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MUMBAI: Investigations into the Mumbai attacks shifted further towards the suspected role of the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba Monday, threatening a fragile peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Despite Pakistan insisting it had nothing to do with the assault, which began Wednesday and left at least 172 people dead and nearly 300 wounded, India has increasingly pointed the finger at its arch-rival and neighbour.
The Indian government has accused "elements in Pakistan " of being behind the attacks while security sources say they believe most if not all the highly-trained gunmen were Pakistani.
India's deputy home minister told the BBC in an interview on Monday that all the gunmen who carried out the attacks were from neighbouring Pakistan.
"The terrorists who have been killed in these encounters in Mumbai in the last few days were of Pakistani origin," Shakeel Ahmad said.
It was the most explicit statement yet from an Indian official about the identities of the attackers.
The minister said the lone gunman arrested after the attacks was also from Pakistan and had provided "information in detail" that they were all Pakistani nationals, including their names and other data.
"We are not saying that it is sponsored by the Pakistan government," Ahmad said. But he insisted that Pakistan was "being used for anti-India activities."
The future of the nuclear-armed neighbours' peace process, which began in 2004 after a ceasefire, now appears unclear, according to well placed sources.
"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," official sources told the official Press Trust of India (PTI).
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," PTI said.
Opening cross-party talks on Sunday, Singh said he intended to boost security, give more funds to anti-terrorism units and set up a federal agency of investigation.
"We have had terrorist attacks before... but this attack was different. It was an attack by highly trained and well-armed terrorists targeting our largest city," he said.
"They came with the explicit aim of killing large numbers of innocent civilians, including foreign visitors. They sought to destroy some of the best known symbols of our commercial capital."
India's interior minister resigned Sunday as anger grew over intelligence failures leading up to the devastating attacks, which turned parts of the Indian financial capital into a war zone for three days.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil said he took "moral responsibility" for the assault by heavily-armed Islamic militants.
India's powerful national security adviser M.K. Narayanan also submitted his resignation, officials said, but it was not clear if it had been accepted.
Security officials say they believe that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the extremely well-planned assault, which took thousands of Indian 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, has denied any links with the attacks. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has 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 on the United States, 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 when they killed the last three gunmen holed up inside the Taj Mahal hotel early on Saturday.
On Friday elite troops had stormed a 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.
About 30 foreigners were killed including five Americans, two French, two Australians and two Canadians.
- AFP/yb
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