Mumbai police capture terrorist alive and claim he is from Pakistan



Police have captured one of the terrorists behind the Mumbai attack during the operation at the Taj Mahal hotel.

He was named locally as Zakiruallah, a Punjabi from the Pakistan town of Faridkot.

The 12 gunmen involved may have been trained in Pakistan by militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Indian officials have claimed.



A grinning terrorist brandishes an AK-47 at the height of the attack last night. At least 12 locations in Mumbai were targeted simultaneously

Sources close to the operation said Zakiruallah told investigators that the group had been trained by Lashkar.



But a spokesman for Lashkar denied involvement. The Pakistani government also condemned the attacks.



It is believed the terrorists hijacked an Indian trawler, M V Alpha, which was used as a mothership from which to launch a maritime terror attack on the coastal city.

Indian coastguards recovered the vessel off the Mumbai coast. The decapitated body of its captain was found on board.

Two inflatable rafts were used to transport the men together with massive quantities of RDX explosive, hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, to Mumbai.

Police discovered 16lb of RDX outside the Taj Mahal and another 20lb near the Oberoi Trident hotel.

The heavily armed terrorists then fanned out across south Mumbai. One group even hijacked a police van and cruised around the city gunning down bystanders.

Ratan Tata, who runs the company that owns the Taj Mahal hotel, said they appeared to have scouted their targets in advance.



'They seem to know their way around the back office, the kitchen. There has been a considerable amount of detailed planning,' he said at a press conference.



The attack comes after it was revealed a domestic Islamic terror group warned it was planning a massacre in Mumbai two months ago.



The Indian Mujahideen denounced the city's police anti-terrorist squad - known as the ATS - in September, accusing them of harassing Muslims.

It said in an e-mail: 'You [the ATS] should know that your acts are not at all unnoticed. We are keeping an eye on you and just waiting for the right time to execute bloodshed.

One of the boats used by the terrorists in Mumbai

A man carries his partner away from the Taj Hotel

'We are aware of your recent raids at Ansarnagar, Mograpada in Andheri and the harassment and trouble you created for the Muslims.



'You threatened to murder them and you even misbehaved with the Muslim women and children.'

The message added: 'If your arrogance has reached this degree and if you think that you can scare us by your stunts, then let the IM warn the people of Mumbai that the ATS will be responsible for the deadly attacks on Mumbaikars in the future.'



Analysts believe the group which claimed direct responsibility for last night's terror attack, the Deccan Mujahideen, is a front for the Indian Mujahideen.



Witnesses say the attackers were young South Asian men speaking Hindi or Urdu, suggesting they are probably members of an Indian militant group rather than foreigners.



Deccan is an area of southern India, indicating the terrorists may be members of a south India offshoot or cell of the main group.



Firefighters try to put out a blaze as smoke rises from the Taj Hotel building in Mumbai

Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago that killed 187 people.

The Indian Mujahideen may also include former members of the Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, police said.



It has made credible claims of responsibility for most of the recent major attacks on civilian targets in India over the past two years.

People take cover after shooting broke out outside the Metro Cinema in Mumbai

The Mumbai attacks appear to have been carefully co-ordinated, well-planned and involved a large number of attackers.



A high level of sophistication has also been a hallmark of previous attacks by the Indian Mujahideen.

The Mumbai attacks also focused clearly on tourist targets, including two luxury hotels and a famous cafe.

However, experts consider any links to al-Qaeda or that the attacks were inspired by Osama bin Laden's movement unlikely.



Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al-Qaeda and a terrorism expert at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said he believed the group that carried out Wednesday's attack was Indian Mujahideen.



Mr Gunaratna added: 'The earlier generation of terrorist groups in India were mostly linked to Pakistan. But today we are seeing a dramatic change. They are almost all homegrown groups. ... They are very angry and firmly believe that India is killing Muslims and attacking Islam.'

British-based Jane's Information Group said it thought the attackers could be Indian but that taking hostages suggested a wider anti-Western agenda.



'Until now, terrorist attacks in India have targeted civilians, often in busy market or commercial areas, and in communally sensitive areas with the intention to foment unrest between Hindu and Muslim communities,' said Urmila Venugopalan, Jane's South Asia analyst.



'This stands in contrast to the national issues that appeared to motivate Indian Mujahideen,' Venugopalan said.



Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed 'external forces' but stopped short of blaming Pakistan. Both are nuclear-armed countries.



Risk forecasters Exclusive Analysis added that it was 'highly unlikely' that they were authorised or even known about at the top level in Pakistan.



Army personnel take position at the Gateway of India that stands in front of the Taj Hotel

In May, the Indian Mujahideen made a specific threat to attack tourist sites in India unless the government stopped supporting the United States in the international arena.

The threat was made in an e-mail claiming responsibility for bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur.



The e-mail, signed by 'Guru Al-Hindi', declared 'open war against India' and included the serial number of one of the bicycles on which the bombs were left.

Witnesses in Mumbai say the attackers singled out Americans and Britons in their attacks.

The group first emerged during a wave of bombings in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded.

Bystanders hit the ground as Indian commandos exchange fire with the terrorists outside the Taj Hotel

Their next attacks were the Jaipur blasts.

On July 25, eight small bomb attacks in Bangalore killed at least one person and wounded 15. There was no known claim of responsibility.

But a day later, at least 16 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 and wounding 161.



Shortly before the blasts, an e-mail in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was sent to local media warning that people would soon 'feel the terror of death' in the name of Allah.

It said the attacks were revenge for the Gujarat riots of 2002, when around 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs.



A later e-mail accused several state governments of harassing, imprisoning and torturing Muslims and threatened consequences if they did not stop.

In September, at least five bombs exploded in crowded markets and streets in New Delhi, killing at least 18 people.

A guest is rescued from the fourth floor of the Taj Hotel. At least 101 people have been killed in the attacks

The Indian Mujahideen sent out an e-mail moments after the first blast in New Delhi, saying the explosions were to prove its capability to strike in the most secure of Indian cities.

All previous incidents in which the Indian Mujahideen are suspected of involvement involved co-ordinated serial bombs.

The Mumbai attacks also show clear signs of co-ordination but were carried out by gunmen, some carrying grenades.

The tactics - a military-style assault on soft targets, singling out foreigners, and taking hostages - are rare and do not fit the usual methods of militant attacks on civilian areas.

However, similar attacks have been carried out before, notably the May 2004 attacks in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.

Gunmen attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex in the city, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them.



The attackers asked hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim before deciding whom to kill.

Timeline of terror attacks in India



The following is a chronology of some of the major attacks in India in the past five years:

• March 13, 2003 - A bomb attack on a commuter train in Mumbai kills 11 people.



• Aug 25, 2003 - Two car bombs kill about 60 in Mumbai.



• Aug 15, 2004 - A bomb explodes in the north-eastern state of Assam, killing 16 people, mostly schoolchildren, and wounding dozens.



• Oct 29, 2005 - Sixty-six people are killed when three blasts rip through markets in New Delhi.



• March 7, 2006 - At least 15 people are killed and 60 wounded in three blasts in the northerly Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi.



• July 11, 2006 - More than 180 people are killed in seven bomb explosions at railway stations and on trains in Mumbai that are blamed on Islamist militants.



• Sep 8, 2006 - At least 32 people are killed in a series of explosions, including one near a mosque, in Malegaon town, 160 miles north-east of Mumbai.



• Feb 19, 2007 - Two bombs explode aboard a train heading from India to Pakistan; at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, burn to death.

• May 18, 2007 - A bomb explodes during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in the southern city of Hyderabad, killing 11 worshippers. Police later shoot dead five people in clashes with hundreds of enraged Muslims who protest against the attack.



• Aug 25, 2007 - Three co-ordinated explosions at an amusement park and a street stall in Hyderabad kill at least 40 people.



• May 13, 2008 - Seven bombs rip through the crowded streets of the western city of Jaipur, killing at least 63 people in markets and outside Hindu temples.



• July 25 - Eight small bombs hit the IT city of Bangalore, killing at least one woman and wounding at least 15.



• July 26 - At least 16 small bombs explode in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 people and wounding 161. A little-known group called the 'Indian Mujahideen' claims responsibility for the attack and the May 13 attack in Jaipur.



• Sep 13 - At least five bombs explode in crowded markets and streets in the heart of New Delhi, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores more. The Indian Mujahideen again claim responsibility.



• Nov 26 - At least 101 people were killed in a series of attacks apparently aimed at tourists in India's financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday. Police said at least 250 people had been wounded.

