The death toll after three days of violence in Mumbai rose past 150 as shroud-wrapped bodies were ferried last night from the smouldering remains of a luxury hotel and an ultra-orthodox Jewish centre freed from the clutches of Islamist militants.
More than 300 people were injured in the battles that began when gunmen took to the streets of India's financial capital late on Wednesday, spraying bullets and throwing grenades to spread terror across the city.
They ended up invading several Mumbai landmarks: two luxury hotels and a Jewish house of prayer - a new phenomenon for India, but a familiar pattern from attacks inspired by militant Islamism.
Yesterday the death toll of foreigners reached 16, including a father and daughter from the US in India for a yoga retreat. British officials said at least 100 Britons were caught up in the attacks, with more than 40 held hostage or forced to hide in their rooms to save their lives.
Last night Indian forces fired grenades at the Taj Mahal hotel where at least one gunman continued to elude Indian commandos through the maze of corridors and rooms. The militant was believed to have been using human shields to taunt and evade Indian security forces, and a bag captured from the gunmen revealed a stockpile meant for a long siege: 400 rounds of ammunition, grenades, identity cards, rations, $1,000 (£650) in cash and international credit cards.
A member of India's elite marine commando unit said the scene inside the hotel was grim. The commander, his face disguised by a black scarf and sunglasses, said he had seen 50 bodies, including 12 to 15 in one room. "Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere," he said.
Indian commandos had cleared the last of the gunmen from the Oberoi-Trident hotel early yesterday afternoon, freeing 200 exhausted guests.
Special forces had less luck in the battle for the Jewish centre. Their raid on the premises began with a team abseiling from a helicopter on to the roof of the apartment complex but ended with five hostages dead. Television pictures last night showed dead bodies spread across beds in the building.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, said last night the bodies of three women and three men were found, including some who had been bound.
India pointed the finger of blame at Pakistan, with the foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, saying "initial evidence" showed "elements with links to Pakistan are involved". India has long blamed its neighbour for nurturing jihadi groups to fight in the disputed Kashmir region.
In 2006 another coordinated bombing spree on Mumbai's railway killed more than 180 commuters. Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist group patronised by Pakistan in the past, was blamed at the time.
But Indian ministers yesterday appeared to be saying that they were accusing Pakistan-based groups of staging the attack, and not the state itself.
Pakistan has denied involvement and condemned the attacks. The country's president, Asif Ali Zardari, telephoned India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to reassure him of his support in the battle against terrorism. Zardari condemned the attacks, saying "non-state actors" were responsible.
In an unprecedented step, Pakistan agreed to let the head of the its military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency go to India to share information with investigators there.
The British government, meanwhile, was investigating whether two of the attackers could be British citizens of Pakistani origin. Asked about the possibility of any British link to the Mumbai attacks, Gordon Brown said it was "too early" to reach any conclusions.
Taj Mahal hotel
By yesterday the five-star hotel was into its third day as the centre of a war zone with ambulances parked outside to ferry away the dead and the injured. One military chief said up to 15 bodies may be inside one room alone. Special forces were firing into the old part of the hotel building, and were having to take cover from gun and grenade attacks from terrorists still at large.
All day, gun battles broke out between commandos trying to flush out the last terrorists in the building. The terrorists were so well equipped that, more than 48 hours after the siege began, they were able to return fire and lob grenades at the Indian forces trying to kill and capture them. The number of terrorists still holed up in the Taj was unclear. They were believed to be on the first floor of the old building and medics at the scene said that hostages were being held and used as human shields. Outside, troops took cover behind vehicles and trees as gun battles continued for hours and smoke billowed from the hotel.
Ambulances parked outside the Taj were waiting for the casualties. Neville Bharucha, of the Parsi ambulance service, said bodies were inside the hotel but could not be recovered because terrorists were still at large. He had been briefed by security officials about the situation inside, he said: "There are dead bodies in the old Taj building. They are all lying there, they are the guests. We can't recover the bodies because of the terrorists. They are still holding human shields."
The chief of an Indian commando unit at the hotel said the terrorists were "very determined and remorseless", and ready for a long siege. He said the Taj was filled with terrified civilians, making it very difficult for the commandos to fire on the gunmen. "To try to avoid civilian casualties we had to be so much more careful," he said, adding that the hotel was a grim sight.
Sajjad Karim, 38, a Tory MEP staying at the hotel who hid from the gunmen in a barricaded basement room, landed back in Britain yesterday, describing the ordeal as "one you can never prepare yourself for". Speaking at Manchester airport, as he hugged his children aged eight and six, he said: "Seeing that you weren't alone in the situation and there were very many other people with you in the same desperate circumstances - you give one another strength."
Oberoi Trident
Indian special forces yesterday ended the siege at the Oberoi hotel and said 24 bodies had been found.
Commandos killed two militants and freed 143 guests, including Britons and other foreign nationals. About 40 Britons were believed to have been caught up in the attack on the Oberoi, and consular officials quickly took them away from the scene as the siege ended.
"I'm going home, I'm going to see my wife," said Mark Abell, with a huge smile on his face after emerging from the hotel. He had locked himself in his room during the siege. "These people here have been fantastic, the Indian authorities, the hotel staff," he said.
JK Dutt, director general of India's elite national security guard, said: "The hotel is under our control."
Well-dressed foreigners and Indians, some dragging their suitcases, were escorted into waiting buses and cars.
One foreign member of the hotel staff left holding a baby in his arms, others wept as police showed them photographs of dead relatives for identification. As the evening wore on some relatives were allowed into the Oberoi to search for missing loved ones. A delegation from the United States consulate also entered the hotel to search for its nationals.
Jewish centre
Throughout the day crowds grew around Nariman House, Mumbai's Jewish centre, jostling for a view of the yellow five-storey building. Every hour or so police cleared the street, and just as quickly people filled back into the spaces along the alleys, lanes, rooftops and roads.
They came to watch Indian commandos dropping from a helicopter about 20 metres on to the roof and the deadly denouement of an assault on the terrorists who lay within.
A pattern had emerged early on with bursts of gunfire from pistols, machine-guns and sniper rifles lasting 15 minutes, cascading into the facade and windows of the building before an eerie silence was restored for half an hour. This continued until evening fell. Then the commandos finally entered the shell of the building.
Snipers continued shooting before a succession of rockets were fired. At 5.30pm there was a huge explosion on the fourth floor, sending the crowds to the ground. Commandos then proceeded into the flat, emptying ammunition clips in quick succession. The siege of Nariman House was over. Outside the street filled with cheering people chanting "India is free" and "long live mother India".
Six young Israelis from Zaka, the group responsible for mopping up blood and body parts from the scenes of suicide attacks in Israel, arrived. It was then confirmed that five hostages were dead. They included Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Brooklyn-based directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai. The remains of two gunmen were also found.
Police forces in India have ended the hostage sieges which followed the Mumbai attacks, which began on Wednesday in Mumbai, the financial capital of India.

It ended when commandos finally caught up with a lone gunman, who had played a cat-and-mouse game in the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, nearly 56 hours after the attacks began.
Sites of the attacks
According to Indian television and radio, 155 people have been killed and 327 others wounded. Local media have described the attacks as "India's 9/11." CNN is reporting over 160 dead and 370 injured. Eleven gunmen killed are not counted in these totals.

Police say that they are in control of both the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident hotels. Nearly 300 people have been freed.

The siege of Nariman House, an outreach post of the orthodox-Jewish sect Chabad-Lubavitch, ended when at least eight Black Cats commandos entered the building by rope from a helicopter. No hostages or attackers survived the assault, though details are still unclear.

"These people were very, very familiar with the hotel layouts and it appears they had carried out a survey before," said an unidentified commander of MARCOS, India's elite marine commandos. The commandos were hampered because they feared injuring hotel guests if they used overwhelming force.

"Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere," he said.

The commander also noted that his unit found a backpack belonging to one of the gunmen. Inside they found dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian rupees and American dollars, and seven credit cards from some of the world’s leading banks and a national ID card for the island nation of Mauritius.

"Once the bodies are collected, the number of deaths might go up to 200," said India's Minister of Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal.

"We came up against highly motivated terrorists," said Vice-Admiral J.S. Bedi, whose commandos led the assault against the militants.

India's foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said, "Preliminary evidence indicates that elements with links to Pakistan are involved," stirring a diplomatic row between India and Pakistan. Observers have said that the attacks bear the hallmarks of Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed, both of which are believed to be based in Pakistan and also responsible for previous attacks on India.

However, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gillani said that Pakistan had "nothing to do with the attacks."

"It is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken," Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. "Instead of scoring political points at the expense of a neighboring country that is itself a victim of terrorism, it is time for India's leaders to work together with Pakistan's elected leaders in putting up a joint front against terrorism."