India: Pakistan Intelligence Masterminded 11/7 Bombings

Pak’s ISI masterminded 11/7, says intelligence : HindustanTimes.com

Forty-eight hours after bombs ripped through Mumbai, the needle pointed to Pakistan. Intelligence agencies on Thursday confirmed that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the “mastermind” of the blasts that killed about 200 people.

The Mumbai Police, meanwhile, identified the trio who planned and executed 11/7: Rahil, Zahibuddin Ansari and Faiyaz, linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Of them, Rahil had reportedly made an abortive bid to trigger a blast at Byculla railway station on March 11 — the eve of the anniversary of the 1993 Bombay blasts.

The agencies, which briefed National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi, said the blueprint for Tuesday’s blasts was made by the ISI while the “plan” was executed by “local Indian operatives”. A senior intelligence officer said the synchronised explosions had the “hallmark” of an ISI operation. Militants operating in Kashmir were not capable of such meticulous planning and could only carry out fidayeen attacks or plant bombs in crowded places like markets. “A lot of planning went into the blasts. This is typical of an ISI operation, as was revealed during the 1993 Bombay blasts,” said an officer.

Obviously, I’m not privy to the raw intelligence to make any determination. Surely, though, the fact that the bombings were “well planned” is not proof that this was an ISI op. This is especially true in light of claims by al Qaeda that they’re organized in the region.

Further, one can scarcely imagine why it would benefit Pakistan to commit a provocation that would inevitably lead to war with India at this juncture. One would think they have their hands full with internal matters at the moment. Perhaps Bruce McQuain is right that this was a “rogue” operation conducted without Musharraf’s approval.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. LJD says:

    Well, we have Iraq and Afghanistan; Israel, with Hamas and Hezbollah, supported by Iran and Syria meddling; we have North Korea, and Japan threatening; we have China and Russia not playing along on anything…

    Why not throw in a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan, just for good measure?

  2. Anderson says:

    Spain did the same thing after 3/11, but the voters were too smart to fall for it.

    India being a much poorer country with worse communications, its people may buy the gov’t line.

    OTOH … Pakistani intel & the Taliban have longstanding links; a Qaeda connection is not farfetched.

  3. legion says:

    Hey, wasn’t it just yesterday I commented about how it might be that AQ is playing largely-muslim Pakistan against largely-hindu India, since they’re both working with us on the whole GWOT thing?

    This has the potential to be incredibly bad for everyone on the planet…

  4. Rick DeMent says:

    You all are aware that Hindu nationalists went on a rampage a day or two before the bombings vandalizing Muslim business and targeting Muslims in general in Mumbai after a memorial statue of party founder Bal Thackeray�s late wife, was found spattered with mud. The Hindu reprisals lasted about two days, My Girlfriend was in Mumbai that morning and her host family decided to hustler her out of the city and get her on a flight back home a bit sooner then she was planning because they feared that the violence would escalate which is seems to have done.

  5. Anderson says:

    You all are aware that Hindu nationalists went on a rampage a day or two before the bombings vandalizing Muslim business and targeting Muslims in general in Mumbai after a memorial statue of party founder Bal Thackeray�s late wife, was found spattered with mud.

    Of course we’re not–only pro-Muslim terror is interesting to the U.S. media. Thanks for the scoop.

    Will OTB start referring sardonically to Hinduism as the “religion of peace” now?

  6. Fersboo says:

    Will OTB start referring sardonically to Hinduism as the �religion of peace� now?

    You all are aware that Hindu nationalists went on a rampage a day or two before the bombings vandalizing Muslim business and targeting Muslims in general in Mumbai after a memorial statue of party founder Bal Thackeray�s late wife, was found spattered with mud.

    One of these two is not like the other.

  7. Rick DeMent says:

    One of these two is not like the other.

    Your right, I would think that vandalizing business and terrorizing Muslims is a bit of an over reaction for some mud on a statue but that’s me.

  8. Fersboo says:

    Your right, I would think that vandalizing business and terrorizing Muslims is a bit of an over reaction for some mud on a statue but that�s me.

    Rick, I agree, however, that wasn’t my point. I haven’t heard about groups of Hindi going around beheading people, hence the Islam gaining the moniker of “Religion of Peace”.

    Going ape over mud on a statue is akin to going ape over some cartoons.

  9. mav says:

    Rick,
    Haven’t heard of even a single news item on this Muslims getting beaten up. Do you have any proof? Sounds unbelievable that not even the newspapers which published about Guantanamo bay, will ignore this…I have friends in mubai or bombay; Everyone, says nothing like this has ever happened.
    mav