Bombay terrorist attacks: Troops launch operation to free hostages

Troops have surrounded the Trident Oberoi and the Taj Mahal Hotel where tourists are trapped after a series of co-ordinated terror attacks that left up to 100 people dead and around 250 wounded in the city, which is also known as Bombay.

So far a Japanese and Australian national have been confirmed among the dead. Seven Britons are among the injured.

The deputy chief minister of India's Maharashtra state, RR Patil, said that there could be between 100 and 200 guests and workers trapped in the Trident, with 10-12 militants also inside. He said the government was not negotiating with the gunmen.

Britons were among the hostages taken by gunmen in the attacks across Bombay, also known as Mumbai, on hotels, cafes and a train station. Police said six foreigners had been killed in the violence.

Troops are reported to be exchanging fire with the militants.

A militant holed up inside the Trident told India TV on that seven attackers were holding hostages inside the luxury establisment.

"We want all Mujahideens held in India released and only after that we will release the people," he said.

Westerners were rounded up by men armed with machine guns and grenades at seven locations popular with foreign visitors, including the hotels.

The five-star Taj Mahal was set on fire during the raids, with reports that around 40 guests were being held hostage.

Several people were seen being rescued from balconies.

Later in the morning, police loudspeakers declared a curfew around the Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.

Ambulances were seen driving up to the entrance to the hotel and journalists were made to move even further back from the area.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were reported there and at the Trident, which around 100 elite police officers were understood to have entered last night.

Witnesses said the terrorists, thought to be linked to al-Qaeda, were specifically targeting British and American visitors.

Police said that more than 80 people had been killed and another 250 injured as blasts and gunfire were heard across Bombay, also known as Mumbai. Indian media put the death toll at 101.

There were also reports of an Israeli family being held hostage in a residential building in the city. A rabbi and his family are known to own the apartment.

An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind the attacks. Security officials claimed no knowledge of the group that takes its name from the Deccan plateau that stretches from Bombay to southern India.

Bipin Shrimali, home secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Bombay is the capital, said that four suspects had been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars. Mr Patil said that nine more had been arrested. At least three top Indian police officers, including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were among those killed.

In Washington, George W Bush condemned the attacks, while Gordon Brown called them "outrageous." David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said last night: "Today's attacks in Mumbai, which have claimed many innocent victims, remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists,"

Terrorists had asked guests in the restaurant of the Trident for their nationality as they were herded upstairs from the restaurant.

"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans," said Alex Chamberlain, a British businessman. "My friend said to me, 'Don't be a hero, don't say you are British'. I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically."

In the early hours of the morning, the army remained deployed at the Oberoi hotel but little else was known of the situation inside.