'Pak-based terror outfit behind 26/11 attacks'

A former national security advisor (NSA) to the Pakistan prime minister on Monday said in New Delhi that a terrorist organisation based in his country had carried out the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
 

Maj Gen (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani said the attack was “a classic example” of cross-border terror. Durrani was the NSA to the then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from May 2008 to January 2009.

He referred to the role of the Pakistani terror group while addressing the Asian Security Conference at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

“The terror attack in Mumbai carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan on November 26, 2008, is a classic trans-border terror event...But the government of Pakistan or the Inter-Services Intelligence was not involved. I am 110% sure of it,” said Durrani, who was also Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from June 2006 to May 2008.

Former Pakistan army officers have in the past admitted the role of the terror group based in their country in planning, preparing and perpetrating the attacks on Mumbai.

A few weeks after the attack, Durrani admitted in an interview with an Indian TV channel that Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive in the incident, was a citizen of Pakistan.

His comment about Kasab, who was later hanged, was not liked by many in the Pakistan government. Gilani sacked him soon.

Ten LeT terrorists had sailed from Karachi to Mumbai and carried out the attacks killing over 170 people and maiming many others.

New Delhi has since been accusing Saeed of masterminding the attacks. But Islamabad acted against the radical cleric only recently and listed him as a terrorist under the Anti-Terrorism Act of Pakistan. Earlier, on January 30, Saeed was detained and placed under house arrest.

On Monday, Durrani also told journalists that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed had “no utility” for Pakistan and he “should be punished”.

“Every nation has its own definition and understanding of what constitutes terrorism. Despite the long ongoing war against terror, the world remains ambiguous regarding its definition,” Durrani said, emphasising on the need to develop a common denominator to fight terrorism in Asia.