Jewish Center Attack

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Hostages taken at a Jewish center during attacks across Mumbai two days ago were killed, while commandos freed more than 200 people from the Indian city’s Oberoi-Trident hotel complex, officials said.

“There were two gunmen and five hostages” lying dead in Nariman House, site of the Chabad-Lubavitch Center, Motti Bukchin, a spokesman for the Israeli emergency response organization Zaka, said today in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

Three bodies were found on one floor and more on another level of the Jewish center’s building, J.K. Dutt, director general of the National Security Guard commando unit, said in an interview with Times Now television. An American man and his teenage daughter died when a cafe was attacked during the assault on the city.

At least 124 people were killed and 370 were injured in almost 48 hours of violence as terrorists moved through India’s financial hub, targeting the Oberoi-Trident and Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotels and several other locations.

A little-known Islamist group, the Deccan Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility for the coordinated shootings and explosions across the western coastal city, Home Ministry official M.L. Kumawat said. Elements in neighboring Pakistan are responsible for the attacks, the Press Trust of Indian cited External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee as saying.

‘Highly Motivated’

“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 ammunition.

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, without identifying nations.

Americans and Britons were singled out by the gunmen. 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.

Among those killed were three Germans, two Australians, a Briton, a Japanese and an Italian, authorities said. One Canadian was also killed, Agence France-Presse reported. Twenty-two foreign nationals were among those injured in the attacks, according to Mumbai police.

The attacks, the worst in the city since train blasts in July 2006 killed 187 people and injured more than 800, began with explosions and gunfire ringing out across the city late in the evening of Nov. 26.

More Explosions

Today, two large explosions were heard at the luxury Taj, where six hostages were freed. One national security guard was killed at the hotel. A fire broke out at the hotel after a further explosion.

There were similar scenes at the Oberoi, where 24 bodies were recovered. Rescued guests, many clutching passports and bags, were loaded into buses and cars by authorities as they fled the hotel. The Oberoi-Trident complex was cleared of assailants today, the National Security Guard said. Two terrorists were killed at the Trident, where guests were receiving first aid.

“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.

Bush Informed

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was keeping President George W. Bush up to date 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.

The American man and his daughter were identified as Alan and Naomi Scherr, the Synchronicity Foundation of Virginia said. The two Americans were with a delegation from the foundation, according to the spiritual group’s Web site.

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

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said “non-state actors” were forcing their agenda on India and Pakistan and that the two governments must not allow them to succeed.

Governments to Cooperate

Pakistan’s “government will cooperate with India in exposing and apprehending the culprits and the masterminds behind the” Mumbai terrorist attacks, according to a statement by the president’s office, citing Zardari’s phone conversation today with Singh.

The attacks in Mumbai show India’s home-grown Islamic militant movement is aligning its campaign with those in the Muslim world, while seeking to hit economic interests, B. Raman, the former counter-terrorism director of India’s intelligence agency, said in a telephone interview.

“It is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani said in a statement. “Instead of scoring political points at the expense of a neighboring country that is itself a victim of terrorism, it is time for India’s leaders to work together with Pakistan’s elected leaders in putting up a joint front against terrorism.”

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will meet with Singh today to personally offer Pakistan’s condolences for the Mumbai attacks, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

To contact the reporters on this story: Anil Varma in Mumbai at avarma3@bloomberg.net; Chitra Somayaji in Mumbai at csomayaji@bloomberg.net; Vipin V. Nair in Mumbai at vnair12@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 28, 2008 09:59 EST