Terrorists Hold Westerners in Mumbai

"I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."

The hotels in question were the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Hotel. The Taj Mahal was pictured on CNN and MSNBC as being on fire, and both hotels were said to be housing terrorists and hostages.

Earlier, a leading anti-terrorism official, Hemant Karkare, 54, was killed in what Indian TV described as "a shootout with terrorists at the Taj Mahal Hotel."

Hemant Kakare was the chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS); two other senior police officials as well as 78 others were reported killed in gunfire and the attacks.

Reuters reported the following:

"The situation is still not under control and we are trying to flush out any more terrorists hiding inside the two hotels," Vilasrao Deshmukh, Maharashtra's chief minister, told a news conference.

"The terrorists are throwing grenades at us from the rooftop of the Taj and trying to stop us from moving in," Ashok Patil, a police inspector told Reuters.

An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks but via email. Terrorism experts said they had not previously heard of the group.

IBN is streaming live video from India; events continue to unfold.