(SITREP 2) MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS: SECURITY FORCES

UNCLAS MUMBAI 000546 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DS/ER/CC DS FRONT OFFICE DS/IP/SCA DS/DSS/ITA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV IN SUBJECT: (SITREP 2) MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS: SECURITY FORCES OPERATIONS AGAINST HOTELS AND SEARCH FOR AMCITS CONTINUE REF: MUMBAI 545 ¶1. (SBU) An RSO team has visited both the Trident/Oberoi Hotel and Nariman (Chabad) House, where two of the three hostage standoffs continue. According to RSO investigators at the Trident/Oberoi, the Ministry of Home Affairs paramilitary force, the National Security Guards (NSG) have cleared the Trident Hotel of all guests, and have cordoned off the hotel. However, despite this claim, Consular officers have been in touch with two Americans who remain in their rooms at the Trident. According to Trident management, the top floors of the Trident have not been cleared due to fears from cross-fire from the nearby Oberoi tower. According to police officials, there remain a number of guests and hostages in the Oberoi. The NSG has cleared the first three floors of the Oberoi, but the hostage takers are moving hostages between the 4th and 11th floors. Reportedly, the NSG is preparing to storm the hotel to eliminate the hostage takers. There are reports that 26 Americans may be hostages in the Oberoi, some of who have been injured, but these reports remain unconfirmed. The British Deputy High Commission has told Congenoffs that they too have potentially large numbers of citizens unaccounted for at the Oberoi. ¶2. (SBU) At Nariman (Chabad) House, the RSO team reports that police intend to storm the building to take out hostage takers on two floors. Police have repeatedly used tear gas on the building. Police officials told the Consul General four hostages held in the building, including Israeli-American Gavriel Holtzberg, his Israeli wife, Rikvah, and two rabbinical students, have been killed. The hostage takers in the building have reportedly fired on police outside, and killed three residents staying nearby. ¶3. (SBU) Explosions and firefights continue at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, although many of the guests have been evacuated today. The Consular section has heard from five groups of Americans who are still trapped in their rooms in the hotel. Around 2 pm police announced that the hotel was clear of hostages; this announcement was immediately followed by a series of explosions and gunfire from the hotel which chased away the television media reporting the previous announcement. It is not yet known how many have been injured or killed in this standoff; however, several ambulances took away an unknown number of injured or deceased people earlier in the day. ¶4. (SBU) The Consulate dispatched two teams to search for injured or killed Americans at local hospitals. There are still no confirmed American casualties. However, one American eyewitness being treated for injuries told Congenoffs that Amcit Alan Scherr was shot in the head at the Oberoi. This eyewitness also said that Scherr's daughter, Naomi, was also injured and unaccounted for at the moment. Two Americans were found recovering well from surgeries. These teams found at least five unidentified presumed foreign casualties. Teams observed that identification will be extremely difficult, as personal effects are not being kept with the bodies in the morgue, and hospital staffs are not recording nationality when admitting injured patients. At all sites, ConOff reminded staff of the possibility of dual nationals or AmCits of Indian-origin and asked if there were any unidentified victims, or patients that had reported their citizenship. In addition, Post's consulting physician has reached out to contacts at other hospitals and clinics in Mumbai. FOLMSBEE