Attribution of The 2008 Mumbai Attacks - Attribution

Attribution

Main article: 2008 Mumbai attacks See also: Erroneous reporting on the 2008 Mumbai attacks

The Mumbai attacks were planned and directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan, and carried out by ten young armed men trained and sent to Mumbai and directed from inside Pakistan via mobile phones and VoIP.

In July 2009 Pakistani authorities confirmed to their Indian counterparts that their investigations confirmed that LeT plotted and financed the attacks. Investigations conducted in LeT camps in Karachi and Thatta revealed diaries, training manuals, maps of India and operational instructions. According to a report from Pakistani investigators to Indian authorities, "the investigation has established beyond any reasonable doubt that the defunct LeT activists conspired, abetted, planned, financed and established communication network to carry out terror attacks in Mumbai."

The criminal investigation begun by the Mumbai police has identified 37 suspects – including two army officers – wanted for their alleged involvement in the plot. All but two of the suspects, many of whom are identified only through aliases, are Pakistani.

David Headley was a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and between 2002 and 2009 Headley traveled extensively as part of his work for LeT. Headey received training in small arms and countersurveillance from LeT, built a network of connections for the group, and was chief scout in scoping out targets for the Mumbai attacks.

Lashkar-e-Taiba was created and sponsored by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). U.S. officials have stated that current or retired ISI officers probably played some role in the Mumbai attacks. An ISI officer known as Major Iqbal gave Headley $25,000 in cash in 2006 to scout out the target sites in Mumbai, helped him arrange a communications system for the attack, and oversaw a model of the Taj Mahal Hotel so that gunmen could know their way inside the target, according to Headley's testimony to Indian authorities. Headley also helped ISI recruit Indian agents to monitor Indian troop levels and movements, according to a U.S. official. At the same time, Healey was also an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Healey's wives warned American officials of Healey's involvement with LeT and his plotting of terrorist operations, warning specifically that the Taj Mahal Hotel may be their target.