Hostage-takers kill them as commandos retake seized building
Indian commandos dropped from helicopters yesterday onto the roof of Nariman House in Mumbai, which houses a Jewish centre taken over by Muslim militants on Wednesday. The militants killed their hostages as security forces fought to retake the building. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MUMBAI - THE two-day siege of a Jewish centre ended in tragedy last night when Indian commandos overran the building, only to find that all five Israeli hostages had perished.
At press time, the bodies had not been identified but Jewish Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who run the centre, had earlier been named among them.
APPARENT ACT OF REVENGE
'Ask the government to talk to us and we will release the hostages...Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims? Are you aware how many of them have been killed in Kashmir this week?'
One of the gunmen, who spoke to a TV channel in Urdu
MANCHESTER - A BRITISH Euro MP caught up in the terror attacks in Mumbai was greeted by emotional scenes on Friday when he arrived in Manchester.
Mr Sajjad Karim, who was part of a European Parliament trade delegation staying at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in India's financial capital when gunmen burst in, embraced his two children while friends and family wept in the northern English city.
'It's very sad this has happened,' said Mr Eli Belotsercovsky, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi.
The Press Trust of India quoted Indian national security guard chief J. K. Dutt as saying the militants had killed the hostages during the commando unit's assault.
'We had taken over the second floor of the house when a grenade was launched from above. Three hostages were killed by terrorists,' he said.
'As the commando unit moved upstairs, the militants killed another two hostages on the fourth floor.'
Two militants were also killed in the raid.
Crowds had prematurely celebrated the apparent end of the siege, even as police warned that final checks were still being made to ensure the site had been secured.
Hundreds of people, many of them curious onlookers, flooded onto the streets surrounding the centre, cheering and applauding commandos who emerged from the building with assault rifles raised.
Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor, however, cautioned restraint, saying that security personnel were still moving through the building 'floor-by-floor, checking that everything is all right'.
There have been suggestions that Israelis, along with Americans and Britons, may be among groups of people targeted by the Deccan Mujahideen, the Islamic group that has claimed responsibility for the coordinated terror attacks in Mumbai.
But Israeli media reported yesterday that India had turned down an Israeli offer to send counter-insurgency officers to the city.
The gunmen first took over the five-storey Nariman House on Wednesday night. One of the gunmen then called a TV channel on Thursday night.
'Ask the government to talk to us and we will release the hostages,' said the man, identified by the TV channel as Imran, speaking in Urdu with what sounded like a Kashmiri accent.
'Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims? Are you aware how many of them have been killed in Kashmir this week?'
On the same night, seven hostages were released. But blasts and gunfire were heard through the night and early morning yesterday, before the Indian military decided to storm in at 7.15am yesterday.
Eight blue-uniformed commandos dropped from helicopters onto the roof of the building before making their way into the building, which is home to the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch.
Hundreds of shots were then fired over the next four hours, as the suspected Muslim militants fended off a steady stream of fire from Indian military sharpshooters, which had twisted the iron bars of the Jewish centre's windows.
In launching its final assault, Indian commandos blew up a hole in the outer wall of the building before entering and discovering the bad news.
Rabbi Holtzberg, 29, is an Israeli who also holds United States citizenship. He founded Chabad House with his Israeli wife Rivka five years ago. It has since become an important port of call for thousands of Jewish travellers visiting Mumbai each year.
Their two-year-old son Moshe was rescued by a cook from Chabad House on Thursday. There was an emotional reunion between him and his grandparents Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, who flew into Mumbai yesterday.
A relative told Israel's Army Radio that there was an eruption of emotion, but they soon returned to worrying about the parents.
Now it seems like their worst fears may be realised. -- AP, AFP , REUTERS
