Indian commandos secure Mumbai hotel

Indian commandos late Thursday secured one of two Mumbai hotels targeted as part of a series of co-ordinated attacks that left at least 119 people dead and more than 300 injured.

Military officials said all hostages had been freed from the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower. Black-clad commandos entered the luxury hotel earlier in the day, searching floor by floor for militants involved in the attack. Officials said at least three attackers were killed.

Part of the hotel remains on fire, freelance reporter Arun Asthana told CBC Newsworld.

An unknown number of gunmen and hostages are still inside a second hotel, the Trident-Oberoi. Six Canadians are unaccounted for, but officials couldn't confirm whether they are hostages or are hunkered down in the hotel.

At least seven hostages were also freed from the headquarters of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. in Mumbai, Indian officials confirmed late Thursday.

Commandos garbed in black rushed the Taj Mahal early Thursday as the sound of gunshots reverberated through the area. Gunfire and explosions could be heard from inside the building. Flames were also spotted billowing outside fourth-storey window.
Turn off lights, guests told

Indian security forces moved from room to room in the hotel, looking for gunmen and booby traps. In the afternoon, bodies and hostages were taken out of the building.

"There’s been a series of thunderous explosions that have gone off at the hotel since this morning at irregular intervals," freelance reporter Anuj Chopra told CBC News.

An unidentified man who had been trapped inside the Taj Mahal hotel told India's NDTV that hotel staff told them on Wednesday to turn off any lights in their rooms, draw the curtains and not answer the locked door if they heard any knocks.

In the morning, commandos with machine guns unlocked hotel rooms with a master key and told the guests to leave, he said, praising the Taj Mahal staff as "outstanding."
Soldiers in Oberoi hotel

M.L. Kumawat, special secretary for internal security at the Home Ministry, said that the 21st to the eighth floors in the Trident-Oberoi had been cleared by security agencies. Police were later seen escorting several hostages out of the hotel.

One of the self-proclaimed gunmen earlier told India TV that seven attackers were holding hostages inside the Oberoi.

"We want all mujahedeens held in India released, and only after that, we will release the people," a man identified as Sahadullah told India TV.

"Release all the mujahedeens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled."

Among those being held at the Oberoi were 20 to 30 Israelis, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

Source: CBC