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DEBKAfile's military sources report that the 17 arrests made by Pakistani forces in Kashmir Sunday and Monday, Dec. 7-8, did not impress the Indian government as part of a genuine crackdown by Islamabad on the Lashkar e-Taibe ringleaders who masterminded the Nov. 26 Mumbai attacks.The Indian government will therefore not be deterred from its planned reprisals.The raids were described by Pakistani sources as having picked up Lashkar e-Taiba fighters in a camp outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir. The camp belongs to the Jamaat ud-Dawa, a "charity" front of LeT, which is believed to be patronized by Pakistani intelligence. Pakistani forces are described as swooping on the camp in armored cars and helicopters. Explosions and shots were then heard. The facility was cordoned off against entry by anyone including reporters.According to one report, Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhvi, described as a mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, was captured.Our New Delhi sources attach low credibility to the report from Islamabad. They might have taken it seriously had Lakhvi been turned over to India or Indian investigators allowed to question him. Western as well as Indian counter-terror sources point out that Lashkar e-Taiba was only one part of the Mumbai conspiracy.They point fingers at a coalition led by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Taliban, elements of al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups. Without ISI's tactical and logistical organization, a terrorist attack on the Mumbai scale would have been inconceivable inside India.Indian intelligence note the gap between their information and the Pakistani arrests: The only captive taken in Mumbai, Azam Amir Qassam, admitted to being trained by ISI officers at a facility near Karachi in southern Pakistan – from which he set out for the attack, while the Lashkar e-Taibe allegedly raided by Pakistani forces is located in northern Pakistan.As in the days of Noah....
