By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer
In a password-protected document, officials connected to the State Department report that some of the Mumbai terrorists reportedly were trained by the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba terrorist group, with "camps located in Mansera and Muzzarafabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir." The 10 terrorists behind the Mumbai massacre "spoke Punjabi" and were of "likely Pakistani origin," the report said.
The 17-page report was written by the Overseas Security Advisory Council, a public-private group that serves as the liaison between the State Department and multi-national corporations. The report is not an official State Department document, and says it uses both "embassy reporting" and press accounts to substantiate its analysis of the deadly attacks.
NBC News obtained a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which is distributed in password-protected form to clients of OSAC. On its website, OSAC describes itself as "a Federal Advisory Committee with a U.S. Government Charter to promote security cooperation between American business and private sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State."
The Dec. 1 report said that the 10-man terror team chartered a cargo ship out Karachi, and then hijacked a fishing trawler. The group then used inflatable rafts to get to the Indian coast, where they split into four teams. While firing at civilians and lobbing grenades in multiple locations, the report said, the terrorists at one point stole a police van and used all the panic and confusion to attack the Jewish center in Mumbai.
"Attackers came through back entrances and shot indiscriminately," the report said.
It quotes local police as having said that the terrorists were "very familiar with layout" of the hotels and public buildings they attacked and "may have checked into rooms prior to get lay of land." They also "may have pre-positioned supplies and weapons in rented rooms."
The attackers are believed to have trained for a year," focusing on small arms tactics, marine assault, close quarter fighting." The terrorists had "false identifications," the report said.
The lone surviving terrorist, identified as Ajmal Amir Kasab, was "trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba according to press reports." The report added that his "fellow team members spoke Punjabi" and were of "likely Pakistani origin as well." The presentation said Kasab "booked a room and stocked" it with supplies days before the attacks. He had "a Mauritius ID." It was "unclear if he did this and then went to back to Pakistan," the analysis added.
The report does not make clear which sections are attributed to media accounts, and which sections come directly from "embassy reporting" out of India. An e-mail to the report's author, a State Department official, was not immediately returned.
