| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Related News |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Special Report |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MUMBAI: India's interior minister resigned on Sunday as anger grew over intelligence failures leading up to the devastating attacks on Mumbai, as the government mulled suspending a peace process with Pakistan.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil said he took "moral responsibility" for the assault by heavily-armed Islamic militants which left nearly at least 172 people dead and transformed parts of Mumbai into a war zone for three days.
India's powerful national security adviser M.K. Narayanan also submitted his resignation, officials said, but it was not yet clear if it had been accepted.
The government has pointed the finger at "elements in Pakistan," and security sources say they believe most if not all the highly-trained gunmen were Pakistani. The nuclear-armed neighbours' peace process now appears in doubt.
"There is a view in the government that India should suspend the peace process... to show that it is not going to take lightly the deadly carnage in Mumbai," the official Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.
It quoted sources as saying the government, "including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is very upset as it feels that Pakistan has not kept its promise made at the highest level to end terrorism directed at India".
Security officials said they believed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the extremely well-planned assault, which took thousands of India commandos, police and soldiers 60 hours to stop.
Lashkar, which is fighting Indian control of the disputed Kashmir region, was behind a deadly 2001 assault on the Indian parliament that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war.
But Pakistan, which has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, moved quickly to deny any links with the attacks . Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged India not to "over-react."
Zardari warned that the militants were "looking for reaction," and pledged prompt action against anyone responsible.
Lashkar, which operated openly in Pakistan until it was outlawed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, has denied responsibility.
Around a dozen militants launched their assault on Wednesday evening when they split into groups and struck targets across Mumbai, including the main railway station and a hospital.
Security forces regained control of the city 60 hours later when they killed the last three gunmen holed up inside the Taj Mahal hotel.
On Friday elite troops had stormed Jewish centre and killed two gunmen - but found eight dead Israeli hostages.
Another luxury hotel that was attacked, the Oberoi/Trident, was cleared of militants later in the day, with scores of trapped guests rescued and dozens of bodies found.
The overall toll was 172 people dead and nearly 293 wounded.
The disaster management cell of the Maharashtra state government said the lower death toll - down from 195 - was due to "double-counting" of the dead at hospitals in the wake of the militant strikes.
About 30 foreigners were killed including five Americans, two French, two Australians and two Canadians.
Some militants entered Mumbai by boat, while others had arrived a month ago to stockpile arms and explosives and infiltrate the targets.
They had enough ammunition to kill 5,000 people and never issued any demands for the hostages' release, officials said Sunday.
Survivors gave terrifying accounts of the carnage .
British actor Joey Jeetun was caught up in the violence when the Leopold cafe , a restaurant popular with expatriates, was attacked.
The 31-year-old, who played a suicide bomber in a British television documentary, said terrorists assumed he was dead because he was covered in other people's blood. He was then detained as a possible suspect and held for 13 hours in a police cell.
Phillippe Meyer, who had been on a business trip to Mumbai, said he was stuck in one of the hotels targeted by militants.
"We found ourselves shut away in our rooms for a very long time, about 40 hours. The information was very confusing," said Meyer, 53, as he returned to France.
Witnesses said the attackers had specifically rounded up people with US and British passports.
The United States, Israel and Britain were among countries that offered expert assistance to help with the investigation. - AFP/de
|
