Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: December 7, 2008
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Mumbai_terrorists_trained_by_Pak_army/articleshow/3804856.cms
The ten terrorists involved in the Mumbai
attacks were among 500 men trained to "elite" commando standards
by the Pakistani army and navy instructors and were directly supported by
the ISI, a media report here said on Sunday.
The Indian intelligence have the names of
the 26/11 terrorists' ISI trainers and handlers and have intercepted internet
phone calls between them, The Sunday Times said.
Quoting sources close to the Indian intelligence,
it claimed that another attack before next year's general election would make
war inevitable between the two countries.
The Indian intelligence claimed the terrorists
involved in the Mumbai attacks were among a large group of volunteer "fidayeen"
or suicide attackers trained in commando tactics by the Pakistan army and
navy instructors over 18 months from December 2006.
"The training of these 500 men was in
three phases. The first was basic physical fitness and firearms training.
The second was marine navigation and swimming. The third involved training
to sabotage underwater installations such as oil rigs, ships and submarines,"
one official was quoted as saying.
"They were trained to a level of US Seals
or Pakistani marine commandos. They were elite. Ten of these men were the
ones who attacked Mumbai."
If true, this training would have been in
addition to later preparation said to have been given by Lashkar-e-Toiba,
which is suspected to be behind the attacks. The militant group was created
with ISI support in the 1990s to operate in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.