By IANS,
New Delhi : Stating that its investigations had confirmed that Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had staged the Mumbai mayhem, the head of Germany’s Federal Police Office Thursday said his country is seeking to fight terrorism in partnership with India.
“Based on whatever information we have, Lashkar-e-Taiba is responsible for the attack,” Joerg Ziercke told reporters here, adding that the terror outfit was also active in Germany.
“As per our investigations, most of the training (of LeT terrorists) has taken place in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he added.
Ziercke, who arrived here Wednesday, has met Home Minister P. Chidambaram, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, Intelligence Bureau Director Rajiv Mathur and Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ashwini Kumar. The visit follows that of German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who offered equipment and assistance of the country’s special forces in combating terrorism.
A German national was among the 173 people killed in the Nov 26-29 Mumbai attacks that also claimed the lives of 26 foreigners and injured over 300. Germany’s Federal Prosecutor General has already initiated an investigation into the case.
“I have no idea of the investigations (conducted by Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks). But I am particularly interested in the results of the investigations. We expect the Pakistani authorities to act on the evidence shared by India,” Ziercke maintained.
Ziercke will be flying to Mumbai to visit the sites that were targeted by the 10 Pakistan-based terrorists who came from Karachi via the sea to launch coordinated assaults in the city that lasted for over 60 hours. He will also be meeting civil and police officials in the city.
“We have agreed to have more intensified cooperation between India and Germany to fight terrorism under which there will be regular exchange of information on the overall scenario and information relating to the statutory and legal mechanism enacted in Germany to fight the scourge.
“The stress will also be on exchange of information with respect to the technology specially designed to counter terrorism and the consequence of the technology in gathering intelligence to pre-empt terror strikes,” revealed Ziercke.
Germany has established Joint counter terrorism cell following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 and it has been successful in preventing six terror strikes, said Ziercke.
Germany has also expressed a desire to hold workshops with National Police Academy at Hyderabad and CBI Academy at Ghaziabad to share, among others, the best practices in fighting terrorism and investigating terror acts.
“As we discussed countering terrorism, we agreed that the basic premise for this is unified exchange of information, strategy and planning,” Ziercke pointed out.