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MUMBAI - Indian army commandos were Thursday battling Islamist gunmen who launched coordinated attacks against luxury hotels and other targets in Mumbai, taking foreign hostages and killing over 100 people.
Maharashtra state police chief A.N. Roy said troops were fighting their way through the financial and entertainment capital's famous Taj Mahal hotel.
The attackers were also still believed to be holding hostages in another five-star hotel, the Oberoi/Trident, and an office-residential complex which also houses a Jewish centre.
Gunmen from the little-known Deccan Mujahedeen group, who claimed responsibility for the attacks, exchanged fire with commandos throughout the night and morning, AFP photographers and reporters on scene said.
Sporadic gunfire and blasts continued to be heard into Thursday afternoon.
Americans, Israelis and Canadians were thought to be among those trapped in the two hotels and in Nariman House, a residential complex where a rabbi was also being held.
"No negotiations or talks have started with the terrorists," Maharashtra state deputy chief minister R.R. Patil told reporters, adding that TV signals to both hotels have been cut to prevent the hostage takers getting wind of any operations.
Eight other locations, including Mumbai's main train station, a hospital and a popular restaurant, were hit late Wednesday after the gunmen reportedly landed in the city by boat.
The Indian coast guard was reported to be hunting for a ship that may have dropped them off near the coast.
One of the gunmen holed up in the Oberoi/Trident Hotel told the India TV channel by phone that they wanted an end to the persecution of Indian Muslims and 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 said from inside.
State officials said 101 people were killed in the precisely targeted assaults by small groups of gunmen armed with AK-47s and grenades that began around 10:30 pm (1700 GMT) Wednesday.
Up to 287 other people were also reported wounded.
Nine foreign nationals were among the dead -- including a Japanese businessman, an Australian and an Italian.
The main Bombay Stock Exchange, itself hit by a terror attack in 1993, was closed until further notice, as were shops, schools and businesses.
An official told AFP that the England cricket team had decided to abandon their tour of India and return home following the attacks.
Army commandos stormed the Taj under the cover of night, apparently leading to the release of some guests inside, with television footage showing shocked people being shepherded out of the building.
Shortly afterwards, the upper floors of the hotel became engulfed in flames.
Earlier, several men stormed the passenger hall of Mumbai's main Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, firing indiscriminately and throwing grenades.
Firing was also reported at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai, and three people were reported killed in what police called a "bomb blast" in a taxi in the southeast of the city.
One British guest at the Taj, Rakesh Patel, was among a dozen people herded together by two heavily-armed men and taken to the hotel's upper floors.
"They were very young, like boys really, wearing jeans and T-shirts," he said.
"They said they wanted anyone with British and American passports and then they took us up the stairs. I think they wanted to take us to the roof," he said, adding that he and another hostage managed to escape on the 18th floor.
British businessman Alex Chamberlain told Sky News television that similar national profiling had been conducted by the gunmen in the other hotel.
"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, 'don't be a hero, don't say you are British'," Chamberlain said.
Indian President Pratibha Patil, in Vietnam on an official visit, described the attack as "the work of those who have no regard for human life."
The United States and Britain led global condemnation, with Washington describing the attacks as "horrific", and US president-elect Barack Obama pledging to work with India to "root out and destroy terrorist networks".
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the "outrageous" attacks would be met with a "vigorous response".
India has witnessed a wave of coordinated attacks in recent months.
A little-known Islamic group, the Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility for serial blasts last month in India's northeast state of Assam that claimed nearly 80 lives.
Six weeks earlier, the capital New Delhi had been hit by a series of bombs in crowded markets that left more than 20 dead. Those blasts were claimed by a group calling itself the Indian Mujahedeen.
- AFP /ls
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