MUMBAI, India — Masked Indian commandos dropped from helicopters today onto the roof of a Jewish center where suspected Muslim militants were holed up, possibly with hostages, as sharpshooters kept up a steady stream of fire at the five-story building.
The assault came as commandos freed nearly two dozen captives from the nearby Oberoi hotel as the troops searched the building for attackers, on the third day since a chain of militant attacks across India’s financial center left at least 119 people dead.
Security officials insisted their operations were almost over.
“It’s just a matter of a few hours that we’ll be able to wrap up things,” Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters.
Less than an hour later, two loud explosions and gunfire rang out at the luxury Taj Mahal hotel, which, on Thursday night, authorities had insisted was cleared of gunmen.
The commando attack on the headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch was punctuated by gunshots and explosions from within the building as forces cleared it floor by floor, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
One camouflaged commando came out with a bandage on his forehead, while soldiers fired smoke grenades into the building and a steady stream of gunshots reverberated across the narrow alleys.
Hundreds of onlookers, many with binoculars, crowded onto roofs and in narrow alleys of south Mumbai, trying to catch a glimpse of the dramatic commando assault. It was not immediately clear if there were hostages in the building or their fate.
At the Oberoi hotel, at least 25 captives were rushed out and loaded into waiting cars, buses and ambulances. It was unclear how many people remained inside.
The group, many clutching passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians.
Some carried luggage with Canadian flags, and two women were dressed in black abayas, traditional Muslim women’s garments. The group included one man dressed in chef’s uniform who was holding a small baby.
“I didn’t see anything. I just heard loud blasts,” said a man who smiled and waved to reporters. He said he was British, but declined to identify himself. “I was in my room.
“I didn’t get out till an hour ago.”
The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked.
Late Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. But this morning, army commanders said three gunmen had been killed, but two to three more militants still inside with about 15 civilians.
“We need to get them out of the rooms they have locked themselves into,” said Brig. Bobby Mathews.
A few hours after that — and just before the latest round of explosions and gunfire — Thamburaj said at least one gunman was still alive inside the hotel and had cut of electricity on the floor where he was hiding.
State officials said 119 people had died and 288 were injured in the attacks.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed “external forces” for the violence — a phrase sometimes used to refer to Pakistani militants, whom Indian authorities often blame for attacks.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, in Islamabad, denied involvement by his country: “I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents.”
The gunmen were well-prepared, even carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy during the fight. Their main targets appeared to be Americans, Britons and Jews, though most of the dead seemed to be Indians and foreign tourists caught in the random gunfire.
“They have AK-47s and grenades. They have bags full of grenades and have come fully prepared,” said Maj. Gen. R.K. Hooda.
Ratan Tata, who runs the company that owns the elegant Taj Mahal, said they had detailed knowledge of the layout of the hotels.
A U.S. investigative team was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official said Thursday evening, speaking on condition of anonymity because the U.S. and Indian governments were still working out final details.
The official declined to identify which agency or agencies the team members came from.
India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but most of them were coordinated bombings striking random crowded places: markets, street corners, parks.
These attacks were more sophisticated — and more brazen.
They began at about 9:20 p.m. with the shooters spraying gunfire across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world’s busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack roughly every 15 minutes — the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant, one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were 10 targets in all.
Indian media showed pictures of rubber dinghies found by the city’s shoreline, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area. Both of the luxury hotels targeted overlook the Arabian Sea, which surrounds the Mumbai peninsula.
Analysts around the world were debating whether the gunmen could have been tied to — or inspired by — al-Qaeda.
“It’s clear that it is al-Qaeda style,” but probably not carried out by the group’s militants, said Rohan Gunaratna of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore and author of “Inside Al-Qaeda.”
Indian media reports said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility in e-mails to several media outlets.
The Deccan is a region in southern India that was traditionally ruled by Muslim kings.
Survivors of the hotel attacks said the gunmen had specifically targeted Britons and Americans.
One of the gunmen “stopped once and asked, ‘Where are you from? Any British or American? Show your ID,’ ” Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen dining at the Oberoi, told reporters.
Among the dead were two Australians and a Japanese, said the state home ministry. An Italian, a Briton and a German were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.
At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed.
The United States, Pakistan and other countries condemned the attacks.
The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.
Mumbai is one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling mansions.
Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India’s 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947.
Fears were growing that the toll would rise past the 119 known dead. Late Thursday, smoke was still rising from one of the hotels, and people who escaped reported stepping around bodies. Dozens of people, perhaps many more, remained trapped in the hotels, though it was uncertain if any were being held hostage. The wounded numbered some 300.
There remained much mystery around the group behind the attack, unusual in its scale, its almost theatrical boldness and its targeting of locales frequented by wealthy Indians and foreigners.
Two men who claimed to be among the gunmen called local television stations, demanding to speak with the government. They complained about the treatment of Muslims in India and about Kashmir, the disputed territory over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
