Mumbai Terrorist Attack

Hey everyone dont worry I was not near the terrorist attack yesterday in Mumbai and bombay, I am over 1,000 miles away in Jalandhar. The country is on red alert for all foreigners everywhere. I am here in India doing his will so God will protect me. I just hope that you all will keep india in your prayers right now with all the turmoil going on. Here is an article about the incident.

NBC News and news services
updated 6:23 a.m. ET Nov. 27, 2008
MUMBAI, India - Indian commandos were preparing to storm the Taj Hotel, Trident-Oberoi and a Jewish center in India's financial capital where militants had trapped or taken hostage scores of people, witnesses and TV channels said, Reuters reported on Thursday.
A short while earlier a huge explosion was heard in the Taj Hotel.
Earlier, black-clad Indian commandos liberated some hostages and recovered a few bodies in the Taj Mahal hotel, nearly a day after teams of gunmen stormed landmarks in the city, killing at least 101 people.
The attacks, which were blamed on Muslim militants, targeted two luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish center. Anees Ahmed, a top state official, had said authorities believed up to 15 foreigners were being held hostage at the Taj Mahal hotel.
Dozens of people were still trapped or held captive on Thursday, among them Americans, Britons, Italians, Swedes, Canadians, Yemenis and New Zealanders. Officials say Australian, Japanese and British nationals are among the dead.
Witnesses said the attackers had specifically targeted Britons and Americans.
Police and gunmen had been exchanging occasional gunfire at the two hotels and dozens of people were believed held hostage or trapped inside the besieged buildings. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said that in addition to the 101 people slain, 314 had been injured.
Officials said eight militants had also been killed in the coordinated attacks on at least 10 sites that began around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
'Save us' A series of explosions had rocked the Taj Mahal just after midnight. Screams were heard and black smoke and flames billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from balconies with extension ladders. By dawn, the fire was still burning.
At the nearby upscale Oberoi hotel, soldiers could be seen on the roof of neighboring buildings. A banner hung out of one window read "save us." No one could be seen inside the room from the road.
Mumbai, on the western coast of India overlooking the Arabian Sea, is home to splendid Victorian architecture built during the British Raj and is one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million crammed into shantytowns, high rises and crumbling mansions. The Taj Mahal hotel, filled with Oriental carpets, Indian artifacts and alabaster ceilings, overlooks the fabled Gateway of India that commemorated the visit of King George V and Queen Mary.
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.
Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.
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.
Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans had been admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshots. All had come from the Taj Mahal, the officials said.
The NDTV news channel reported that an explosion had been heard at the Trident hotel and that several Israelis were among hostages being held on the 19th floor. NDTV said commandos were preparing for a counterassault there.
At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said A.N. Roy, a top police official.
Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered everyone to put up their hands.
Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.
"I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."

By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer
MUMBAI, India – Black-clad Indian commandoes raided two luxury hotels to try to free hostages Thursday, and explosions and gunshots shook India's financial capital a day after attacks by suspected Muslim militants killed at least 119 people.
About 10 to 12 gunmen remain holed up inside the hotels and a Jewish center, a top Indian general said. The remaining gunmen appeared to have been killed or captured, Maj. Gen. R.K. Huda told New Delhi Television.
Authorities said 119 people died and 288 were injured when suspected Islamic militants — armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives — launched a highly coordinated attack against 10 sites in the city Wednesday night.
Officials said eight militants were also killed.
Dozens of people were being held hostage at the hotels, as well as a nearby Jewish center, by the well-trained and heavily armed gunmen, authorities said.
While hostages trickled out of the hotels throughout the day, witnesses said many bodies remained inside and the two-day siege showed few signs of ending quickly. Several bodies were carried out of the five-star Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
The attackers had specifically targeted Britons and Americans inside the hotels, witnesses said.
Dozens of people were also apparently still hiding in their hotel rooms, terrified by occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions, as well as fires burning in parts of both hotels, and waiting for authorities to get them to safety.
After dusk Thursday, police brought hostages out of the Oberoi, one of the city's best-known five-star hotels.
One man, a who identified himself as a Pole but did not give his name, told reporters he had seen many bodies inside, but refused to give more details, saying he had promised police not to discuss details of the rescue operation.
The Maharashtra state home ministry said 84 people had been freed from the Oberoi — 60 of them hostages — and dozens more were still trapped inside.
Police said they were going slowly to protect the captives.
A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a series of terror attacks over the past three years that have dented India's image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.
Among the dead were at least one Australian, a Japanese and a British national, said Pradeep Indulkar, a senior government official of Maharashtra state. An Italian and a German were also killed, according to their foreign ministries.
The most high-profile target was the Taj Mahal hotel, a landmark of Mumbai luxury since 1903, and a favorite watering hole of the city's elite.
Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around the hotel Thursday afternoon, and commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area. Into the night, brief exchanges of gunfire and explosions could be heard coming from the building.
The attackers, dressed in black shirts and jeans, stormed into the hotel about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday and opened fire indiscriminately.