PANIC IN MUMBAI

At least 100 people have died so far in last night's attacks in South Bombay, where gunmen wielding arms and grenades attacked several sites, including a police station, a movie theatre, an airport, hospitals, a dockyard, two train stations and two luxury hotels. As I write this they're still holding hostages at the hotels and a hospital.

Apparently they're targeting Britons and Americans.

They also killed India's top terrorism official.

The famous Taj Hotel is in flames.

This AP report (which we don't put much stock in, since it mistakenly states that there has been very little Hindu-Muslim violence in India since independence in 1947. Apparently they've not heard of the million people who died in the bloodbath called Partition and the many smaller flareups since):

A British restaurant-goer at the Oberoi told Sky News television that the attackers were singling out Britons and Americans.

Alex Chamberlain said a gunman, a young man of 22 or 23, ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and ordered everyone to put up their hands.

"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything — and thank God they didn't," he said.



Apparently this group has claimed responsibility.

Let's pray that a backlash reaction to such violence is avoided (ie; mobs form and kill innocent people in retaliation).

For the latest, go here.