Who Attacked Mumbai? Eyes Turn to Pakistan

Police investigate terrorists' boat; no al-Qaeda link seen

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 28, 2008 8:35 AM CST

(Newser) – It's still unclear what group is behind the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that have now left 125 dead, but a consensus is growing that foreigners, possibly from Pakistan, may have orchestrated the assaults. Police are investigating the origins of a fishing boat that ferried the terrorists to Mumbai—and which many in the country's intelligence community say came from Karachi, the Pakistani capital.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh said that forces "outside the country" are to blame, and analysts in India, Europe, and the US all said that the scale and complexity of the attacks implied a foreign agent. Experts doubt any connection to al-Qaeda, which has no cells in India; instead, fingers are being pointed at two Pakistani organizations involved in the 2001 raid of the parliament building in Delhi and this year's attack at the Indian embassy in Kabul.

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (2)]

Indian security personnel stand guard at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station in Mumbai, India, Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo)

In this Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008 photo,, Indian PM Manmohan Singh meets an injured person at the J J hospital as Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, left, looks on in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/India Government Photo Division, HO)

An Indian commando gives relief to another at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India, Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. The strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)

Coast Guard members prepare to chase a trawler that is believed to have transported the gunmen to Mumbai, in the Arabian Sea Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. (AP Photo)

People look on in the backdrop of the Gateway of India, near the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

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No indigenous Indian group has this level of capability. The goal is to damage the symbol of India's economic renaissance, undermine investor confidence and provoke an India-Pakistani crisis. - Bruce Riedel, former CIA analyst

This is only the latest in a series of attacks in India over the last year or two. Terrorism is not just a war against the west.
- David Miliband, British foreign secretary

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Who Attacked Mumbai? Eyes Turn to Pakistan