Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Indian commandos battled to free hostages held by gunmen at two luxury hotels in Mumbai, after terrorist shootings and blasts across the city killed 101 people and left 287 injured.
Militants armed with grenades and rifles stormed into the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel and the Trident Oberoi complex late yesterday, saying they were targeting Americans and Britons, according to witness reports.
"The terrorists are still hiding," said Mumbai Police Sub- Inspector S.D. Tarwadkar as security forces swept through the hotels. The officer said he didn't have details of the number of hostages or their nationalities.
Targeting foreign nationals at key tourist hotels and restaurants adds a new dimension to a wave of bombings in India this year that has killed more than 300 people. Multiple attacks have rocked India's cities with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques.
A little known Islamist group called the Deccan Mujahadeen claimed responsibility for the Mumbai attacks, the Press Trust of India reported. Gunmen may have come from Pakistan, the Times Now television channel reported, citing an unidentified intelligence official.
"Mumbai is the New York of India and this is a clear attack on Westerners," said Clive Williams, a terrorism specialist at the Australian National University. "The targeting of British and Americans means there is a new modus operandi."
'Sheer Chaos'
"It was sheer chaos," said Manuela Testolini, a Canadian businesswoman who was dining at the Oberoi when gunmen burst in hunting for foreign nationals. "Every time we heard gunshots they were right behind us," Testolini, who escaped through the kitchen with guests and hotel workers, told CNN television.
President-elect Barack Obama led global condemnation of the attacks as his transition team said the U.S. would work with "India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks."
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the attackers to be "brought to justice swiftly."
Six foreigners, 14 policemen, including the head of India's anti-terrorism unit, and 81 members of the public were killed, according to police.
The U.S. State Department said it wasn't aware of any American casualties in the attacks "at this point." Two Australians were among those injured, according to the government in Canberra. One Japanese citizen was killed and another injured, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said.
Explosions, Gunfire
The attacks, the worst in the city since train blasts in July 2006, began late yesterday with explosions and gunfire ringing out across the city. Shootings occurred outside Cafe Leopold, in the Colaba district of south Mumbai and at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, CNN-IBN television reported.
There was an explosion near a junction in Vile Parle, near the airport, where the remains of a taxicab were strewn across the road. Another explosion in a taxi was reported at Mazgaon dockyard road, according to PTI.
As smoke from a fire billowed from the 565-room Taj hotel, emergency services evacuated guests via ladders. All of the 26 South Koreans at the Taj were rescued, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said in a statement.
Previous guests at the Oberoi have included News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, according to the hotel's Web site. The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, also operates the luxury Trident hotel brand.
Schools Closed
Schools and colleges in Mumbai will be closed today, the PTI news agency reported.
The attacks come as India accelerates efforts to prop up a slumping economy battered by the global financial crisis.
India's central bank said last month that growth in the $1.2 trillion economy may be as little as 7.5 percent in the year ending next March, compared with 9 percent in the previous 12 months. That would be the weakest pace since 2005 for what is Asia's third-largest economy after Japan and China.
The attacks may affect tourism, which climbed 10 percent in the first nine months of the year to 3.87 million visitors, generating $8.8 billion in revenue, according to government figures. Foreign direct investment into the country more than doubled between April and August to $14.6 billion.
Death Toll
Between January 2004 and March 2007 the death toll from terrorist attacks in India was 3,674, second only to Iraq during the same period, according to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington.
The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.
India's capital, New Delhi, was rocked by five blasts during an evening rush hour in September, killing as many as 26 people and injuring about 133. Indian Mujahadeen, which claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, said it was behind the blasts.
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