Attackers had months of training
2008-12-01 12:49
Mumbai - The gunman captured during the
attacks on Mumbai said he had undergone months of
commando-style training in a Islamist militant camp in
Pakistan, two senior officials involved in the investigation
said.
The training was organised by the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant
group, and conducted by a former member of the Pakistani army,
a police officer close to the interrogation said, on condition
of anonymity because he was not authorised to give his name.
"They underwent training in several phases, which included
training in handling weapons, bomb making, survival strategies,
survival in a marine environment and even dietary habits,"
another senior officer told Reuters.
The Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba made its name fighting
Indian rule in Kashmir but was also blamed for an attack on the
Indian Parliament in 2001 that brought the nuclear-armed
neighbours close to war.
Lashkar had close links to Pakistan's military spy
agency in the past, security experts say, although the
government in Islamabad insists it too is fighting the group
and other Islamist extremists based on its soil.
Azam Amir Kasav, a clean-shaven, 21-year-old with fluent
English who was photographed during the attack wearing a black
t-shirt emblazoned with the Versace logo, said his team took
orders from "their command in Pakistan", police officials said.
Ten militants arrived on the Mumbai shoreline in a dinghy
on Wednesday before splitting into four groups and embarking on
a killing spree that left about 172 people dead.
Support from locals
They then held off India's elite commandos for up to 60
hours in two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre in the city.
Nine of the gunmen were killed.
Commandos say the men obviously had military-style training
and knew the layout of the hotels extremely well.
Police denied reports the men had rented an apartment in
Mumbai or even stayed at the Taj hotel before the attack, but
said they appeared to have had some support from locals.
"They appeared to have known the hotel well, but then the
construction layout of the hotel is available on their website
- complete with the levels, fire-exit plan and everything," a
deputy police commissioner who declined to be named said.
More difficult to plan without local help was assault on
the Jewish religious and social centre at Nariman House in the
city.
"Nariman House is not even on the main road," the police
officer said. "One can't locate it right away if one didn't
have specific directions."
Two coast guard officials told Reuters the militants
appeared to have hijacked an Indian fishing trawler which had
sailed from western India on November 13 with five crew members on board.
Attackers had hoped to return
"They may have thought using an Indian boat would reduce
the possibility of raising suspicion and detection," one of the
coast guards told Reuters.
One crew member was found on the boat with his hands tied
behind his back and his throat cut, the others may have been
thrown overboard, officials said.
The coast guards said they had recovered a satellite phone
from the rubber dinghy and a GPS device which indicated that
the attackers had hoped to return to Pakistan after their
mission.
"The GPS co-ordinates indicate they had charted a return
course to Karachi," one said.
The Hindu newspaper also quoted unnamed intelligence
sources as saying that an e-mail claiming responsibility for the
attack was sent to Indian media from a computer in Pakistan.
The e-mail, ostensibly sent on behalf of a previously
unknown Indian group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, was
written in Hindi but contained spelling errors, the paper
said.