Deadly siege ends in India

MUMBAI, India – Mumbai’s nightmare ended early today, nearly 60 hours after the start of a terrorist attack that left south Asia’s financial capital badly shaken and resulted in the deaths of at least 150 people, including four Americans.

As the focus shifted to identifying the dead and determining who was behind this body blow to India’s psyche, busloads of commandos swarmed into the massive Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, the terrorists’ last holdout, to mop up, search for injured guests and ensure there were no booby traps left behind.

As word spread that the worst was over, city residents and visitors finally exhaled after days of disbelief and shock as its local icons turned into bloody wreckage. Shop owners mulled reopening after days of lockdown, clumps of bystanders gathered to share the news, and the usual noise and bustle slowly returned.

“I’m overwhelmed with emotion that it’s finally over,” said Keki Dadiseth, who escaped from the Taj midway through the crisis with 35 colleagues after breaking a window and descending a fire ladder. “It’s an enormous relief.”

National Security Guard leader J.K. Dutt said that three terrorists had been gunned down and a police commando killed in the final assault this morning and that police had started fires at the end to smoke out the militants.

Foreign minister alleges links to Pakistan

Even as the Indian government came under growing criticism for its slow response, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee stepped up blame on unnamed interests in Pakistan, India’s neighbor and longtime rival, following less direct accusations made by the prime minister a day earlier.

“Preliminary evidence, prima facie evidence, indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved,” Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi.

Pakistan countered that it was not to blame. The new government of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has worked hard to reduce tensions between the two longtime adversaries. But some fear the devastating attack could push relations back into a deep freeze, arguably achieving what the perpetrators may have wanted.

British authorities said they were investigating reports that some of the suspects involved in the Mumbai attacks were British or had ties to Britain, officials said.

Sources familiar with the Indian investigation said the focus is largely on the Pakistani Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

A U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed that the Indian investigation has uncovered information that points to Pakistani-based militant groups that have long been launching terrorist attacks against the Indian government over its role in the tensions over the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and specifically to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

A Western diplomat familiar with the investigation said officials were startled by the military precision of the attacks. At least some of the gunmen at the various locations appeared to be receiving instructions from a command center, the diplomat said.

The crisis started Wednesday evening when disciplined teams of heavily armed young militants fanned out across the city, after reportedly landing in speedboats, and attacked 10 targets including two luxury hotels, a restaurant popular with tourists, a train station, a hospital and a Jewish center.

Despite stepped-up security across Mumbai by police, firefighters and army and navy commandos Friday, fighting continued throughout the day. Two terrorism suspects were killed and more than 140 hostages freed at one of the five-star hotels, the Trident-Oberoi. But explosions continued into this morning at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, and at the orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center about a half-mile away.

News spread that all five of the hostages had died, including American Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holzberg and his wife, Rivka. “The worst fears of the last 48 hours seemed to have happened,” said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation.

The couple’s toddler son, Moshe, survived the assault after an employee sneaked him out. He is now with his grandparents.

The choice of the community center as a target highlighted the attackers’ meticulous planning, given that many people in the neighborhood didn’t know it existed.

In addition to the rabbi and his wife, an American and his teenage daughter traveling with a spiritual group were among the 150 people killed during the coordinated attacks. A spokeswoman for the Faber, Va.-based Synchronicity Foundation identified its two slain members as Alan Scherr, 58, and his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi.

Calls for investigation

Even as many Indians directed their anger and shock at Pakistan, with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba frequently mentioned, some questioned the jump to judgment.

“What concerns me is really the haste with which India points the finger at Pakistan,” said Nasim Zehra, an independent defense analyst and Harvard fellow based in Islamabad. “Even if it turns out there is an international dimension, I would’ve thought they would follow a proper investigation.”

Analysts also cited the importance of distinguishing between the Pakistan government and rogue elements within Pakistan. A previously unknown group called Deccan Mujahideen, apparently Muslim militants, has claimed responsibility for the attack, but experts warn this could be a made-up name.