ANALYSTS' VIEW - Mumbai gunmen attacks kill 86

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ANALYSTS' VIEW - Mumbai gunmen attacks kill 86

Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:42am IST
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - At least 86 people were killed in attacks by gunmen in India's commercial hub Mumbai and security forces began moving on two luxury hotels on Thursday where foreign hostages were being held, officials and witnesses said.
The attacks by small groups of gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades on the hotels and other sites in the city came amid state elections and risk destabilising the country ahead of national elections next year.
Following are analysts' reactions to the attacks:
ENRICO TANUWIDJAJA, CURRENCY STRATEGIST AT OCBC BANK IN SINGAPORE:
"People are still waiting for a likely motivation of targeting foreigners, but at this time of the market slowdown, such bad news as this would not do any good for the Indian economy.
"This might give reason for foreign funds to hold inflow for the time being, but the immediate concern will be on the domestic and tourism spending nearing the year-end.
"The Reserve Bank of India is likely to guard the dollar/rupee on possible spikes."
ROBERT BROADFOOT, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RISK CONSULTANCY (PERC) IN HONG KONG.
"This attack seems to me to have the hallmarks of one of the younger indigenous groups, the Indian Mujahedeen or one of their offshoots.
"This was a well-planned, carefully co-ordinated, almost army-style operation. It's very different from a set of indiscriminate suicide bombings. The style of this attack is very different, particularly the specific targeting of foreigners."
"India is not going to hell in a handbasket. The economy has a lot of depth. I certainly don't think that this attack is going to cripple or wreck the economy."
JOSEPH TAN, ASIA CHIEF ECONOMIST AT CREDIT SUISSE IN SINGAPORE:
"Clearly, it will be negative for the sentiment towards India at this point of time, the time when the world is already looking to be highly uncertain in term of its growth prospects.
"When the equity market actually opens, it could probably be opening down as opposed to the rest of Asia.
"Secondly, such terrorist attacks do not have a lasting impact on the market -- I don't think it will have a lasting impact on India.
"This will be negative for the rupee versus the dollar, but again I want to stress that the impact will be short-lived."


Link
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-36724120081127?sp=true
 
Some 100 killed as gunmen rampage in India city

Some 100 killed as gunmen rampage in India city

By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer Ramola Talwar Badam, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

MUMBAI, India – Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, killing at least 101 people, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege Thursday, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.
Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and an unknown number of people were held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said 101 people were killed and 287 injured.
Officials said at least 6 militants had also been killed since the overnight attacks began around 9:30 p.m.
Mid-morning Thursday, police loudspeakers declared a curfew around Mumbai's landmark Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.
Ambulances were seen driving up to the entrance to the hotel and journalists were made to move even further back from the area.
A series of explosions had rocked the Taj Mahal just after midnight. Screams were heard and black smoke 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.
The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans at the hotels and restaurant, witnesses said. Officials said at least 120 people were wounded.
Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the upscale Oberoi hotel, 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.
"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything — and thank God they didn't," he said.
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.
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.
Early Thursday, state home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said two more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were arrested. They declined to provide any further details.
"We're gong to catch them dead or alive," Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."
An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify that claim.
The NDTV news channel showed several yellow and black rubber dinghies on a beach near the hotels, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area.
Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations in this crowded but wealthy city.
Gunmen who burst into the Taj "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting: `Who has U.S. or U.K. passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the hotel.
Authorities believed seven to 15 foreigners were hostages at the Taj Mahal hotel, said Anees Ahmed, a top state official. It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking. He said he could not address reports that Westerners might be among the hostages.
"We condemn these attacks and the loss of innocent life," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
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.
At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said Roy.
Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal.
Nasim Inam's hands shook when he spoke of seeing four attackers gunning down commuters as they walked to catch late trains home.
"They wore black T-shirts and blue jeans. They were carrying big guns," said Inam. "They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In seconds, people fell to the ground."
Other gunmen attacked Leopold's restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed.
Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations.
"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit.
As he turned to get away, "all of a sudden another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone.
Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out.
The state government ordered schools and colleges closed Thursday.
India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.
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 a series of 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.
___
Associated Press writers Erika Kinetz in Mumbai and Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.


Link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_india_shooting
 
What is the latest news on this? Have the SF moved in? Are they 'negotiating' in any way? Will there be international involvement?
 
Indian security forces have still to secure all sites seized by gunmen in Mumbai in a coordinated assault on Wednesday which left at least 130 people dead.
 
No impact to the economy? Is this guy on drugs? The attacks on Bali hurt the Indonesians enough. Every terror attack has had an effect.
Anyways... I guess we can just say screw it, convert to Islam and adopt Sharia law. I'm sure that's the shortest cut to stopping them from blowing things up all the time.
 
the_13th_redneck said:
No impact to the economy? Is this guy on drugs? The attacks on Bali hurt the Indonesians enough. Every terror attack has had an effect.
Anyways... I guess we can just say screw it, convert to Islam and adopt Sharia law. I'm sure that's the shortest cut to stopping them from blowing things up all the time.
Click to expand...

There is a difference, Bali relies almost exclusively on tourism while India's economy has many facets. The impact will be significantly lower.
 
And I'm sure America's economy didn't count on the World Trade center.
But yeah I don't see the tech support call centers closing because of this.
 
Del Boy said:
Seems that British muslim terrorists are involved again.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/73320
Click to expand...

Well certainly according to the right wing and racist media. Some sources report British National identity cards were found on the terrorists, however I think such conclusions are premature

Gunmen not from UK, Foreign Office insists

British officials last night played down the possibility that Britons were involved in the attacks on Mumbai.
India's first minister was reported to have claimed that two of the arrested gunmen were British-born Pakistanis, and UK authorities quickly said they were investigating the reports.
But the Foreign Office later said that the deputy high commissioner in Mumbai had talked to Indian authorities, who said there was no evidence that any of the terrorists, shot or detained, were British.
A spokesman said: "We have spoken to Indian authorities at a high level, and they have said that there is no evidence that any of the terrorists either captured or dead are British."
He added that the Indian chief minister had "said no such thing privately or publicly", despite reports to the contrary.
Intelligence sources also said that they had seen nothing to suggest that the claim, attributed to the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, was correct.
Last night reports in Britain claimed that security forces in India had found BlackBerry handheld devices which allowed the terrorists to monitor international news websites.
An officer from the Indian special forces units who were in action during a siege of Mumbai's Jewish centre had reportedly said that the devices had contained "content from the English media".
Elsewhere, reports suggested that up to seven of the attackers could have been British and that they had links with Yorkshire.
However, speculation linking the attackers with Bradford, West Yorkshire, was rejected by the Leeds-based Counter Terrorism Unit.
A statement from sources in the force said: "At this stage we are not in receipt of any intelligence or information linking the events in India to our area."
The Times reported last night that it had been told by Patrick Mercer MP, a former Tory security spokesman, that he had been given information that at least two of the terrorists had credit cards and other identifying documents which linked them to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. He also said he had been told that the terrorists arrived with only basic communications - but had then seized mobile phones and BlackBerry devices from their hostages and used them to contact each other and to monitor world reaction.
Earlier in the day the home secretary, Jacqui Smith told reporters: "I think it's important that we make judgments on this on the basis of actually the fullest possible knowledge and intelligence, and that's obviously what we are working on at the moment." British authorities had "no knowledge" of anyone with a UK passport being among the gunmen who had been either killed or captured, she added.
Gordon Brown also warned against jumping to conclusions. Following a phone conversation with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, the prime minister said: "At no point has the prime minister of India suggested to me that there is evidence at this stage of any terrorist of British origins, but obviously these are huge investigations that are being done and I think it will be premature to draw any conclusions at all.
"We remain steadfast and firm, standing with India and all other countries against any form of terrorist activity, and we will be vigilant in both helping the Indian authorities and in making sure that in every part of the world we support those who are fighting terrorism."
British anti-terrorist officers are liaising with their Indian counterparts, and officers are now in Mumbai. They are understood to include include terrorism experts and family liaison officers.
Officers are also meeting Britons returning on flights to London's Heathrow Airport and handing out leaflets appealing for information.
A German MEP caught up in the attacks said she had heard that British nationals were among the terrorists involved in the killings in Mumbai. Erika Mann, part of a trade delegation of MEPs from Brussels staying at the Taj hotel, said she had escaped through an underground passage. She said: "The attacks appear to have a European dimension. We have heard from journalists and other people we were with that English citizens took part in the attacks and were killed in the hotel."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/29/mumbai-terror-attacks-india1
 
perseus said:
Well certainly according to the right wing and racist media. Some sources report British National identity cards were found on the terrorists, however I think such conclusions are premature
Click to expand...


Exactly who do you finger as your 'racist media'? References please.

As it happens, the last paragraph of your link appears to confirm early reports.
 
Exactly who do you finger as your 'racist media'? References please.
Click to expand...

UPDATED: Indian Government Claims that British-Born Islamists amongst Mumbai Terrorists

November 28, 2008 by BNP News
Filed under National News

91 Comments


The Indian government and news media have claimed that British-born Islamists are amongst the terrorists who have struck in Mumbai, leaving at least 130 dead and hundreds wounded.
Indian news channel NDTV reported that “British citizens of Pakistani origin” were among the attackers.
* Latest reports say that as many as seven of the terrorists have British connections and some could be from Leeds and Bradford where London’s Juy 7 bombers lived. Two British-born Muslims were among eight gunmen arrested, according to Mumbai’s chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. At least nine others are reportedly dead.
One Indian security official has been quoted as saying that “There is growing concern about British involvement in the attacks.”
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has publicly blamed elements in Pakistan for the series of co-ordinated attacks.
“According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible,” he said.
It was the first time the Indian government had specifically named Pakistan as having a role in the attacks. Officials had previously talked of the militant gunmen coming from “outside the country.”
Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Mumbai, was reported to have said that two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen seized by Indian commandos who stormed buildings to free hostages.
A 2005 Daily Telegraph poll showed that about a quarter of British Muslims sympathised with the motives of the London train bombers. The polls also showed that one-third of British Muslims believe Western society is immoral.
The poll asked Muslims if they felt the July 7th suicide attacks in which 56 people died were justified, and six percent said they were.
* A 2007 poll found that almost a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified. Hannah Stuart, one of the report’s authors for the YouGov Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) poll said it raised concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” she said.
http://bnp.org.uk/category/news/
 
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British link to Mumbai terrorist attacks comes into question

Indian police have released further details on the nine alleged terrorists killed during the recent Mumbai attacks.
According to this latest information, all men were born and raised in Pakistan. This contradicts previous fears that British men were involved in the attacks.


The news comes in the wake of recent raids by Pakistani security forces on terrorist training camps, which has resulted in a series of arrests; including Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi of Lashkar-e-Taiba, alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, and Masood Azhar, head of terrorist outfit Jaish-e- Mohammad
 
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