Mumbai gunmen's route probed

MUMBAI, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The police chief of Mumbai says the terrorists who went on a murderous rampage in the city last week traveled to India by ship from Karachi, Pakistan.

Hassan Gafoor's assertion to reporters about how the terrorists reached India is the most direct connection made to Pakistan since the attacks, in which 173 died, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Gafoor gave such specific details such as the attacks were carried out by 10 terrorists after they reached Mumbai, that one gunman was captured alive and identified as Ajmal Amir Qasab is from Pakistan, and that the suspect had admitted to being a member of the militant Islamic group Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Times said.

Gafoor said police continued to verify the nationalities of the other nine attackers who wee killed while battling security forces. However, The Times quoted Gafoor as saying there were no British passport holders among them as claimed in some earlier local media reports.

Gafoor said the 10 attackers had received training from a former army officer. He said the plan was "to kill as many people as possible."

The Times also said U.S. and Indian intelligence officials have talked of strong evidence tying the attacks to the LeT group, which has been linked to Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, scheduled to be in New Delhi later Wednesday, would demand Pakistan's full cooperation in the Mumbai attack probe and also to calm tensions between the two countries, the Times said.