November 30, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 1, 1429

MUMBAI, Nov 29: Sixty hours after terrorists struck at the heart of India’s financial capital on Wednesday night, commandos of the elite National Security Guard (NSG) managed to take control of the five-star Taj Mahal hotel on Saturday morning, eliminating all but one of the assailants.

Following a pitched battle that raged intermittently throughout the night, the NSG commandos managed to kill the remaining two terrorists who were shuttling between two floors of the historic hotel in south Mumbai.

According to final estimates, 195 people were killed and over 350 injured in the four-day hostage tragedy at the two five-star hotels --- Taj Mahal and Oberoi-Trident -– and a Jewish centre and synagogue in the city’s tourist and business hub.

The terrorists also killed several suburban commuters at the Chhatrapathi Shivaji railway station at the start of the horror on Wednesday night.

Indian authorities allege that the lone surviving terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, 21, is from Pakistan, and has been providing details of the terrorist plot. Ajmal was nabbed at a busy traffic junction after the car that he and his associate -– who was later killed in an encounter -– had allegedly hijacked on Wednesday, a short while after the duo had allegedly opened fire at the busy station.

According to police account, Ajmal revealed that nearly a dozen youngsters -– aged between 20 and 25 -– had reached India’s territorial waters from Pakistan and hijacked a small boat.

“They then landed at a fishing village in Mumbai’s southern tip and, armed with AK-47 rifles, hand-grenades and explosives, fanned across four different places in groups of two, spreading terror in the city.”

The terror began at Colaba after a volley of shots was fired at the Leopold Cafe and then the scene shifted to the five-star Taj Mahal hotel. Four terrorists were holed up in the 550-room property, holding dozens of American and European tourists hostage.

Another pair of terrorists went to the train station, from where they proceeded to the Cama hospital, killing three top police officers. However, one of them was killed by the police.

According to Mumbai police, two other sets of terrorists attacked the Oberoi-Trident hotel and Nariman house, a Jewish centre in Colaba. After the Mumbai police failed to tackle the terrorists, they summoned Marine commandos and later the NSG commandos.

They later began a comprehensive combing operation, initially at the Oberoi-Trident hotel, killing the terrorists on Friday. They then cleared Nariman house of terrorists on Friday night, and on Saturday morning managed to free Taj Mahal hotel.

The dead included 26 foreigners and 20 policemen and commandos.

The NSG commandos were busy removing corpses from the hotels and the Jewish centre late into the night.

However, both the five-star properties have suffered extensive damage and it may take up to a month for the hotels to reopen.