims in mind!?!

-Does the West know what those radicals wanted? Or is it another staging? Will anyone follow up on the identification of those radicals? Or was it another 9/11, authorities knew about it but let it happen anyway?

[formrusmcsgt]

"Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday..."
---
These al Qaeda types remind me of the Japanese in WWII with their ferocity and dedication to their cause.

While tens of thousands of Germans surrendered during the war, the majority of Japanese refused to be taken alive.

[andrew_693]

I wonder if when Obama takes over will the traitors of the GOP jesus squad accuse him of wagging the dog when we decide to attack those terrorists. I wonder if they will spend another 55 million dollars investigating Obama''s black p3n1s, and god knows they will, because that what they live for.

[mark_st]

Al Cia-da
Al Mossad
Al MI6

[whitewolf60]

Sheesh.... about time they got this situation under control! I know there are many, many people of the islamic faith who ARE peaceful and senseable. Too bad it''s the few BAD APPLES that give the rest of them a bad name. But what cramps MY cookies is - the ones who are peaceful can''t or WON''T speak out against bulls*** like this. Islam will continue to have a BAD NAME until the moderates get some cajonies and start telling the radicals NO - AND STICK TO IT! They had better do SOMETHING, or they might just find the rest of the world will. Between this and 9/11, the rest of the world is getting pretty disgusted with islam. As a Pagan I KNOW I am. It''s the year 2008 going on 2009 - there''s NO need for this type of *** anymore. The "big 3" are going to have to GROW UP or find themselves being BANNED....

"live simply so others can simply live"

[perk235]

I%u2019ll wager a weeks pay to anyone on this forum: when the whole story comes out, every single gunman will be a Muslim, and this crime will be connected to either Pakistan or AQ.
Posted by michaelt5555 at 03:05 AM : Nov 29, 2008
---------------
Pakistan and India have been enemies for decades (1947), if not longer, so this would be a safe bet.

[pirmin3]

At least some of these terrorists are with their promised 19 virgins. Hopefully the ones captured will join them shortly.