Pakistani group behind Mumbai attacks: Indian police officer

The only gunman captured by police after a string of attacks on Mumbai told authorities he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said Sunday.

India has blamed"elements" from Pakistan for the 60-hour siege during which suspected Islamistmilitants hit 10 sites across India's financial capital, leaving at least 174 dead, including two Canadians, Dr. Michael Moss and his partner Elizabeth Russell, both of Montreal.

Joint Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said the assailant now in custody, the only one of 10 to survive,told police the group had intended to hit even more targets.

"Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the terrorist acts in the city," Maria told reporters. "The terrorists were from a hardcore group in the L-e-T."

The groupwas banned in Pakistan in 2002 under pressure from the U.S., a year after Washington and Britain listed it as a terrorist group. It is since believed to have emerged under another name, Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

"Preliminary evidence indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved," India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee saidSunday. "Proof cannot be disclosed at this time."

Indian naval officials said the militants came by boat from the Pakistani port of Karachi. According to one Indian intelligence official, who did not elaborate, the militants werereceiving calls from outside the country during the siege.

Islamabad denies any involvement, but India's Deputy Home Minister Shakeel Ahmad told theBBC it was "very clearly established" that all the attackers had been from Pakistan.

Shortly after the Nov. 26 attacks, a previously unknown Islamistgroup, Deccan Mujahideen, claimed responsibility, with the name suggesting origins in India.

Initial reports suggested that British citizens might have participated in the attacks, but the British Foreign Office said there is no evidence of that.

Top security official offers resignation

India's top security official, meanwhile,offered his resignation Sunday as the government struggled under growing accusations of security failures following theattacks.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he took"moral responsibility" for the violence.

Singh on Sunday said he would put more resources intopreventing a massacre of this kindin future.

"The anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined," he said in a statement.

The assaults have raised fears among U.S. officials about a possible surge in violence between Pakistan and India. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars against each other, two over the disputed region of Kashmir.

A day after the siege ended, authorities were still removing the bodies of victimsfrom theTaj Mahal hotel, where Indian commandoskilled the last three gunmenearly Saturday.

On Sunday, the landmark waterfront hotel, popular among foreign tourists and Indian high society, was surrounded by metal barricades, its shattered windows boarded over.

At the iconic Gateway of India basalt arch nearby, a shrine of candles, flowers and messages commemorated victims.