59-hour Mumbai terror siege comes to end

　　India's longest terror nightmare that lasted for almost 59 hours ended Saturday as commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG), the Indian Army and the Indian Navy eliminated three militants who had taken over the iconic Taj Mahal hotel.

　　"Finally, we have been able to win the battle and do the job (assigned to us)," NSG head J.K. Dutt told reporters.

　　Plumes of thick, black smoke billowed out of the ground floor windows at the hotel's northern end after two retail outlets were torched Saturday to smoke out the militants.

　　Some 200 commandos from the NSG, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Mumbai police launched the attack, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported.

　　Saturday was the culmination of a four-day anti-militant operation that began Wednesday evening when several armed men, probably two dozen and armed with grenades and automatic rifles, sneaked into the city by boat.

　　Police later said that the militants divided themselves into several groups and quickly struck several places in south Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal hotel, the nearby Oberoi-Trident hotel and a Jewish center.

　　They shot at people indiscriminately and hurled grenades, killing over 150 people.

　　On Friday, the commandos first took control of the Oberoi hotel and then the Jewish center. Thousands living all around the building took to the streets, shouting slogans and hailing the security forces.

　　But the three gunmen at the Taj Mahal held on despite being outnumbered by well-trained commandos.

　　A total of 25 explosions, small and big, were heard in the hotel all through Friday, and gunfire rattled the hotel and fires frequently erupted from different rooms, IANS reported.

　　Scores of hostages, many of them westerners, Friday finally walked out of the two hotels and the Jewish center after two nights and days of trauma and a narrow brush with death. A few broke down while others were too stunned to react when the commandos found them, hiding in their rooms, IANS said.

　　The NSG lost two men, and 14 Mumbai police personnel were killed including the head of its Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Hemant Karkare.

　　Fourteen militants were killed, while one has been captured, according to the IANS.

　　印度反恐突擊隊員29日擊斃最后3名據守孟買泰姬瑪哈飯店的武裝人員。長達59個小時的恐怖襲擊終于結束。

　　法新社報道,孟買自26日晚遭受的連環恐怖襲擊事件已造成至少195人死亡、295人受傷。

　　孟買警察局長哈桑·加富爾29日宣布:"泰姬瑪哈飯店處于我們控制之下,所有(清剿)行動已結束。所有恐怖分子已被擊斃。"

　　反恐突擊隊員當天對躲藏在泰姬瑪哈飯店內的武裝人員發起攻擊,通過窗戶向飯店一層投擲手榴彈。雙方在飯店內發生不連貫交火,不時聽到巨大爆炸聲。

　　印度國家安全衛隊指揮官喬蒂·克里希納·杜特透露,3名據守在飯店內的武裝人員被擊斃,"有3名恐怖分子……我們發現3具尸體"。

　　電視畫面顯示,交火造成飯店一層和二層多處地方起火,冒出滾滾濃煙,數輛消防車在現場救火。飯店白色陽臺和紅色外墻被熏黑。數輛救護車停在飯店外。

　　清剿行動結束后,搜救犬被派入飯店。部分突擊隊員離開在飯店周圍的監控位置。一些警察在外線警戒,表情略顯輕松。

　　馬尼什·蒙德拉志愿給突擊隊員送食物,曾進入過飯店內部。他說:"大廳絕對是一團糟。家具破碎,到處都是水,那些東西完全無法再使用。"

　　法新社援引孟買市災難管理部門官員R·賈德哈夫的話說:"截至29日上午,死亡人數為195人,另有295人受傷。"死者中包括至少19名外國人。

　　另外,至少11名武裝人員被證實死亡,另有至少1名武裝人員遭俘獲。英國《泰晤士報》評論道,鑒于泰姬瑪哈飯店、奧貝羅伊飯店和"加巴德大屋"內發現多名死亡人質,印度方面清剿武裝人員的勝利只是"空洞的勝利"。