Are 'rogue' (or non-rogue) elements of Pakistan's Military/Intelligence services responsible for the recent terrorist attacks in India... in an attempt to prevent the new Pakistani government from making peace with India... and possibly re-deploying many thousands of troops from the front lines with India, to the terrorist bad lands of western Pakistan?
Are the Pak. hardliners trying to short-circuit peace, and protect their terrorist proxy armies?
(As this one commenter suggests: Has anyone here thought that this attack against india was to provoke a war due to the fact that the new leader of Pakistan has offered peace to India. This "peace" offering would allow Pakistan to abandon the vast majority of troop positions in Kashmir and relocate those troops to the northwest tribal region and put immense pressure on Al Queda. I am pretty sure Bin Laden does not want 100,000 more troops in the area he is in. Second, the new leader of Pakistan is also trying to disband (or at the very least severly weaken) the ISI (the Pakistani version of the CIA). Ever think they may want an attack like this against India to justify their important role in government policy?)
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Rescue efforts on as India-Pak officials trade words
At least 119 dead, 315 wounded
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
Last update: 6:37 a.m. EST Nov. 28, 2008
Comments: 137
marketwatch.com
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Indian commandos seized control of and rescued hostages from the Trident-Oberoi hotel in Mumbai Friday afternoon, while efforts to flush terrorists out of two other locations continued more than a day after the armed militants attacked the Indian financial capital, killing at least 119 people and injuring 315.
But a war of words began elsewhere, with the Indian foreign minister reportedly saying evidence showed Pakistan-linked "elements" were responsible for the deadly attacks, while his Pakistani counterpart asked India not to play politics over the issue, and instead cooperate as terrorism was the two countries' common enemy.
"Do not bring politics into the issue ... we are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer, according to Reuters.
His response came after Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a news conference Friday that "prima facie evidence indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved" in the coordinated attacks Wednesday night on more than 10 locations in Mumbai. Mukherjee urged Pakistan to dismantle the infrastructure that supports militants, the report added.
Mukherjee's comments came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan, said Thursday that the group that carried out the assault was based outside the country, and pledged to "take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us won't be tolerated."
Pakistan leadership has condemned the attacks in Mumbai.
Although Mukherjee didn't identify any particular group, Indian media reports named Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group which has been banned as a terrorist organization by the governments of India, Pakistan and the U.S.
Citing unnamed police sources, The Hindu newspaper reported that three terrorists captured Thursday in Mumbai identified themselves as members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Indian Express newspaper cited Indian security agencies as saying evidence pointed to Lashkar, adding that some of the terrorists came to Mumbai from Karachi by sea. The report said the Lashkar members boarded an Indian fishing trawler that had been hired or hijacked before entering Indian waters.
According to reports, 25 heavily armed men, at least some of whom arrived by sea, spread out across Mumbai Wednesday night to attack more than 10 locations, most of which were popular with tourists and businessmen.
Lashkar, which has been blamed by the Indian government for past attacks, denied responsibility for the Mumbai violence, according to media reports.
"Lashkar-e-Taiba strongly condemns the series of attacks in Mumbai ... Lashkar has no association with any Indian militant group," Abdullah Gaznavai, chief spokesman of the group, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
A previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen initially claimed responsibility for the Wednesday-night assault, but Indian authorities and terrorism experts have said they don't know if such a group even exists, according to media reports. One theory is that the attackers are allied with another extremist group that calls itself the Indian Mujahideen.
Lashkar-e-Taiba was formed in Afghanistan and its goals reportedly include independence for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir -- and re-establishment of Moslem hegemony in South Asia -- according to reports. It is considered to be among the more active Islamic terrorist organizations in South Asia and reportedly has links to Al Qaeda and Afghanistan's Taliban movement, according to online reports.
In a interview with NDTV 24X7 news channel in 2006, Richard Boucher, then assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, said that in addition to banning Lashkar, the U.S. has "prosecuted cases in Virginia and California, we have put them on United Nations lists, we have acted against them financially." See transcript of interview
The New York Times said Lashkar is run by members of the Pakistani intelligence services.
Some hostages rescued
At the Oberoi-Trident luxury hotel, well-dressed guests trickled out and were escorted into buses and cars after a 36-hour siege, according to Reuters. Some 93 guests had been evacuated, the report said.
But at the Taj Mahal Hotel, at least one militant was still thought to be holding two hostages, Reuters cited an army commander as saying.
After a morning of shooting and explosions, the head of a commando unit that flushed out militants at the Taj said he saw 12 to 15 bodies in one room, among a total of 50 dead people in the hotel.
Armed gunmen were also believed to be holding an Israeli rabbi and around three other people hostage at a Jewish center, the report added. The center reportedly is operated by Chabad Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox group based in New York City.
An AFP report said at least 17 commandos were seen being lowered from a helicopter into the complex where the center was located, and gunfire and explosions were heard.
Some foreigners killed, injured
While many of those who were killed and injured in the attacks were believed to be Mumbai residents, the attacks appeared to be centered on locations popular with travelers and foreigners.
Three Americans were injured, a State Department spokesman told the Associated Press. Two American women from Tennessee were among the wounded, an AP report said, with one shot in the arm and leg at the Taj Mahal.
Reuters cited police as saying at least six foreigners were killed in the attacks, including one Australian, a Briton, an Italian and a Japanese national. End of Story
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau. |
