The attacks in Mumbai: 48 hours later

And the fighting is still raging in Mumbai where the death toll has reached over 154 people killed, including two Americans that were found early this morning. 327 people have been injured, and if you know of anyone that was in India when all of this went down, there is a list of the deceased and injured on NDTV's website.

Some are calling this India's 9-11 and no one could blame them for saying such. The map here shows where each of the ten attacks took place, and the time at which the attacks were launched. They began at 9:15 PM, and the last one started at 10:50 PM. And they were all over the place. A serious amount of coordination went into these attacks, and a butt load of logistical support was needed.

That is why many counter-terror gurus are pointing the finger at Pakistan's ISI intelligence service. They have been connected with terror groups striking India in the past, and I do recall on Wednesday night hearing from an Indian official on one of the cable networks that the Deccan Mujahideen -- the group that took responsibility for the attacks -- has been used by the ISI in the past. While the average person probably has never heard of them, counter-terror guys have, and that is what has lead them to suspect Pakistani involvement; albeit, not in an official capacity. The Pakistanis are sending Lt. Gen. Pasha, the head of the ISI, to aid in the investigation and to assure Indian officials that the ISI had zero involvement in this attack.

The FBI is dispatching an investigations team to Mumbai to look over the evidence scooped up thus far, and to possibly help in the interrogation of the suspected terrorists in custody. Officials here say that for an attack of this magnitude, it could have been carried out for around $100,000, or so. That's the cost of the guns, grenades, other explosives, and the boats used to bring the terrorists to Mumbai.

The operation to take the Nariman House is over with commandos finding five hostages and two terrorists dead. Among the dead hostages might be a Jewish rabbi and his wife, but that's yet to be confirmed as of this writing. The operation to take the Oberoi Trident hotel is over, and they captured one terrorists and killed the other nine. Operations to storm the Taj Mahal hotel are currently underway as the terrorists continue to fire on police. Explosions rocked the Wasabi restaurant in the Taj, and Indian commandos were sure that the restaurant only held one or two terrorists holding their ground. Officials claim that there are no hostages or guests left in the Taj which is why Indian troops are getting ready to go into the hotel.

And of course this attack started on the day our own officials here issued a warning on a credible threat to NYC transit services; reminding us all that we're still in a war and the bad guys are still determined to hurt this nation in ways that makes 9-11 pale in comparison. Some of our own anti-terror officials claim that the sophistication and coordination of the Mumbai attacks mirror tactics used by al Qaeda before. No one knows for sure, but Indian officials are quietly stating that the terrorists, who arrived by boat, could be Pakistani nationals adding even more fuel to the speculation of ISI involvement, possibly even training and arming them. And what appeared to be the work of a large amount of terrorists that began on Wednesday (Indian officials originally put the number of terrorists involved around 30 or 40) turns out to have been the work of a tight-knit cell of twelve terrorists. They moved quickly throughout Mumbai hitting random targets; random until it was revealed they were looking for Westerners.

This was a grievous attack on a Western ally in our war on terror. Our prayers are with the Indian anti-terror forces as they seek an end to this siege, and to those who lost loved ones in the carnage.

Publius II