Tajmahal Hotel on fire, Mumbai India

Gunmen attacked several targets in Mumbai late Wednesday night, killing more than 100 people and causing injuries to at least 287 others. They also took scores of hostages in multiple locations in southern Mumbai, occupied a Jewish temple, and rocked the confidence in the security of Mumbai, the most prosperous city and the financial capital of India.

The attacks were well coordinated, and police said they appeared to have been planned and executed very professionally. At least seven sites were targeted in the main tourist and business district, including three luxury hotels, a hospital for women and children, the historic Chatrapati Shivaji terminus railway station with its Victorian building and one of the world’s busiest train stations, a restaurant popular among Westerners and a movie theater.

The gunmen occupied two of the hotels all of Wednesday night, including the famous Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel. Indian army troops stormed the Taj hotel, helping rescue at least 50 hotel guests about seven hours after the attacks began shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, troops were still exchanging gunfire with the attackers.

Most of the hostages in the Taj Mahal hotel have been freed. But about 40 more hotel guests remained trapped in the Oberoi Trident hotel. The Mumbai Ramada was the third hotel attacked.

The attackers used grenades and automatic weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles. According to the police, the 101 dead confirmed (as at midday Thursday) so far include 6 foreigners, 14 police officers, and 81 Indian nationals. Among those killed was Hermant Karkare, chief of the anti-terror squad in the Mumbai police force.

Eyewitnesses said the assailants specifically wanted to find British and American nationals staying at the hotels. The gunmen also occupied a building that serves as headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch, an outreach organization run by ultra-Orthodox Jews, and took several people hostage.

The identity of the group remained unclear. A little-heard-of organization calling itself Deccan Mujaheddin claimed responsibility in e-mails sent to Indian news offices.

Authorities are placing immediate priority on their emergency response and efforts to rescue the remaining hostages and those trapped inside the places attacked. Identification of the group is still a matter of investigation. The use of the term ‘mujaheddin’ suggests Islamic extremists at work.

In Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said the level of sophistication in the planning and execution of the attacks and the choice of targets point to Islamic extremists, but not necessarily al-Qaeda.

The attacks appeared to be calculated to strike fear among Western tourists and business people who frequently visit India.