Terrorist attack in India (UPDATED)
I just turned on the news and saw the reports of the attack in Mumbai, India. For those who’ve been around awhile, our buddy Renwaa lives in Mumbai. I’ve been in email contact with her and she and her family are fine. Here’s what she’s written from her unique perspective;
Well, we’ve been attacked. There’s 9 targeted places in the city so far targeting the Oberoi Hotel where 2 terrorist are inside with AK-47s and grenades (Indian special forces in there now–guests are holed up in some big ballroom there), the Taj Hotel, and the Trident Hotel (all in south Mumbai in the tourist area of Colaba), two hospitals have been attacked and a railway station. Plus, a bomb in Vile Parle (had lunch there yesterday) and a grenade attack in Santa Cruz which is nearby. Nothing on the Yahoo or anything yet to post. There’s reports of 4 dead and 25 injured (incl 15 shot).
The Indian media is all over the place with information, but it’s going to be nuts here the next few days. May skip school for my oldest as we have to go thru Vile Parle to get there.
If anyone reads my blog, this is the crazy Citibank guy’s neighborhood by the Bombay Yacht club that I wrote about. He texted me and is going to stay inside.
Crazy, but it’s about time we got hit. There’s been at least 6 terrorist bombings in the country since we’ve been here.
Here’s from the Stratfor alert:
November 26, 2008
At least a dozen Indian policeman reportedly were injured when gunmen opened fire in several parts of Mumbai on Nov. 26. Officials, speaking off the record because investigations were only in early stages, said at least two rounds were fired at police and paramilitary forces near the luxury Taj Mahal Hotel in south Mumbai, between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m., Thaindian News reported. Shots also were fired randomly near the Central Railway headquarters, where the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is almost always crowded. Police had not confirmed whether the shootings were part of a terrorist attack or gang war, but said automatic rifles –- possibly AKs –- were used.
I’m off to bed. It’s nearly 1am here so you guys will know more than me for the next 6hrs! Hope this gets settled quickly. The problem is, anything like this will start communal problems with the muslims if they take “credit” for the attacks.
Geez, reports are 65 dead now. The NewsX crew (the ones I did all the tv spots for) have a guy north of us in Vile Parle where someone is still shooting. The Indian media has no problem showing blood and gore on tv. It’s all outside the railway station there.
Guess I’ll be awake for a while. CNN-IBN reporting that in the Oberoi and either Trident or Taj has the terrorist gathered western/American hostages. They say it could be in the hundreds.
Holy crap. This is getting bigger. Terrorists are driving around randomly shooting people on the streets.
Now, the JW Mariott in Juhu is taking fire. My son definitely is staying home tomorrow.
Boat with explosives found near the Gateway of India which is right down by the Taj.
CNN-IBN reported the terrorists in the Oberoi went to the desk and specifically asked for the rooms of Americans and then went to get them.
There’s not a doubt now. Thank God Bush is still Pres.
Not Mariott, but the Ramada. It’s just off of Juhu beach. I drive past 2x a day. Makes sense since they reported grenade attack in Santa Cruz and if you just keep going north on Juhu Tara Road, you’ll pass the Ramada, then the JW Marriott.
Now saying 15 hostages from the Oberoi on the roof with the terrorists.
OK, CNN Int’l just spoke with a gov’t official saying NO hostages have been taken.
However, it looks as if 3 pretty senior/top cops are dead.
It’s just chaos.
The ATS (anti-terror squad) has entered the Taj hotel. Holy crap. The reporter says they can hear shots. Plus, still reports of hostages.
Nothing yet. The last bombings/attacks have been claimed by islamist groups.
The army has surrounded all the hotels. Expect more casualties….
We have a Taj Land’s End here in Bandra where I am. No news from there. The Sea Rock hotel across the street from there was blown up by terrorists about 15 yrs ago. Bet the Taj is a fortress now, along with the 4 Seasons and Hilton, etc…
She may stop by and update – or I’ll just check her place for updates.
Oh, and by way of Little Green Footballs, ABCNews reports;
Uniformed police officers have flooded New York City’s Penn Station, home to the Long Island Rail Road, following a warning from the FBI of a “plausible but unsubstantiated” threat of a terrorist bomb attack against the system during the holidays.
What was Joe Biden sayin’?
UPDATE: More from Renwaa;
Friend of friend knows the GM of oberoi. We’re IMing now:
ie: Me too
we just got word from the Oberoi GM, thru a mutual friend
that they asked for only American and British
and let the locals go
Fire fight right now on the 7th and 8th floor
me: i heard that, but didn’t know if it was true
Bernie: It is
Her husband and her r close to the Oberoi staff
she is with us as her husband is stuck in town
Lay low
Bernie is typing…
Bernie is offline. Messages you send will be delivered when Bernie comes online.Holy crap.
The husband was at the Ruby Tuesdays next door when it went down and ran for his life!
Reports are some of the terrorists stole a police van. Real nice.
Alright, it’s 3:30am here and can’t bear to be awake anymore. I’ll be back in a few hours. My kids will be up in 3.5. *sigh*
Renwaa is continuing updates in the comments.
Category: Politics
The hostage reports are back. Headline News saying there are 20 hostages in the Oberoi hotel, 2 hostages have been killed in the Cama hospital.
On the 24×7 News site, they report 40 held hostage at the Trident hotel.
Thank you for your reports Renwaa but please stay safe.
Man…it makes me wonder what will really happen here. F***!! Glad that your friend is safe.
Renwaa,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones. Keep your heads down and stay safe. Your lives aren’t worth going out to check on things.
~Paul
Terrorist attacks targeting Westerners? How can this be? “The One” has been elected and from now on there will only be peace and big cuddly Teddy Bears. Don’t they know that George didn’t get his 3rd term? Maybe the Gummint will move the inauguration day up from Jan 20th to Dec 1 so that the Obamessiah can quell the rioting masses. Michelles children just don’t need this right now.
nuf sed
Remember how the liberals said it was all over hyped by Bush so he could rule by fear?
I am disappointed.
Just now there are real folks who need our thoughts. Who gives a shit about the political ramifications?
Sorry Jonn… I can’t believe 6 and 7. I’m pissed.
Hey Ponsdorf:
I am #6. They have our thoughts, and prayers, and wishes. What we have is an unsure future in our political spectrum that will, one way or the other, affect us, our military, and our nation. This attack, or series of, in Mumbai is a call to see how we react. I chose this opportunity to voice what I feel, and in no way did I belittle the situation. Take a break and relax.
nuf sed
The AP will only admit it is most likely Radical Muslim Islamic orchestrated (what else is new) in the very last paragraphs of their long wordy reports. What is wrong with the AP and the mainstream media? Thank you for a reliable report. Stay low.. If at all possible, aquire a weapon to defend yourself?
The Islamist goons will be high off this one. Just as we find out that one of the Bali bombers “song” has been downloaded as ringtones, we’ll get adulation by Islamist groups for the “martyrs” in India. They’re feeling their oats about now.
I’m kinda like Renwaa – glad Bush is still President.
No ponsdorf – I don’t have any feeling that the messiah will be as good for our security as Bush was.
Stay safe Renwaa – it’s the only thing you can do now.
Some reports saying 2 US intel officers among those killed at the Taj. Also, one of the captured terrorists is saying they came directly from Pakistan, got into a boat and made their way down to the Gateway of India (across from the Taj) and started. Intel reports here say “Deccan Mujahadeen is a red herring and foreign elements at play” i.e. Pakistanis.
The problem is, the Pakistanis don’t have a history of going after foreign tourists. If you were worried about tourism collapsing, who would you want to have “blamed” if you were the gov’t?
There’s too many witnesses saying the terrorists were asking for the passports of guests to get them and Brits/Americans left behind. I wouldn’t discount an offshoot/copycat AQ group just yet.
Ok, seems to be some combination of both theories:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/27mum-terrorists-in-touch-with-karachi-via-satphone.htm
Renwaa, I’m praying for your and your family’s safety.
If it is Pakistanis, at least we should be spared retaliation attacks/riots on muslims from the hindus if this was home grown jihadis. They’re using the term “martyrs” now to describe the police that have been killed. That’s an inflammatory word to use here and the hindus use it just like muslims do.
Thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in India. I’m glued to the radio. Thank you, Renwaa, for the updates and This ain’t Hell for the forum.
I missed this earlier:
[quote]MUMBAI: A militant holed up inside Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel told a television news channel on Thursday that seven attackers were holding hostages
“There are seven of us inside hotel Oberoi,” the man identified as Sahadullah told the channel. “We want all Mujahideens held in India released and only after that we will release the people.”
The terrorist said he belonged to an Indian Islamist group that is seeking an end to the persecution of Indian Muslims.
Identifying himself as a member of a group calling itself Deccan Mujahedeen, the gunman, who was holed up in the Oberoi Trident Hotel, called for the release of all fellow Islamic militants detained in India.
“Muslims in India should not be persecuted. We love this as our country but when our mothers and sisters were being killed, where was everybody?” he told the channel by phone from inside the hotel, which is surrounded by army commandos.
“Release all the Mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he said. [/quote]
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Army_storms_Mumbais_besieged_five-star_hotels_/articleshow/3762100.cms
Renwaa-
I can’t imagine how scary this is. I imagine your telling us what is going on helps get through the fear,just a little. Hope you got some sleep. It’s Thanksgiving Day. I’m giving thanks.
The family of the GM for the Taj has been reported killed in the 101 tally so far. His wife and 3 kids. It is a day of giving thanks for sure. Let’s pray he’s not casualty #102 in his grief.
Escalated explosions and gunfire at the Taj. They got 5 more foreigners out too.
Renwaa,
Thanks so much for reporting on this and try to keep safe! We’re getting reports in the States that 101 people have been killed and 287 are injured from the attack. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Death toll up to 125 and 325 injured. The 6 foreigners identified so far are a Brit, Aussie and Japanese. Remember these guys opened fire in the lobbies so it’s not necessarily hostages that were killed.
There are 2 vessels detained in Gujarat by the Indian navy. Gujarat is the State north of Maharastra (where Mumbai is).
My computer internet connection is crawling so don’t know how much longer it’ll be up. Will do my best. Schools closed again tomorrow.
Renwaa ~ You, your family and country continue to be in my prayers. Thank you for the updates but PLEASE make sure you keep safe FIRST! Apparently the terrorists at the Taj hotel have been killed. Hopefully the remainder will be taken soon.
Hi, all: They’re releasing some nationalities of those killed: 2 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Aussie, 2 German, 1 Canadian, 1 Norwegian, 1 Finn, 2 Oman
Take that with a grain of salt. Misinformation here is shocking.
The Trident-Oberoi situation has been resolved. 24 bodies taken out so far. The Taj has supposedly 1 holed up but conflicting reports of no hostages up to 100 still in one of the big meeting or ballrooms.
It’s been another long day. There was misreporting of new shots fired at CST aka Victoria Terminal (damn that Shiv Sena political group for changing all the gdamn names like Bombay to Mumbai–it’s so confusing) and also at the Parsi dairy in New Marine Lines area of Mumbai. My husband’s office closed and the information was a white car was driving around the south area shooting at people.
It’s chaos. We’re just sitting tight.
New fire broke out at the Taj. Bodies being removed out the back now. We can see live pics of the fire.
Nairman house has 1 floor left to be cleared. Huge crowds gathering to cheer on police. No word on the rabbi and his wife or others left inside. Their baby and the baby’s Indian nanny got released or escaped earlier in the day.
Breaking: 5 hostages, 2 terrorists killed at Nariman House
Nariman House secured. The crowd is celebrating. One channel says 2 of the 5 hostages there are the Rabbi and his wife. How horrible.
Nothing new on the Taj.
32 dead pulled out from Oberoi so far. Death toll is officially 155.
Let me clarify, 2 of the 5 hostages KILLED there at Nariman house would be the Rabbi and his wife.
Americans Alan Scherr and his 13yr old daughter were the 2 Americans killed says CNN Int’l.
Add a Chinese and an Italian to the death toll of foreigners killed.
11 terrorists killed so far. 1 or 2 still loose in the Taj.
Fox News has info on the Americans killed:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458545,00.html
Renwaa, our thoughts and prayers are with you. And thank you for your efforts here.
Looks like the Taj has been cleared and 3 terrorists are dead. The NSG is still going around checking, but everything is very relaxed outside and crowds moving closer. There was a fire in the Wasabi restaurant part of the Heritage wing that firemen have started to put out.
Let’s hope this thing is finished. Then the city can move towards healing and investigations of who really did this and why.