Mumbai terrorist: I was ordered to kill 'until the last breath'

By Rhys Blakely in Mumbai

December 1, The Times

The sole Mumbai gunman captured alive has told police he was trained in Pakistan and ordered to “kill until the last breath”, according to a leaked account of his interrogation.

Azam Amir Kasab, 21, a Pakistani national, claimed the terror strikes, which left nearly 200 dead, were intended to kill as many as 5,000 people and that he and his fellow militants were ordered to target whites – especially Britons and Americans. The claims were made in what a police source said was a transcript of his questioning.

Kasab was captured after being shot in the hand by police in a standoff near Chowpatty beach, a popular evening destination for local families, in south Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) on Wednesday night. A policeman and one other terrorist were killed in the same encounter.

Earlier, Kasab and his accomplice had sprayed the concourse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s main train station, with gunfire, killing indiscriminately. While there, he was caught on camera wielding an automatic rifle.

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photo: Azam Amir Kasab at Mumbai train station - he was the only terrorist captured alive (Getty Images/AFP)