Pakistan Busts 'Mastermind' of Mumbai Attacks

Security forces raid Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Dec 8, 2008 4:32 AM CST

(Newser) – Pakistani security forces raided a suspected terrorist training camp last night and arrested several members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attacks. One of the men arrested was Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi—the militant that India has accused of masterminding the attacks, reports the Times of London. Local residents in the Kashmiri city where the Pakistani raid took place reported explosions and gunfire, but no casualties have been reported.

Lakhvi is a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and serves as the group's commander. The lone militant captured in Mumbai told police that Lakhvi was one of his contacts, and that he had trained at the camp raided last night. Although Pakistan banned the militant group in 2002 after its attack on the Indian parliament, Lashkar has operated with impunity under the banner of a shell organization. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday there was "no doubt" the Mumbai attack originated in Pakistan.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Protesters hold Indian national flags and burn effigies of Pakistan's president. India has been demanding swift action from Pakistan against Lashkar-e-Taiba. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

This map locates Muzaffarabad in the Pakistani part of Kashmir, where troops seized a camp used by extremists. (Associated Press)

Pakistan paramilitary forces stand alert in a troubled area of Karachi. Troops took over a militant camp in Kashmir yesterday. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

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Rice tells Wolf Blitzer that Pakistani territory was used by "non-state actors" to launch the Mumbai attacks. (CNN Video)

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Pakistan Busts 'Mastermind' of Mumbai Attacks