London/New Delhi : The Guardian claimed that Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy wing, was involved in preparations for 26/11 Mumbai attacks, according to classified Indian government documents obtained by the British newspaper.
The newspaper said that a 109-page report into the interrogation of key suspect David Headley, a Pakistani-American terrorist arrested last year and detained in the US, made claims of ISI support for the attacks.
“Under questioning, Headley described dozens of meetings between officers of the ISI, and militants from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group responsible for the Mumbai attacks”, the report said.
Headley claimed that a key motivation for the ISI in aiding the attacks was to bolster militant organisations with strong links to the Pakistani state and security establishment who were being marginalised by more extreme radical group.
The Guardian claims it has obtained classified Indian government documents on the more than 34 hours of interrogation of Headley by the Indian investigators, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The reports claimed Headley, who undertook surveillance of the targets in Mumbai for the operation, told Indian investigators that at least two of his missions were partly paid for by the ISI and that he regularly reported to the spy agency.
The Guardian did not give excerpts of exactly what Headley told the Indian investigators.
One revelation was on why the LeT decided to carry out the Mumbai attacks.
“The aggression and commitment to jihad shown by several splinter groups in Afghanistan influenced many committed fighters to leave LeT. I understand this compelled the LeT to consider a spectacular terrorist strike in India. The ISI had no ambiguity in understanding the necessity to strike India. Its aim was controlling a further split in the Kashmir-based outfits, providing them a sense of achievement and shifting the theatre of violence from Pakistan to India,” Headley told the investigators.
The US admitted that Headley’s wives had several conversations with its officials in 2007 and 2008 about his terror connections.