Death toll in Mumbai terror attacks rises to 143

MUMBAI, India, Nov. 28 Kyodo - Indian commandos on Friday ended a siege at Mumbai's Trident-Oberoi hotel while
explosions and gunfire continued intermittently at the Taj Mahal Hotel,
according to reports.
Police said 24 more bodies have been found in the series of attacks that have
ripped through Mumbai over the past two days, according to the Associated
Press. The new figure brings the death toll in India's commercial and
entertainment capital to at least 143.
Among the dead were reportedly as many as four Australians, a Japanese man, an
Italian, a Briton and a German.
After a morning of shooting and explosions in Mumbai, the head of one commando
unit flushing out militants at the Taj Mahal Hotel said he had seen 12 to 15
bodies in one room among a total of 50 in the hotel, according to Reuters news
service.
The commandos found money, ammunition and an identity card from Mauritius that
they suspected belonged to the militants, the commander was quoted as telling a
news conference.
At least one militant was still thought to be holding two hostages in the
luxury Taj Mahal Hotel, an army commander said, according to the report.
But army commander Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters almost all guests and
staff had been evacuated from the Taj and the operation would be wrapped up in
a few hours.
Indian forces also rappelled from helicopters to storm a besieged Jewish center
run by the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch.
The assault was punctuated by gunshots and explosions -- and at one point an
intense exchange of fire that lasted several minutes -- as forces cleared it
floor by floor, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. By
Friday afternoon, the commandos had control of the top two floors.
Three attackers arrested Thursday night at the Taj Mahal Hotel are Pakistani
nationals who are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group,
the Press Trust of India reported.
India's NDTV quoted a senior army officer as saying that other attackers are
also thought to be Pakistanis.
''The terrorists tried to pretend that they were from Hyderabad,'' the
unidentified official said, referring to the capital of India's southern state
of Andhra Pradesh.
''(But) intercepts show terrorists speaking in Punjabi,'' he added, referring
to the most common language of Pakistan, India's rival.
In a nationally televised address Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh suggested the attacks were foreign-inspired, saying, ''The well-planned
and very orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended
to create a sense of panic by choosing high-profile targets and
indiscriminately killing innocent foreigners.''
Indian authorities were reportedly questioning the crew of a ship detained off
India's west coast, suspecting the attacks originated from the vessel believed
to be from Karachi, Pakistan.
Pakistan's president and prime minister have both strongly condemned the Mumbai
attacks.
A little-known group of Islamic militants, calling itself the Deccan
Mujahideen, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in an address to the country Thursday,
condemned the attacks and said his government would be setting up a federal
government agency to coordinate against threats to public safety in India.
A wave of terror attacks has hit Indian cities, including Mumbai, in recent
years. Most of them have been blamed on Islamist militants.
==Kyodo