India terrorist attacks leave at least 78 dead in Mumbai

Reporting from Mumbai, India, and Beijing — Gunmen apparently targeting Americans and Britons paralyzed the Indian financial center of Mumbai late Wednesday and early Thursday with a series of attacks that left at least 78 people dead and more than 200 injured in grenade blasts and a hail of automatic weapons fire.

Witnesses interviewed by Indian and global television networks told of attackers sweeping through two luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi Hilton, and separating American and British tourists from other guests for use as hostages.

Up to 16 coordinated groups at nine sites, most in the southern part of the city, also hit the domestic airport, the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminal and a restaurant called Cafe Leopold, a popular spot for tourists. Shoes, shattered glass and bits of twisted metal littered the area around the eatery.

The gunmen also attacked police headquarters in south Mumbai, according to press reports.

"We are under fire. There is shooting at the gate," constable A. Shetti told the Associated Press by telephone.

Near the Vile Parle station of the city's Western train line, a bomb went off in a taxi on the highway around 10 p.m. An hour later, parts of the vehicle could be seen scattered up to 100 feet away. Four injured people nearby were taken to the hospital.

Within minutes, police were cordoning off all major roads, stopping even emergency vehicles amid reports that two attackers had hijacked a police van.

Among the victims was Mumbai's head of anti-terrorism, Hemant Karkare, and two of his senior police officers, complicating the Indian response. Television footage showed a mustached Karkare donning a flak jacket and helmet minutes before heading into one of the hotels.

Terrorism experts said the late-evening timing offered several potential advantages for the attackers. Security is generally more lax at this time as businesses prepare to close. There's less traffic in the congested city, making it easier to position a large number of attackers at disparate sites. And it allows the story to hit news cycles in Europe and North America, with global publicity a key objective among terrorists hoping to undermine stability and spread fear.

Local government officials said up to four attackers were killed and nine arrested. An unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedin claimed responsibility, but experts cautioned that this could be a hoax.