Indian army soldiers take position during a gun battle at the Taj Mahal hotel (seen in the background) in Mumbai, November 29, 2008. REUTERS/Desmond BoylanFrom Reuters:
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian accusations of a Pakistani link to the attacks on Mumbai that killed nearly 200 people threaten to damage attempts to improve ties between the rivals.
Indian officials have said most, perhaps all, of the 10 attackers who held Mumbai hostage with frenzied attacks using assault rifles and grenades came from Pakistan, a Muslim nation carved out of Hindu-majority India in 1947.
An official in Islamabad said the next one to two days would be crucial for relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan has condemned the assaults and denied any involvement by state agencies.
After a final battle between militants and security forces inside the Taj Mahal, Mumbai's best-known hotel, a crowd of protesters outside pumped their fists and shouted "Our soldiers came and Pakistan ran away."
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My Comment: The people on both sides of this long and bloody conflict have been wanting to go at each other since Indian and Pakistan independence was declared in the 1940s. After numerous wars and low intensity battles, the specter of a full scale war with the possible use of nuclear weapons is now rearing its ugly head.
If one or two more "Mumbai" terror incidents should happen in the next few weeks, I would expect all hell to break out in India .... and it will be directed at Muslims and Pakistan.