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Indian Police: Siege at Taj over
  

Firefighters douse a blaze from Taj Mahal Hotel after a gun battle in Mumbai November 29, 2008. Operations by Indian commandos to dislodge Islamist militants at Mumbai`s Taj Mahal hotel ended on Saturday, Indian television channels quoted officials as saying. The hotel came under heavy gunfire and flames leaped out of the building shortly before the announcement. [Agencies]

MUMBAI -- Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India`s financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that left more than 150 people dead and rocked the nation.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 400-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found six hostages dead.

More than 150 people were killed and several hundred wounded in the violence that started when more than a dozen assailants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai Wednesday night. Fifteen foreigners were among the dead.

"The Taj operation is over. The last two terrorists holed up there have been killed," Mumbai Police Chief Hasan Ghafoor said. J.K. Dutt, director general of India`s elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters outside the hotel that his forces would continue to search and clear the hotel.

With the end of one of the most brazen terror attacks in India`s history, attention turned from the military operation to questions of who was behind the attack and the heavy toll on human life.

Taj Mahal hotel is seen engulfed in smoke during a gun battle in Mumbai November 29, 2008. Operations by Indian commandos to dislodge Islamist militants at Mumbai`s Taj Mahal hotel ended on Saturday, Indian television channels quoted officials as saying. The hotel came under heavy gunfire and flames leaped out of the building shortly before the announcement. [Agencies]


Indian army soldiers take position during a gun battle at the Taj Mahal hotel (seen in the background) in Mumbai November 29, 2008. Operations by Indian commandos to dislodge Islamist militants at Mumbai`s Taj Mahal hotel ended on Saturday, Indian television channels quoted officials as saying. The hotel came under heavy gunfire and flames leaped out of the building shortly before the announcement. [Agencies]

 
Date:2008-11-29 12:27:00     
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