Indian commandos scoured two luxury Mumbai hotels for the remaining militants holed up inside, more than 36 hours after gunmen stormed the buildings and killed 119 people in attacks across the city.





Security forces descended onto the roof of a Jewish center in the city in an effort to free people held hostage by gunmen, Agence France-Presse reported.

A rabbi, his wife and several other people were being held at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Nariman House. Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Sallai Meridor told CNN his government had offered Indian security forces help to resolve the crisis.

Eight foreigners were among those killed in the coordinated shootings and explosions across India’s financial hub that began late Nov. 26. The targeting of Westerners marks a shift in tactics for Islamic militants in India as they strike the international links that have helped the country’s economy grow at 9 percent or more for each of the past three years.

“This was a very planned and orchestrated attack, suggesting a more professional terrorist hand at work,” said Rory Medcalf, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s program director for international security.

Extremists within India are concerned about the government’s “closer alignment with the West,” Medcalf, a former official at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Grenades, Rifles

Terrorists armed with grenades and rifles had forced their way into the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel and the Oberoi Trident complex, saying they were targeting Americans and Britons.

All hostages were freed from the Taj late yesterday, though security forces were still moving through the hotel in search of terrorists, police said. At the Oberoi, at least 15 people were rescued and commandos continued to search for militants.

Three U.S. citizens were injured, according to the State Department. An Australian, a Briton, a Japanese and an Italian are confirmed to be among the dead, authorities said. Twenty-two foreign nationals were among 315 people injured in the attacks, according to Mumbai police.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was keeping President George W. Bush updated on the situation in Mumbai, the White House said. Embassy personnel were visiting hospitals and hotels to locate and identify any injured U.S. citizens.

Multiple Attacks

Multiple attacks have rocked India’s cities with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques this year leaving more than 300 people dead.

“We came up against highly motivated terrorists,” Vice- Admiral J.S. Bedi, whose commandos led the assault against the militants, said in televised comments. He showed pictures of recovered hand grenades, tear gas shells and AK47 magazines.

A little known Islamist group called the Deccan Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Press Trust of India reported.

Security forces were hunting for one injured terrorist at the Taj, who was moving between floors, and two militants at the Oberoi, the Press Trust of India reported, citing J.K. Dutt, director-general of the National Security Guard said.

India will “go after” individuals and organizations behind the attacks, which were “well-planned with external linkages,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a televised address to the nation. The government will take steps to ensure there is no repetition of the terrorist attacks, Singh said.

The Indian Navy captured a ship that was suspected to have dropped terrorists off the coast of Mumbai, IBN7 reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials.

The Vietnam-registered ship, MV Alfa, allegedly came from Karachi, Pakistan, and probably dropped the terrorists in speed boats in the Arabian Sea outside Indian territorial waters, the Hindi-language television channel said.

Indian forces detained two Pakistani merchant ships as part of their search for the planners of the attacks, PTI said.