THE bloody battle for Mumbai looked set to enter a third day last night as the death toll continued to rise with terrorist gunmen defying attempts to prise them from their hideouts.
The city's Oberoi hotel and a Jewish centre were cleared of the killers, but gunfire and explosions could be heard throughout the day at the Taj Mahal Hotel where up to six armed terrorists were feared to still be fighting.
An airborne assault on
a centre run by the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch ended in success yesterday morning but troops found the bodies of five hostages inside. Israeli officials said six people, including a rabbi and his wife, were dead.
There were also 24 bodies discovered in the Oberoi Hotel where 93 people were released after 36 hours. The group rescued from the Oberoi included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians.
After about 400 people had been brought out of the Taj hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. However, fighting continued throughout yesterday. Army commanders said three gunmen had been killed, but two or three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.
Meanwhile India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee claimed the attackers came from a base in Pakistan but he stopped short of blaming Pakistan itself. Minutes later Pakistan's Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar categorically denied his country's involvement.
