Police: Pakistani militants behind Mumbai attacks

The only gunman captured by police after a string of attacks on Mumbai told authorities he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said Sunday.

India has blamed “elements” from Pakistan for the 60-hour siege during which suspected Muslim militants hit 10 sites across India’s financial capital, leaving at least 174 dead.

Joint Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said the assailant now in custody – the only one of 10 to survive – told police the group had intended to hit even more targets.
“Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the terrorist acts in the city,” Maria told reporters. “The terrorists were from a hard-core group in the L-e-T.”

A day after the siege ended, authorities were still removing victims’ bodies from the five-star Taj Mahal hotel, where three gunmen made a last stand before Indian commandos killed them in a blaze of gunfire and explosions.

A previously unknown group called Deccan Mujahideen – a name suggesting origins inside India – has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But suspicion in Indian media quickly settled on Lashkar-e-Taiba, long seen as a creation of the Pakistani intelligence service to help wage its clandestine war against India in disputed Kashmir.

India’s Home Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment. The minister resigned Sunday under growing criticism of the government’s failure to prevent the attacks.

In the wake of fresh accusations, Pakistan reiterated its demands that India produce evidence.

“This is only an allegation. We have demanded evidence of the complicity of any Pakistani group,” said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari. “We will take the strictest action against any group or individual ... if India provides us the evidence.”