28 Nov :After battling the terrorists for two days at the Oberoi-Trident, the National Security Guards on Friday cleared the hotel of militants, killing five of them while six bodies were recovered from the premises.
"The Oberoi-Trident is now in under our control. The two terrorists holed up there have been killed," NSG Director General J K Dutt told reporters outside the hotel in south Mumbai.
Six bodies were also recovered from the hotel, he said.The NSG has recovered two AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol and grenades, some unexploded, from the terrorists, he said, adding the explosives will now be defused.
"We are presently sanitising every room to make sure no undesirable elements are there and relief can be provided to guests there," Dutt said.
Earlier a tense Mumbai remained on tenterhooks as security forces gave a major push to end the long and bloody terror siege by militants and rescue the trapped people.
The narrow lanes leading to the Nariman House looked nothing short of a war zone buzzing with heavily armed security personnel.Initiating the final counter offensive operation, elite commandos of the NSG were airdropped onto the terrace of the Jewish residential complex even as they came under heavy gunfire from the building’s fourth floor.
It took a while before the commandos could secure the terrace as well as the top floor of the six-storeyed building as there rapid fire from terrorists suspected to be the holed up on the fourth floor.
Once, the area had been secured, a reconnaissance helicopter capable of taking high-quality pictures was seen encircling the building for a couple of times before flying away.
Residents including the elderly are believed to have been taken hostage by the terrorists whose number could not be confirmed.Ambulances were put on stand-by along with fire tenders to cope with any eventuality arising out of the tense and nerve-wrecking situation.
Snipers too have been deployed waiting to nail down the terrorists in the first opportunity.Intermittent gunfire erupted on Friday morning in the under-siege Trident (Oberoi) hotel where a grenade explosion was also heard after an overnight lull as NSG commandoes cordoned off the building and choppers circled overhead.
Security personnel have been carrying room-to-room searches to clear the plush hotel of terrorists suspected to be holding people hostage.The roads in South Mumbai, the city’s financial hub which bore the brunt of the terror attacks, were deserted.
Shop and commercial establishments in the Colaba area continued to be remain shut.For the second day, wary people chose to remain indoors, hoping for an early end to the ordeal.
Mumbai waits end to terror ordeal
The death toll in the audacious strikes in ten places across the city climbed to 127.
Late in Thursday night, there was a major fire in the Trident (Oberoi) hotel where about 200 people have been trapped and terrorists exploded grenades that set the roof ablaze.
The other scene of action was at Nariman House, a Jewish residential complex, where some Israelis have been held hostage by some three-four terrorists.
The hand of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is suspected in the worst terror attacks in the country but the outfit denied any involvement.While all the hostages in Taj were evacuated to safety, the situation in Trident worsened with the terrorists involved in a grim battle with security forces.
There were heavy casualties among the staff in both the hotels with Taj alone accounting for 17 of them. G-o-C Maharashtra R H Hooda said they had done a detailed search of the 395-room hotel but declined to give numbers of terrorists holed up or those trapped.
Among the dead were nine foreigners and 14 police personnel including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and four other senior officers.Security agencies have sought to blame LeT, one of whose activists was captured alive in Trident. He is said to be Abu Ismail hailing from Faridkot in Pakistan.
The terrorists numbering about 20-25 are believed to have landed on Mumbai shores after a mother vessel dropped them in three inflatable boats. Seven of them have been gunned down.
The Indian navy claimed that they have spotted the mother vessel and giving it a hot chase.
Even as the combing operations were underway, one more explosion rocked Taj which has already suffered several grenade blasts setting several rooms ablaze.
Taj general manager K S Kang lost his wife and two children in one of the fires set off by the terrorists.Elite commandoes of the topline security forces from army, navy, NSG and Rapid Action Force were involved in the raging encounter with the heavily-armed terrorists in the two hotels.
Nine foreigners killed in terror attacks in Mumbai
At least nine foreigners, including a woman, were killed and 18 injured when heavily armed terrorists attacked two luxury hotels and other public places in Mumbai in one of the worst terror strikes in the country on Wednesday night.
The slain foreigners included a Briton, an Australian, a Japanese and an Italian.
British High Commissioner Sir Richard Stagg said a UK national died in the attack on the Taj hotel, where seven of his compatriots were also injured.
"We have been checking in all hospitals and are making arrangements for the British nationals who are there in the city," he said, adding "we have also informed the family members."
According to residential medical officer of St George Hospital, Ulhal Vasave, seven bodies of foreign nationals were brought to the hospital on Wednesday night.
The body of one Japanese victim was brought to the Bombay hospital on Thursday morning.
The slain foreigners who have been identified are Braid Gilbert Taylor (49), an Australian; British national Andrias Leveras (aged about 75) yrs); a Japanese businessman Hisashi Tsuda (38) and an Italian Antonio de Lorenzo.
Two males and one female – Michael Stert (73), Jeurgan Hetras Rudolph (68) and Stredder Daphne (50) – were also among the dead, but their nationalities were yet to be ascertained. Two more slain foreigners were yet to be identified.
Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said among the dead was an Italian national, identifying him as Antonio de Lorenzo.
All Italians who were in hotels or other areas attacked in Mumbai have been contacted "except for one or two people," the country’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a local TV channel.
Japanese national Tsuda, who was working with Mtsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Co, died at a hospital after being shot in the leg, stomach and chest at the Oberoi Trident hotel, the company’s Vice President Hajime Tamaki said in Tokyo.
Its another employee, 44, fell and suffered light injuries as he fled the scene, he said, without identifying the injured by name.Among the 60 injured admitted to Bombay hospital, 11 foreigners were from different nationalities, Dr Ashish Tiwari of the hospital said.
The injured foreigners are from Australia, USA, Norway, Spain, Canada and Singapore, he said. 15 cops, 2 NSG killed, Maha to raise NSG-like unit: R R Patil
Reeling under terror attacks, Maharashtra government on Friday said it would raise a commando unit on the lines of the National Security Guards (NSG) to combat terrorism.
"We have decided raise a unit like NSG at the state level," Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil told reporters in Mumbai on Friday as security forces launched a final assault clear the Taj Mahal hotel of terrorists.
Fifteen policemen, including three top officers, and two NSG personnel have been killed while 370 people have been injured in the anti-terror operations, Patil said.
He further said nine terrorists have been killed in the operations and one Pakistani national has been arrested.Stating that anti-terror operations in Taj, Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House were in the final stages, the deputy Home Minister said security forces have recovered alarge amount of explosives from the Oberoi hotel.
Patil, however, rubbished reports of incidents of firing in the metropolis. "There have been no incidents of firing in the city since morning," he said on Friday.
Without giving any detail, Patil, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, said security forces had got "complete information and evidence" about the terror attacks.
He also said the state government has decided to take responsibility of the family members of the police officials killed in the operations.
Later, Patil also reviewed the security situation at a meeting attended by top officials of the state.