US suspects Kashmir-based group behind attacks: Official

WASHINGTON: A US counter-terrorism official said on Saturday that a militant group based in Kashmir, possibly Lashkar-e-Taiba, may have been responsible for the deadly wave of attacks in Mumbai.

"Some of the things that have been learnt thus far do point in the direction of a Kashmiri connection," the counter-terrorism official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But it's still too early for definitive conclusions."

"That does go beyond the fact that some of the features of the attacks are consistent with the sorts of things that we have seen from Kashimiri groups in the past," the official said.

"At this point people are looking very hard at the Lashkar-e-Taiba," which is based in Pakistan and in Kashmir. The group is notorious for a deadly assault on the Indian parliament in 2001 that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war.

The US counter-terrorism official declined to give more details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied any responsibility for the assault.

New Delhi has in the past accused rival Pakistan, and particularly its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, of helping militants attack Indian targets, including the Indian embassy in Kabul earlier this year.



The US official agreed that there are links with Pakistan's ISI and groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba. "That has been true in the past," the official said.

Indian commandos on Saturday killed the last remaining gunmen in Mumbai's Taj hotel, ending the devastating attack on India's financial capital that killed 195 people.

Indian intelligence sources said that a detained gunman had confessed to coming from Pakistan.

The crisis risked escalating into a major stand-off between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.