26/11 Mumbai attack carried out by ‘non-state actors’: Khosa

Islamabad: Days after his disclosure that the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was planned and launched from Pakistan, former FIA director general Tariq Khosa today claimed that the mayhem was carried out by “non-state actors”.

Refuting reports that he had spoken about the involvement of Pakistani state elements in the terror attack, Khosa in a statement here accused a section of the Indian media of giving a “twist” to his August 3 article.

The terror attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 had left 166 people dead.

“It is evident in the article that the terrorist attacks had been committed by non-state actors against whom a thoroughly professional investigation was carried out by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and they are being prosecuted by the state of Pakistan,” he said.

However, the complexities of proving a case of conspiracy were duly pointed out as his professional viewpoint, Khosa said.

In his article published in the Dawn newspaper, Khosa had stated that the 26/11 operation was directed from an ops room in Karachi.

Khosa, a top police officer who was made Director General of the FIA weeks after the attack, had given graphic details of the plot and its investigation, thereby confirming India’s stand that the entire operation was executed from Pakistan.

“Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil. This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes,” he had written.

He also demanded that Pakistan’s state security apparatus should ensure that the perpetrators and masterminds of the “ghastly terror attacks” are brought to justice.

Khosa has held top posts in the Pakistan government and Interpol besides initiating criminal investigation into former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in 2007.

In his statement, Khosa said, “The facts stated in the article were shared officially by the government of Pakistan with the government of India in 2009 after the indictment of the seven arrested accused in the anti-terrorism court”.

“It is for the Indians to look inward and sort out their internal security faultlines. That is why I chose not to respond to any of their mediapersons’ attempts to draw me in this controversy,” he said.