26/11 attack planned; launched from Pak

Says former DG of FIA Tariq Khosa

Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan must admit its mistakes for allowing Pakistani terrorists to sail to Mumbai and carry out the horrific massacre in Mumbai in 2008, almost bringing Islamabad and Delhi to war, a former senior Pakistani official has said. The revelation vindicates India's stand that 99 percent of the evidence of the 26/11 attacks lies in Pakistan since the entire plotting was done in that country, sources said on Tuesday.

Tariq Khosa, a former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), equivalent of India's CBI, wrote in the Dawn newspaper that “Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil”. “This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes,” he said, detailing the various Pakistani links to the terrorists who massacred 166 Indians and foreigners over three days in India's financial capital.

“The entire state security apparatus must ensure that the perpetrators and masterminds of the ghastly terror attacks are brought to justice,” Khosa said, underlining that the case had lingered on for far too long.According to noted strategic expert Uday Bhaskar, the revelations by Khosa are an important statement in the public domain.

“The author is a former DG of the FIA and his observations are that of a seasoned senior professional from Pakistan’s premier investigating agency,” Bhaskar said. He said the most valuable parts of Khosa's revelations “are the detailing of 'facts' pertinent to the case that have been unearthed or pieced together including the role of the LeT; the casings of explosives recovered from a training camp in Pakistan and matched with devices used in Mumbai; linking the number of the engine used on the dinghy with a Karachi sports shop; the money trail; the operations room, et al”.