Mumbai Seige ends as elite Indian troops storm Taj Mahal hotel.

After a 60-hour terror rampage that killed at least 195 people across India’s financial capital, commandos killed the last three gunmen inside a luxury hotel while it was engulfed in flames and put an end to the ordeal.

Authorities searched for any remaining captives hiding in their rooms and began to shift their focus to who was behind the attacks, which killed 18 foreigners including six Americans.

A previously unknown Muslim group with a name suggesting origins inside India claimed responsibility for the attack, but Indian officials said the sole surviving gunman was from Pakistan and pointed a finger of blame at their neighbor and rival.

Islamabad denied involvement and promised to help in the investigation. A team of FBI agents also was on its way to India to lend assistance.

Some 295 people also were wounded in the violence that started when heavily armed assailants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai on Wednesday night. At least 20 soldiers and police were among the dead.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 565-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege there in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found at least eight hostages dead.

“There were three terrorists, we have killed them,” said J.K. Dutt, director general of India’s elite National Security Guard commando unit.

Later, adoring crowds surrounded six buses carrying weary, unshaven commandos, shaking their hands and giving them flowers. The commandos, dressed in black fatigues, said they had been ordered not to talk about the operation, but said they had not slept since the ordeal began; one sat sipping a bottle of water and holding a pink rose.

At TicosLand.com and all over Costa Rica, we applaud the efforts of the elite Indian National Security Guard. It was obvious that the terrorists were out to kill as many people as possible. They did what they had to do to minimize losses. The TicosLand.com team and the Costa Rican people offer our solidarity to the people of Mumbai during this time of mourning.

Tags: Costa Rica, india, mumbai, taj mahal, taj mahal hotel