India links 9 Mumbai attackers to Pakistan
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 9, 2008 | 6:04 PM ET
CBC News
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is shown speaking at a rally in this June 2008 file photo. India alleges Lakhvi plotted last month's deadly Mumbai attacks. (Roshan Mughal/Associated Press) Indian police have released the names and aliases of nine suspected militants killed during their attacks on sites across Mumbai, who officials say all hailed from Pakistan.
If confirmed, the new information would add credence to India's claims that the attacks were launched from Pakistan.
Chief police investigator Rakesh Maria released more information about the gunmen, including photographs of eight of them. The pictures were taken from identity cards and after they were killed in the attack.
Maria said most of the attackers came from Pakistan's Punjab province, and all were between the ages of 20 and 28.
Maria said the men had been introduced to each other by their aliases, but during the operation had told each other their real names.
India has blamed the Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks in November that left 171 people dead. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday there is "no doubt" the attacks were planned on Pakistani soil.
Man held since February to questioned about attacks
The attackers, who apparently landed by boat on the Mumbai coast the night of Nov. 26, were led by Ismail Khan, 25, from Pakistan's North West Frontier province, said Maria.
Khan, who led the attack on Mumbai's central rail station, was a veteran of other Lashkar attacks, Maria said. He did not provide any more details.
Police will question one man they have had in custody since February in connection with the attacks, Maria said. The man, identified only as Sabauddin, may have provided help to the attackers, he said.
Maria said Sabauddin was arrested along with an Indian national, Faheem Ansari, in February in northern India carrying hand-drawn sketches of hotels, the train terminal and other sites in Mumbai that were later attacked.
Maria did not provide Sabauddin's nationality.
The sole surviving gunman of the attacks, Ajmal Amir Kasab, 21, remains in custody. He has told interrogators he was sent to Mumbai by the Lashkar group.
Alleged mastermind arrested
The attacks have increased tensions between the two nuclear rivals as India has demanded that Pakistan take action.
Five offices of Lashkar-e-Taiba were raided by Pakistani troops in Pakistan's portion of the disputed region of Kashmir in the past 24 hours, a senior security official said.
The official said none of the latest 20 people detained were among those named by India in connection with the Mumbai attacks.
On Sunday, Pakistani authorities arrested the man India alleges was the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested in a Pakistani raid of an extremist camp in the disputed Kashmir region. Lakhvi, Indian officials say, recruited for the deadly attacks.
U.S. officials have said Lakhvi directed Lashkar operations in Chechnya, Bosnia and Southeast Asia, where he allegedly trained members to carry out suicide bombings.
Pakistan previously indicated that anyone found on its soil to have connections with the Mumbai attacks will be punished according to its law, despite suggestions from India that it wants suspects in the attacks transferred to its custody.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- 2 men jailed in Dominican wedding fight return to Canada
- Two Canadian men who were detained in the Dominican Republic for nearly three weeks after a post-wedding fight broke out at a resort have returned to Toronto, the latest step in a drama that the wife of one of the men said was "like a scene from the movies." more »
- Senators call for 'zero tolerance' on harassment in RCMP
- The RCMP should amend its code of conduct to explicitly define and prohibit harassment, a Senate committee is recommending in a newly tabled report. more »
- Are e-cigarettes safe to puff?
- As electronic or e-cigarettes grow in popularity, some health advocates want them to be regulated. more »
- Most groups don't want return of Trudeau speaking fees
- Most of the 17 charitable and other organizations that have paid speaking fees to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau during his time as an MP say they aren't interested in having their fees returned, despite Trudeau's offer on the weekend to reimburse any organization unhappy with his services. more »
Must Watch
Latest World News Headlines
- Google asks secret court to lift gag on surveillance
- Google is asking the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to lift its long-standing gag order on how often the company is asked to turn over data about its customers to the U.S. government. more »
- Brazil protesters keep up pressure on government
- Thousands of demonstrators flooded into a square in Brazil's economic hub, Sao Paulo, on Tuesday for the latest in a historic wave of protests against the shoddy state of public transit, schools and other public services in this booming South American giant. more »
- Silent protests spread as Turks mimic 'standing man'
- Demonstrators against the Turkish government have adopted a new way of protesting: standing in one place and remaining silent. They're following the lead of a performance artist whose eight-hour vigil ended when police arrested him. more »
- Huge ancient city at Angkor Wat revealed by lasers
- Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex. more »
The National
The Current
- What happened to Betty Anne Gagnon? Jun. 18, 2013 3:09 PM Betty Anne Gagnon's mental disabilities didn't stop her from finding work, or finding friends. But when she needed it the most, she was unable to find help.
- 2 men jailed in Dominican wedding fight return to Canada
- Police probe death of woman, 27, in Kelowna home
- Most groups don't want return of Trudeau speaking fees
- Parents of son 'brutally beaten' playing hockey want charges
- Huge ancient city at Angkor Wat revealed by lasers
- Are e-cigarettes safe to puff?
- Montreal mayor resigns amid corruption charges
- TV chef Nigella Lawson's husband cautioned by police for assault
- Disabled woman's care before dying on bus still a mystery

