Israel defence officials have criticised the way Indian security forces have handled the terror attacks in Bombay, after it appeared that India turned down their offer of help to defeat the militants.

The officials, from Israel's security forces, told The Jerusalem Post that the Indian troops prematurely stormed the besieged hotels where militants were holding hostages, risking lives in the process.

Indian counter-terrorist forces were well trained but failed to gather sufficient intelligence before engaging the terrorists, they said.

"In hostage situations, the first thing the forces are supposed to do is assemble at the scene and begin collecting intelligence," said a former official in Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency

"In this case, it appears that the forces showed up at the scene and immediately began exchanging fire with the terrorists instead of first taking control of the area," he said.

Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, has expressed his concerns about the safety of Israelis caught up in the attack, such as those held hostage in the Jewish Centre stormed in the early hours of this morning.

Seventeen commandos abseiled onto the roof of Nariman House, while snipers peppered the building with covering fire. The two year old son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, the main representative at the Jewish Centre, was rescued along with some other hostages but this morning gunshots and explosions still echoed around the building.

The security experts' criticism came as it emerged that Mr Barak had offered Mayankote Kelath Narayanan, India's National Security adviser, any assistance possible, either humanitarian or professional.

"Barak offered Israel's help in an advisory capacity and in any other way it could be of assistance, be it humanitarian or professional," it reported.

The two countries have close defence ties. India has bought more than $5 billion worth of Israeli equipment since 2002.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the two countries have already discussed an agreement for Israel's Defence Force to send its own highly trained commandos to help India in Kashmir, the Moslem majority region claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The newspaper claism that Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi, the commander in chief of Israel's Ground Forces Command spent three days visiting Kashmir in September to discuss the plan.

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