Indian forces gain against terrorists, more than 160 dead

UPDATED 5:50 p.m.

NEW DELHI | Sporadic gunfire continued Saturday in the historic Taj Mahal hotel as one of the worst terrorist sprees in India’s commercial capital drew to a close.

By Saturday morning, the death toll had risen to 160 including five Americans.

A Virginia man, his teenage daughter, a rabbi from New York and his wife were among those killed.

The Virginians, Alan Scherr, 58, a former University of Maryland professor, and his daughter Naomi, 13, died at the luxury Oberoi Hotel. They were visiting India with the meditation group Synchronicity. The group, announcing the deaths on Friday, said Alan and his wife, Kia, had been integral members of the community for more than a decade since moving to Faber, Va.

“Alan committed most of his adult life to meditation, spirituality and conscious living. He was a passionate Vedic astrologer and meditation teacher who inspired many people to begin a journey of self-awareness and meditation,” the group said in a statement.

It described Naomi as “a bright and lively young woman who loved spending time with people and living life to the fullest.” “She was passionate, if not a little mischievous, and will be fondly remembered by many of us for colorful hair styles and radiant energy,” the group said.

On Friday night, the New York-based Chabad Lubavitch movement confirmed that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, had been killed at a Jewish center under siege in the city. The Holtzbergs moved from the United States to India in 2003 to run the Bombay branch of the outreach organization. The couple’s 2-year-old son was evacuated from the Chabad House earlier in the crisis.

Three Germans, two French citizens, an Italian, an Australian and one Singaporean were also among at least 22 foreigners killed. Sixteen policemen, two commandos and 11 terrorists also died. Another 327 people were injured.

Police said they had cleared the Oberoi Hotel, killing two militants and freeing hundreds of trapped guests. Thirty-six bodies were found and law enforcement personnel were searching the building for survivors.

A chief of an Indian navy commando unit flushing terrorists out of the Taj Mahal hotel said he saw up to 15 bodies in one room. Military sources said early Saturday that the operation could take a few more hours to wrap up.

Even as Indian officials blamed Pakistan for the attacks, the Pakistani government agreed to an Indian request to send the chief of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to India to help in the investigation. India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the preliminary investigation “indicates that some elements in Pakistan are involved.”

In a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested the gunmen had come from Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

C. Christine Fair, a South Asia analyst for the RAND Corp., said she would be surprised if Pakistan was not involved.

“It’s just a question of how and at what level. I do suspect that this will affect the India-Pakistan rapprochement and it will put pressure on the new Obama administration to take Pakistan more seriously as a cause of insecurity in the region,” she told The Washington Times.

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