2008 Mumbai terror attacks: Seven key revelations ex-Pak FIA chief Tariq Khosa made

New Delhi/Islamabad: Tariq Khosa, former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), has admitted for the first time that the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008 were launched from the Pakistani soil.

Khosa, during whose tenure FIA probed the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, made the admission in an opinion piece published in Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Here are the major revelations Khosa made in his piece:

1. The Mumbai terror attacks were launched from the Pakistani soil. “Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil,” Khosa wrote.

2. The former FIA DG also said that Ajmal Kasab was from Pakistan. “Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national, whose place of residence and initial schooling as well as his joining a banned militant organisation was established by the investigators,” Khosa wrote in the opinion piece while talking about the lone captured Mumbai attacks terrorist who was later executed by India.

3. Khose admitted that the 10 terrorists who launched the deadly strikes on Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008 were from the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). He also revealed that the terrorists were trained near Thatta in Sindh. “The Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists were imparted training near Thatta, Sindh and launched by sea from there,” Khosa wrote.

4. As per Khosa, the explosives used in the deadly terror attacks were also traced to the LeT training camp in Thatta. “The training camp was identified and secured by the investigators. The casings of the explosive devices used in Mumbai were recovered from this training camp and duly matched,” Khosa said.

5. Khosa further revealed that the fishing trawler in which the terrorists set sail from Karachi to travel to Mumbai was traced back to Pakistan. The terrorists had hijacked an Indian trawler mid-way to land on Mumbai's shores and the Pakistani trawler was sent back. “The fishing trawler used by the terrorists for hijacking an Indian trawler in which they sailed to Mumbai, was brought back to harbour, then painted and concealed. It was recovered by the investigators and connected to the accused,” Khosa disclosed.

6. The former FIA chief also admitted that the operations control room from where the terrorists were given instructions before and during the Mumbai attacks was set up in Karachi. “The ops room in Karachi, from where the operation was directed, was also identified and secured by the investigators. The communications through Voice over Internet Protocol were unearthed.”

7. Talking about the arrests in the case, Khosa wrote, “The alleged commander and his deputies were identified and arrested... a couple of foreign-based financiers and facilitators were (also) arrested and brought to face trial.”