1.Indian official accuses Pakistan spy agency in Mumbai attack
By Mark Magnier in The Los Angeles Times, July 15, 2010
New Delhi: A senior Indian official has accused Pakistan’s powerful spy agency of planning and carrying out the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, the toughest and most direct allegation by the Indian government against its neighbor over the assault that killed 166 people.
The allegation of Inter-Services Intelligence agency involvement, published Wednesday in the Indian Express newspaper, comes a day before the foreign ministers of the nuclear-armed rivals are scheduled to meet in Islamabad in a bid to ease suspicion stemming from the attack.
Home Secretary G.K. Pillai’s accusation appeared aimed at pressuring Pakistan to prosecute some of the suspects New Delhi believes were involved in the attack. But the timing doesn’t bode well for an early easing of tensions between the two wary South Asian powers.
"It was not just a peripheral role," Pillai was quoted as saying. "They [the ISI] were literally controlling and coordinating it from the beginning till the end."
The ISI has long been suspected of supporting and even helping to create Islamic militant groups as part of its clandestine war against India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
India has submitted several dossiers on the attack to Pakistan, hoping that Islamabad will prosecute some of the Pakistani nationals suspected of involvement. Pakistan has responded as many times that the information is insufficient.
Indian officials and analysts have long claimed a significant role by ISI-linked militant groups in the attack. However, Pillai’s accusation suggests his government has received more conclusive evidence of the spy agency’s involvement from its interrogation of David Coleman Headley.
Headley, an American of Pakistani descent, was arrested in Chicago last year after allegedly helping plan and carry out reconnaissance for the attack in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. In what has been touted as a strong example of growing U.S.-India intelligence sharing, Washington in May agreed to let Indian investigators question Headley in the U.S.
In his comments, Pillai also accused Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a founder of the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, of a role in the November 2008 attack on a rail terminal, two hotels and a Jewish center in Mumbai. Saeed now heads the legal Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, seen by the U.S. as a Lashkar front. The group denies any role in the Mumbai attack.
"He knew everything," Pillai said of Saeed.
Indian analysts said Pillai’s contention that the ISI was deeply involved in the Mumbai attack is credible.
"This is likely, from what we’ve seen of the telephone intercepts as well as the intelligence verification in India," said Dipankar Banerjee, director of New Delhi’s Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will meet with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday, ostensibly to build mutual confidence. Krishna said on arriving in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, that he plans on raising issues related to the Headley interrogation.
Pillai’s comments on the eve of the talks "don’t reduce the importance of a dialogue," Banerjee said. "But they make the [positive] outcome of a dialogue very difficult." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-india-mumbai-20100715,0,6208870,print.story

2.Militant killed, Army operation in Poonch enters third day: The Daily Excelsior

Jammu, July 15 : A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed in an encounter with the Army in Beri-Rakh forest in the border district of Poonch as the operation to track down militants in the area entered the third day today.
"A body of a terrorist has been recovered from the encounter site during search operation in Beri Rakh forests in Mendhar border belt of Poonch district", Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu zone, Ashok Gupta, told .
The anti-terrorist operation was launched by Army’s 37 Rashtriya Rifle (RR) troops on inputs about infiltration of a group of 10 to 12 militants in Mankote forest belt on July 13 around 0900 hours.
During the operation, an Army major was killed and six other securitymen, including a colonel, injured in an encounter with suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists on July 13.
Major Amit Phunge was killed in the encounter with the militants while Colonel Ajay Katoch of 47 Rashtriya Rifles was injured.
The operation is going on in the area to track down the rest of the militants in this dense forest belt close to the Line of Control in Mankote-Mendhar belt, an Army official said.http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/10july15/newsupdate.htm#2

3. LeT comdr gunned down in Kishtwar: The Daily Excelsior
JAMMU, July 14: A Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) district commander was gunned down by Army and police in an encounter at Bunjwah in Kither forests of Kishtwar district this afternoon while troops continued massive searches for the absconding militants in Beri Rakh forests of Mendhar tehsil in Poonch district for second day today.
A tearful send off was given to Major Amit Thingay, who sacrificed his life in the gunbattle at Mendhar yesterday. His body was sent to his native town at Gulabra, Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh with full military honours today. Twenty six year old bachelor Major Thingay had served in Jammu in Signals in March before being elevated as Major and posted in Rashtriya Rifles at Mendhar.
IGP Jammu zone Ashok Gupta said a hardcore Lashkar militant and district commander of the outfit Mohammad Isaq Bhatt alias Hamza alias Ateeq son of Abdul Qayoom Bhatt, a resident of Goni Patnazi was eliminated by police and Army in a fierce encounter at Bunjwah, Kither forests.
Slain ultra was an `A’ category militant involved in a series of subversive activities across Kishtwar and Doda districts, Mr Gupta said, adding the killing has dealt a crippling blow to the LeT outfit.
Appreciating Kishtwar police for its commendable role in the police, the Jammu Police chief said they will be adequately rewarded.
DIG Doda-Ramban range Manish Kumar Sinha supervised the operation.
Troops of 26 Rashtriya Rifles and Kishtwar police continued searches in Bunjwah following reports that an associate of Bhatt had managed to escape during the encounter. Recoveries made from the slain militant include one AK-47 rifle with magazines and ammunition.
Police said the militant was instrumental in extortions from contractors and businessmen and looting civilians. Presently, he was operating in Kither, Patnazi, Gandoh and Bhalesa areas of Doda and Kishtwar districts. He had let loose a reign of terror in different parts of Doda and Kishtwar.
Meanwhile, troops of Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and police continued massive searches in Beri Rakh forests in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district for four to six militants, who were still at large after yesterday’s gunbattle in which Major Amit Thingay was killed while CO 37 Rashtriya Rifles Colonel Ajay Katoch was injured along with five other Army jawans.
Army teams moved deep into the dense forests of Beri Rakh today but the militants remained untraced. However, troops have maintained a cordon around the forests and continued searches till late tonight when the reports last came in
There were reports that at least four to six militants were hiding in Beri Rakh forest area for past few days and were equipped with sophisticated weaponry. All of them were believed to be the foreign mercenaries from Pakistan affiliated with the LeT outfit.http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/10july15/news.htm#4