New Delhi, Nov 27 : In the wake of the terror strikes in India''s financial hub Mumbai, Central cabinet held an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to discuss security measures and the post blast actions on Thursday.

Talking to reporters after the meeting Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that the country is strong enough to defeat the designs of the militants.

Mumbai, Nov. 27 : Maharashtra Director-General of Police A. N. Roy on Thursday said that all surviving hostages held inside the Taj hotel by terrorists here have been rescued.

He said that some hostages were still trapped inside the Trident hotel and at Nariman House where a running gun battle was still on with terrorists, who had struck at various parts of southern Mumbai, killing between 80 and over 100 people and injuring 287 others.

New York, Nov. 27 : Residents of New York''s Little India have expressed horror at the ongoing carnage in Mumbai that has already claimed over 100 lives and left over 280 injured.

Dindipi Nath, 44, an employee of the electronics store Sam and Raj on 74th St. in Jackson Heights, Queens, was trying to reach his nephew, who lives near one of the hotels attacked by the terrorists.

"His cell phone is ringing and he''s not picking up. It''s now 4:30 a. m. there. I''m going to keep trying," the New York Daily News quoted Nath, as saying.

Mumbai, Nov. 27 : A senior official of the Oberoi Hotel Group said on Thursday that five or six persons had been killed inside Mumbai''s beseiged Trident Oberoi Hotel during the firefight between security personnel and the terrorists, and added that at least 200 people continued to be held hostage.

Oberoi Hotels Vice Chairman S. S. Mukherjee said that there were at least 100 people on the Oberoi side of the hotel, and a similar number on the Trident side.

The five-star hotel has been surrounded by the army and NSG commandos and an offensive is likely to be launched to flush the holed up terrorists out.

Mumbai, Nov. 27 : Coast Guard officials have reportedly found a ship that is said to have been used to ferry terrorists into Mumbai ahead of Wednesday''s serial attacks that claimed over 100 lives and injured over 280.

Coast Guard officials said that the ship -- M V Alpha -- was found 112 kilometers from Mumbai. They said that the ship is being searched, and added that two aircraft, choppers are being used to scour the area near the ship.

The ship is said to have carried the terrorists from Gujarat to Mumbai.

Washington, Nov. 27: A terror expert who contributes analytical pieces to Fox News believes that Wednesday’s planned and synchronized terror strikes in India’s financial capital Mumbai, had the hallmarks of banned militant groups like the Lashkar e Toiba or the SIMI.

“These groups are jihadists, have links to the other organizations in Kashmir but also inside Pakistan with pro-Taliban elements and eventually Al Qaeda. The ideological identification is most likely jihadist although the group almost surely will issue a release to claim the attack,” Fox News quotes the expert, as saying.