Taj Mahal Palace Attacked. Ongoing On The BBC News.

Gunmen have opened fire at a number of sites in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killing at least 80 people and injuring about 200 more.

Police said shooting was continuing and that the incidents were co-ordinated terrorist attacks. Gunmen have taken hostages at two hotels and a hospital.

At least seven sites have been targeted across India's financial capital.

A fire is sweeping through the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai's most famous hotel which is now ringed by troops.


Flames and black smoke billow from the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Mumbai

Witnesses tell of violence
In pictures: Mumbai attacks
International reaction

The BBC's Andrew Whitehead says a claim of responsibility by a little-known group, Deccan Mujahideen, may harden suspicions that Islamic radicals are involved.

See detailed map of the area

But there are other possible culprits, our correspondent says.

The motive is far from clear - but the attacks come amid elections in several Indian states, including in disputed Kashmir.

In the latest developments:

* Commandos have surrounded two hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi, where gunmen are reported to be holding dozens of hostages, including foreigners
* Police say an explosion heard inside the Oberoi was from a hand grenade, and flames and a massive plume of smoke are billowing from the Taj Mahal hotel
* The head of Mumbai's anti-terrorism unit and two other senior officers are among those killed, according to local TV
* A witness told local television that the gunmen were looking for people with British or US passports
* The US and the UK have both condemned the attacks and Washington says it is "assessing the hostage situation"

Gunmen opened fire at about 2300 local time at sites in southern Mumbai including a train station, two five-star hotels, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists.

Police said the gunmen had fired indiscriminately.

"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," said AN Roy, police commissioner of Maharashtra state.

Mumbai journalist: "Gunmen were looking for Westerners"

At least 10 people were killed at the main station Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, they said.

Some gunmen were still holed up in buildings that had been targeted, officials said.

Mr Roy said gunmen were holding people hostage at the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi hotels.

Local TV images showed blood-splattered streets, bodies being taken into ambulances and dramatic shots of what appeared to fresh blasts inside the Taj Mahal hotel.

One eyewitness told the BBC he had seen a gunman opening fire in the Taj Mahal's lobby.

He said he had seen people fall before he fled the lobby.

BOMB ATTACKS IN INDIA IN 2008
30 October: Explosions kill at least 64 in north-eastern Assam
30 September: Blasts in western India kill at least seven
27 September: Bomb blasts kills one in Delhi
13 September: Five bomb blasts kill 18 in Delhi
26 July: At least 22 small bombs kill 49 in Ahmedabad
25 July: Seven bombs go off in Bangalore killing two people
13 May: Seven bomb hit markets and crowded streets in Jaipur killing 63

"All I saw was one man on foot carrying a machine gun type of weapon - which I then saw him firing from and I saw people hitting the floor, people right next to me," he said.

There has been a wave of bombings in Indian cities in recent months which has left scores of people dead.

Most of the attacks have been blamed on Muslim militants, although police have also arrested suspected Hindu extremists.

A series of attacks in Mumbai in July 2006 killed almost 190 people and injured more than 700.

Bombs were detonated on commuter trains during rush hour.

Police accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of planning the attacks, which they said were carried out by an Islamist militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Pakistan rejected the allegation, saying there was no evidence that its intelligence staff were involved.

The shootings come at a time when ties between India and Pakistan have improved, and days after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told a summit in Delhi that Pakistan would not be first to carry out a missile strike on India.

The two countries have a joint anti-terror mechanism whereby they are supposed to share information on terrorist attacks.

Taj Palace Attacked

Skarjo wrote:There are Hindu extremists? Christ, I'd be terrified of anyone that relaxed.

Wait, that's Buddhists.

As you were.

Shadow wrote:Watching this now, it looks bad, very bad.

Hindus??! We do not need another religion going mental.

It really can't be Hindus, surely? Why the hell would they target US and UK people?

Anung Un Rama wrote:This is MUMBAAAAIIII