The New Nation - Internet Edition

Agency, Mumbai

Fresh explosions and gunfire have been heard at Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, one of several sites targeted in attacks that have killed at least 130.

Loud blasts have also rocked a Jewish outreach centre where commandos were attempting to free several hostages.

The bodies of five hostages were found inside Nariman House, Israeli diplomats said, after a long battle.

India's foreign minister said "elements with links to Pakistan" were involved in the attacks on Mumbai.

However, his Pakistani counterpart has urged India not to bring politics into the issue, saying "we should join hands to defeat the enemy". The stand-offs began late on Wednesday when gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades opened fire indiscriminately on crowds at a major railway station, the two hotels, the Jewish centre, a hospital and a cafe frequented by foreigners.

Earlier, nearly 100 guests and staff - many of them westerners - were rescued from the Oberoi-Trident hotel, and the battle with gunmen there appeared to be at an end.

Around 370 people have been injured since Wednesday, while the death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are discovered. One security official said eight foreigners were known to have died, among them three Germans, a Japanese, Canadian and Australian.

Amid conflicting reports about the end of the siege at Nariman House, home to the Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, it emerged that several of the small group of hostages held inside had been killed.

"Five bodies of hostages have been found inside the Chabad House. We still don't know whose bodies," Israeli diplomat Haim Choshen said. Orthodox Jewish rescuers sent to Mumbai to assist also confirmed that five bodies had been found. Two kidnappers were also reported killed.

Earlier, an ambulance had been seen pulling up at the building and taking one person away. It was not clear if it was a hostage.

A woman and child has been seen leaving the building, but it was unclear whether they had managed to escape or were released.

The child was identified as the two-year-old son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holzberg, the main representative at the ultra-orthodox outreach centre.

Having swooped at first light, commandos blew up a part of the wall of the fourth floor of the building, lowered down onto the roof by ropes from helicopters and dropping smoke bombs to create confusion.

Soldiers were said to have been tentatively moving down through the building, trying not to cause casualties among the hostages.

Indian security forces have said they believe at least one gunman with "two or more hostages" remains in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

Large explosions and gunfire have been ringing out from the building for most of the day after truckloads of commandos entered the hotel. A journalist and bystander outside the hotel were taken to hospital after being hit by shrapnel.

Indian commandos who managed to enter other parts of the Taj Mahal say they found at least 30 bodies in one hall.

The commandos also said the militants were well aware of the layout of the hotel, and that they had recovered a Mauritius identity card as well as guns and money.

Earlier, the head of India's National Security Guard, JK Dutt, said the Oberoi-Trident was "under our control".

"We have killed two terrorists today," he said. "There was lots of firing, they also lobbed hand grenades. Some of them are unexploded, we are going to defuse them - you may hear some sound of explosions."

The relief of the guests was evident as 93 of them were escorted from the hotel on Friday morning following the lengthy siege. They included 20 Air France crew members.

One of those freed, Briton Mark Abell, spoke of his delight at seeing several heavily armed soldiers at his hotel door after spending more than 36 hours in his room.

But he was shocked by the state of the hotel. "The lobby was carnage, blood and guts everywhere. It was very upsetting," he told the BBC.

State home minister RR Patil, speaking out the Oberoi-Trident hotel, said a total of nine militants had been killed, along with 15 police officers and two commandos.

He said one of those arrested was a Pakistani citizen.

Earlier, the Indian navy took control of two Pakistani merchant navy ships and began questioning their crews after witnesses said some of the militants came ashore on small speedboats.

India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said preliminary evidence "leads us to believe that some elements in Pakistan may be connected to these events".

But he added that it was too soon to give details.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi responded by saying: "This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy."

The head of Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is due to travel to India to discuss the situation with his Indian counterparts.

India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks.

A claim of responsibility for this week's attacks - the worst in India's commercial capital since nearly 200 people were killed in a series of bombings in 2006 - has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen.

However, most intelligence officials are keeping an open mind as the attacks have thrown up conflicting clues, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says.