New pressure on Pakistan
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Pakistan to take action against those responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as Washington offered a new reward of $5 million for helping secure their capture.
The announcement came as India yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks, which left 166 people dead and hundreds injured after Islamist militants from Pakistan unleashed a wave of violence across India's financial capital lasting three days.
"It is an affront to the families of the victims that, after ten years, those who planned the Mumbai attack have still not been convicted for their involvement," Pompeo said in a statement.
"We call upon all countries, particularly Pakistan, to uphold their UN Security Council obligations to implement sanctions against the terrorists responsible for this atrocity, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and its affiliates."
"We stand with the families and friends of the victims, whose loved ones were lost in this act of barbarism, including six American citizens," he added.
The Department of State's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) Program meanwhile said it was offering up to $5 million "for information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual who committed, conspired to commit, or aided or abetted" the execution of the attack.
It is the third such reward offered by the US after the State Department announced bounties of $10 million for Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and $2 million for Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, another senior leader of the group.
At a solemn ceremony Mumbai's police yesterday remembered more than a dozen officers and commandos killed in the operation against the militants.
Relatives of the victims and local dignitaries laid wreaths at a police memorial honouring the dead while the force's brass band played the "Last Post".
"A grateful nation bows to our brave police and security forces who valiantly fought the terrorists during the Mumbai attacks," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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