- NSG announces all-clear at Taj Hotel, says all terrorists killed
- A cell phone, suspected to be one of the terrorists, with a foreign SIM card found outside Taj
- The National Security Guard and marine commandos are into the final assault against terrorists at the Oberoi hotel
- The assault team has sanitised parts of the Oberoi Trident
- Ten hostages walked out of Oberoi. But over 30, including five foreigners are still trapped inside
- Gunbattle is also on inside Taj hotel and a huge explosion has been heard
- At the third location, Nariman House, commandos are preparing to launch an assault
DEVELOPING: AT THE TAJ
The National Security Guard has declared an all-clear at the Taj Mahal hotel where a fierce gunbattle was on between the forces and terrorists for the past 20 hours.
The NSG says all terrorists at Taj have been killed that it will comb the premises very carefully.
Earlier, a huge explosion was heard from inside the hotel at around 2000 hrs.
MARCOS, the first team to enter the hotels, encountered stiff resistance from the terrorists who were heavily armed and well entrenched inside.
Meanwhile, fire again flared up at the hotel and Tower Hotel, with huge flames leaping up from the roof of the heritage old wing of the building.
This was the third fire at the hotel after armed terrorists stormed the hotel on Wednesday night.
A fire that broke out adjacent to the domed roof Wednesday night was doused after hours of effort by fire brigade personnel. Another fire broke out in one of the rooms on Thursday afternoon and that too was put out.
One commando was killed two others injured in the operation at Taj in which one rucksack full of plastic explosives, eight–nine loaded AK–47 magazines, large amounts of ammunition, hand grenades, detonators, batteries, wrist watches for IEDs, foreign currencies, fake credit cards, dry fruits and cash carried by the terrorists were recovered.
Major General RK Hooda General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat, who is supervising the operations at the Taj Hotel, said, "NSG is here. They are carrying out a very deliberative operation. They are trained for it and are the best in the country. I have faith in them."
DEVELOPING: AT THE OBEROI
A fierce gunbattle between terrorists and paramilitary forces is on at the Hotel Oberoi Trident in Mumbai, in what seems to be the endgame in the near 24-hour hostage and terror drama unfolding in the country’s financial hub.
The fourth floor of the five-star hotel is on fire and according to some reports, at least 30 are still trapped inside, most of them held hostage by armed gunmen.
The Army, the Navy, the National Security Guard and Rapid Action Force are involved in the raging encounter with unspecified number of heavily-armed terrorists.
As dusk fell, there was expectation that the forces would intensify their assault to overwhelm the terrorists.
About 20 to 25 of them were believed to have come in three small inflatable boats, whose mother ship has been traced by Indian naval ships patrolling the Arabian Sea.
In all, 101 people including nine foreigners and 14 policemen have lost their lives while about 300 people were injured in the worst terror attacks seen in the country in which desperate men fired indiscriminately at people.
Earlier in the day, there were reports that at least 18 terrorists were inside the hotel “There may be 16-18 terrorists still inside the hotel,” said a rescued foreign national, whose hands was wounded and bandaged.
“I cannot say more than this because it night hamper the ongoing operation,” he said, while leaving the place in haste.
While another foreign national, who wished not to be identified and was still trapped inside her hotel room, told Times Now on phone: “Though I am safe, I have no knowledge what operations are going inside the idea or inside the hotel. The television lines are cut but telephone lines are still operational.”
“I have contacted my family and have informed them about the situation,” she added.
At least 101 people have been killed and 280 injured in terror assaults on landmark buildings in Mumbai, with Indian security agencies engaged in a grim rescue operation of dozens of guests stranded inside hotels that were targeted by the terrorists.
On Wednesday night, Vice Chairman of Oberaoi Hotels SS Mukherjee feared there were at least 200 people trapped inside. "Altogether, there would be around 200 people inside the Oberoi complex in Mumbai. We believe that not less than 100 people are at the Oberoi side and not less than 100 people inside the Trident side,” he said.
Putting the occupancy at the hotel to be around 375-385, Mukherjee said the terrorists "have not gone down the basement and have only gone to the upper floors".
The Ministry of External Affairs has set up a control room. The phone numbers are: 91-11-23015300, 23012113, 23013537.
The fax number is 91-11-23018158.
Taj helpline numbers: 022 - 66574322, 66574372, 1800111825. Oberoi helpline number: 011-23890606
(With inputs from CNN-IBN Correspondents Yogita Limaye, Toral Varia, Rohit Chandavarkar, Raksha Shetty and George Koshy)
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