(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