Chhatrapati Shivaji Train Station. The scene of one of the more gruesome attacks.

The turmoil of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai has entered its third day. Army commandos are still battling pockets of resistance from the highly organized and coordinated terrorists throughout India’s financial capital. Meanwhile the official death toll has climbed to 143.

Recent developments in this ongoing saga of violence are the discovery of 24 dead bodies in the Oberoi Hotel which had been painstakingly cleared room by room by the Indian commandos, and the storming of a Jewish Community Center that had been seized by commando forces sliding in from a helicopter. A gun battle ensued throughout the day between the commandos and terrorists inside the center, but there is still no resolution to the operation nor word on casualties within the facility.

The identity of the attackers or what their specific aims are is still not known for certain, but an Indian official has told the press that one assailant captured by government forces was a Pakistani citizen. This news does not bode well for what is probably one of the most dangerous rivalries between nations in the world. India and Pakistan, both of whom now possess nuclear weapons, have had wars and numerous border skirmishes throughout their history of independence from Britain. One positive development however is that the Pakistani government has sent a high ranking intelligence official to India to share information about the possible identities of the attackers.

Abject poverty, widespread in many major Indian cities like Mumbai, is a major root cause of terrorism around the world. You can takepart in helping the disadvantaged in Mumbai by checking out Saathi, an NGO that works to help in the economic development of the disenfranchised there.

LINKS:

Toronto Star: India hunts “external” plotters in Mumbai attacks

BBC News: How the Mumbai attacks unfolded

Press Association: Mumbai attacks “almost at an end”