Westerners 'targeted' in Mumbai attacks

Up to 100 people are dead after terrorists used grenades and
automatic weapons to attack crowds at luxury hotels, a restaurant and
train station in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that about 100 people were dead.

The
NDTV news channel put the death toll at 100, with 110 injured in the
ongoing violence. The IBN Live channel said at least 87 people were
dead.

Teams of heavily-armed men launched coordinated attacks overnight that survivors said were aimed at killing westerners.

Officials said an undetermined number of western hostages were still being held.

A
previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed
responsibility for the attacks in emails to several media outlets,
Indian media reported.

Parts of Mumbai remained under siege on
Thursday, with police and gunmen exchanging occasional gunfire at two
luxury hotels, with an unknown number of hostages still held, top
police official AN Roy said.

A raging fire and explosions struck
the landmark Taj Mahal hotel shortly after midnight. Screams could be
heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's
waterfront.

The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans, witnesses said.

Two Australians were among the injured but their conditions were not life threatening, officials in Canberra said.

Early
on Thursday, state home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had
been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars. Roy said
two more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister RR
Patil said nine more were arrested.

Police said hostages were
being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi-Trident hotels, two of the
best-known upscale destinations in the crowded city.

Gunmen who
burst into the Taj Mahal "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting
'Who has US or UK passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who
fled from the hotel.

Officials at Bombay Hospital said a Japanese
man had died in hospital and nine Europeans had been admitted, three of
them in critical condition with gunshots. All had come from the Taj
Mahal, the officials said.

At least three top Indian police officers, including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were among those killed, said Roy.

Authorities
believe up to 15 foreigners are still being held hostage at the Taj
Mahal hotel. The building's older wing has been ravaged by fire but
there is no blaze in its modern tower.

A Singaporean is among those taken hostage in Mumbai, the foreign ministry says, without specifying a location.

"The
terrorists are holding several people of different nationalities as
hostages. One Singaporean has been held hostage," the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"We are in close touch with
the family of the Singaporean and are working with the Indian
authorities to secure the release of the Singaporean and other
hostages."

Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal.

Other
gunmen attacked Leopold's restaurant, a landmark popular with
foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area
where most of the attacks took place.

The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers.

Two Australians were injured in this attack.

Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and GT Hospital, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed.

A
Briton who was dining at the Oberoi hotel told Sky News television that
the gunmen who struck there singled out Britons and Americans.

Alex
Chamberlain said a gunman ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant
into a stairway and ordered everyone to put up their hands. He said the
gunman spoke in Hindi or Urdu.

"They were talking about British
and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know,
they said: 'Where are you from?'" and he said he's from Italy and they
said 'fine' and they left him alone.

"And I thought fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything - and thank God they didn't."

Chamberlain
managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but
he thought much of the group was being held hostage.

Early on Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj.

"I
was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing
outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers
visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit.

As he
turned to get away, "all of a sudden another gunmen appeared in front
of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at
us... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he said via
mobile phone.

Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out.

World leaders condemned the attacks.

Australia said the overnight assault in Mumbai, which killed at least 82 people and wounded at least 120, was "a cowardly act".

"It's
indiscriminate, it's a terrorist act, it's an assault on democracy and
it takes as victims and casualties, innocent people," Acting Foreign
Minister Simon Crean said in Canberra.

The United States called
the attacks "horrific" and US President-elect Barack Obama pledged to
work with India to "root out and destroy terrorist networks".

UN
chief Ban Ki-moon said such violence was "totally unacceptable", while
Britain condemned the attacks on its former colony as "outrageous" and
the European Union expressed its "horror and indignation".

Japan confirmed that one of its nationals had been killed and another wounded. A European Parliament staffer was also injured.

The United States and Britain said they had no reports of casualties among their citizens.

Washington
condemned the "horrific" attack and the White House said it had
convened a meeting of top intelligence and counter-terrorism officials
in response, and stood "ready to assist and support the Indian
government".

Obama's chief national security spokesman Brooke
Anderson said the president-elect's prayers were with the victims and
their families.

"These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism," Anderson said.

"The
United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India
and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist
networks."

UN Secretary General Ban also condemned the attacks, saying: "Such violence is totally unacceptable."

"The
secretary-general reiterates his conviction that no cause or grievance
can justify indiscriminate attacks against civilians. He calls for the
perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly," his office said.

British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he had sent Indian premier Manmohan
Singh a message assuring that "the UK stands solidly with his
government as they respond, and to offer all necessary help".

"These outrageous attacks in Mumbai will be met with a vigorous response," he said.

Foreign
Secretary David Miliband said the attacks "remind us, yet again, of the
threat we face from violent extremists," and said Britain and India
would "continue their joint efforts to counter the actions of
terrorists".

The French presidency of the European Union said it
had reacted to the attacks "with horror and indignation" and "condemns
them in the strongest possible terms".

It said the EU "shares in the mourning of the Indian nation and stands by its side during this dramatic test".

In
a separate statement, the EU's executive arm, the European Commission,
said: "Terrorism is never justified and is no means to achieve any
goal."

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon
condemned the "savage terrorist attacks" and stressed his country's
ties with India.

"Canada and India share a commitment to freedom,
democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Among our mutual
priorities is close cooperation to promote international security and
to fight terrorism," he said.

Spain's Crown Prince Felipe also
voiced "tremendous sadness and condemnation of the attacks which seem
to have left such a high number of victims".

Brazil reaffirmed
its "strong condemnation of all forms of terrorism" and offered its
condolences to the families of the victims, as did Argentina.

Colombia
said that it had "also suffered at the hands of terrorism and supports
the Republic of India in its fight against this international scourge,
recognising that terrorism is a criminal and unjustifiable action".

Mumbai
has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic
extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187
people.

And attacks blamed on Muslim militants intent on
destabilising the largely Hindu country have killed almost 700 people
across India in the past three years.

Since May a militant group
calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of
blasts that killed more than 130 people.

The most recent was in
September, when a series of explosions struck a park and crowded
shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and
wounding about 100.