Commandos killed three holdout gunmen Saturday in Mumbai’s Taj Hotel, bringing an end to a two-day Islamic militant assault on India’s financial capital that left at least 155 dead, including 21 foreigners. The final attack on the historic seafront hotel was marked by heavy gunfire and loud explosions that triggered a fierce fire, as special forces units moved against gunmen who had held hundreds of security personnel at bay for three nights.”All operations are over. All the terrorists have been killed,” Mumbai police commissioner Hassan Gafoor said, 59 hours after the attacks began. On Friday, elite troops had stormed a Mumbai Jewish centre and killed two gunmen — but also found five dead Israeli hostages, including a US-based rabbi and his wife, who were murdered as the commandos closed in. The other luxury hotel that was attacked, the Oberoi/Trident, was declared clear of militants late Friday, with scores of trapped guests rescued and 24 bodies found. “They were the kind of people with no remorse — anybody and whomsoever came in front of them they fired,” an Indian commando said of the young gunmen who slipped into Mumbai on Wednesday evening. The head of the commando forces, J.K. Dutt, said his men were conducting a final sweep of the battle-scarred Taj. “We are now going through each and every room to make sure it is safe,” Dutt said, appealing to any guests still hiding in the hotel to make themselves known. “They must open their curtains so that our security forces can see inside and make sure there are only guests and no terrorist inside,” he said. Police officials put the death toll at around 155 people, with 327 others wounded. TV channels described the attacks as “India’s 9/11.” The 21 foreigners killed included the Israelis, two Americans, two French nationals, two Australians, a German, a Japanese, a Canadian, a British Cypriot, an Italian and a Singaporean. A government minister said the overall toll could rise as more corpses are recovered. “Once the bodies are collected, the number of deaths might go up to 200,” India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal told the Press Trust of India. At least 11 militants were confirmed dead and one captured. Indian intelligence sources said the detained gunman had confessed to coming from Pakistan.
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