Mumbai Attacks: Blasts Heard across Indian City as Hostages FreedTHE TELEGRAPH:
Blasts were heard across southern Mumbai on Thursday as Indian commandos prepared to storm the Trident-Oberoi hotel to rescue the last foreign hostages seized by Islamist militants in a series of attacks the night before.Standoffs continued between the Indian police in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and heavily armed militants who a day earlier carried out seven coordinated attacks across the city that killed more than 100 people.
Witnesses in the Indian financial capital said a fresh round of firing was heard as commandos prepared to storm the Trident-Oberoi, a luxury hotel where as many as 200 people are believed to be trapped.
Police earlier said all of the foreign hostages had been freed from another five-star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, but AN Roy, the police chief of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said as many as 100 guests remained trapped inside their rooms.
Witnesses also reported continuing explosions and gunfire at the landmark hotel as a trickle of bodies and hostages were seen emerging from the building.
Eighteen hours after the attacks began, commandos had also gathered outside the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, where a rabbi is thought to have been taken hostage.
>>> By Damien McElroy and Rahul Bedi in Bombay | November 27, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Mumbai Attacks: Six Foreigners Including British National Killed, Hundreds InjuredSix foreign nationals, including a Briton, have been confirmed among more than 100 dead following terrorist attacks in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) in India.Hundreds more have been injured, including seven British nationals, after teams of terrorists stormed hotels, cafes and tourist attractions in a series of coordinated attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai.
Hundreds of tourists were held hostage in two luxury hotels in the city. Local reports said among the dead foreigners were a British national, a 41-year-old Japanese man and a 49-year-old Australian.
Among the wounded are travellers from Australia, the United States, Spain, Norway, Canada and Singapore. Seven British citizens have been injured.
Sir Richard Stagg, the British High Commissioner in India, told the BBC: "We have visited most of the central hospitals where those injured have been taken and have met seven British victims who are in hospital at the moment and we understand there is likely to be some other injured of British nationality."
The death toll from the attacks stands at 101.
Indian troops have surrounded the Trident Oberoi Hotel and the Taj Mahal Hotel where tourists are being held by militants.
>>> By Damien McElroy and Rahul Bedi in New Delhi | November 27, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Mumbai Attacks: The World Can't Ignore India's Islamist Terrorists Any LongerIndia has suffered a gathering wave of Islamist terror attacks over the last five years, but it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that the terrorists really made the outside world sit up and take notice.
By targeting one of India's most iconic hotels, The Taj Mahal Palace on Mumbai's waterfront and holding hundreds of its wealthy foreign guests hostage, the Islamists have touched an international nerve at a delicate moment in the story of India's resurgence.
Despite
the spate of attacks in recent years, including the 2006 train bombings in Mumbai that killed 180 people and bomb attacks this year in commercially sensitive locations of Bangalore and New Delhi, India has managed to retain its international image as a 'safe' place to visit and invest.
That all changed yesterday as the international news networks were filled with the voices of terrified Americans and Europeans, some of them on their mobile phones direct from the Taj Mahal Hotel, even as the bombs exploded nearby.
Such images will cause damage to India's status as an international investment destination at time when the economy is already suffering serious fallout from the global credit crunch.
Foreign capital, highly instrumental in India's economic resurgence, is fleeing India's economy at an alarming rate (more than £10bn this year), driving up the cost of borrowing and curbing the investment on which India's 'economic miracle' depends.
>>> By Peter Foster | November 27, 2008
NZZ Online:
Verheerende Terroranschläge in Mumbai: Viele Einrichtungen gleichzeitig angegriffen - Beträchtliche Opferbilanz Bei mehreren gezielten Angriffe in der indischen Finanzmetropole Mumbai sind nach jüngsten Angaben über 100 Personen getötet worden. Gegen 250 Personen haben ernsthafte Verletzungen erlitten, wie die Behörden am Donnerstag mitteilten. Die Terroristen haben zwei Hotels, einen Bahhof sowie Spitäler und auch einen Flughafen unter Beschuss genommen.hoh. Die Urheber der brutalen Anschläge hatten offenbar westliche Bürger im Visier. In den beiden Hotels, dem über den Subkontinent hinaus berühmten «Taj Mahal» sowie das Nobelhaus «Trident Oberoi», nahmen die Attentäter britische und amerikanische Bürger als Geiseln. Wie viele Personen die fundamentalistischen Angreifer in ihrer Gewahrsam haben, konnte bisher aber nicht ermittelt werden.
>>> | 27. November 2008
NZZ Online:
Landmarken des Fortschritts und des Wohlstands: Die Terroranschläge von Mumbai treffen wichtige SymboleDie Schauplätze sind gezielt gewählt: Die terroristischen Anschläge in Mumbai treffen Landmarken von grosser symbolischer und historischer Bedeutung. Sie stehen für den Fortschritt und die Weltoffenheit der grössten indischen Metropole.
>>> Von Isabelle Imhof | 27. November 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Mumbai Attacks: Who Are the Deccan Mujahedeen Terrorists?: The Deccan Mujahedeen, which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks across Mumbai in India (formerly known as Bombay), appears to be the latest in a string of home-grown Indian Islamic militant splinter groups. >>> | November 27, 2008
LE FIGARO:
Bombay : la police poursuit l'évacuation des otagesLes forces indiennes affrontent toujours des islamistes armés qui retiennent des otages, dont des étrangers, dans deux hôtels de luxe et un centre juif de Bombay, après avoir lancé une série d'attaques coordonnées. Plus de cent Indiens et au moins neuf étrangers ont été tués.
>>> C.M., S.L. et L.S. (lefigaro.fr) avec agences | 27.11.2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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