Lashkar E Taiba Organization

Pakistani troops on Sunday reportedly raided a camp belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba or an affiliated group, in what would be the government's first strike at militants accused in the Mumbai attacks. Details were sketchy, but local news accounts and witnesses said Pakistani security forces sealed off the camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. It was not known whether any militants were present.

The Pakistani extremist group suspected in the Mumbai rampage remains a distant shadow for most Americans. But the threat is much nearer than it seems. For years, Lashkar-e-Taiba has actively recruited Westerners, especially Britons and Americans, serving as a kind of farm team for Islamic militants who have gone on to execute attacks for Al Qaeda, a close ally.

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai may mark a new focus on Western targets by the group widely thought responsible for the plot, prompting concern among U.S. intelligence officials that Lashkar-e-Taiba is emerging both as a more potent threat to American interests and as a potential successor to Al Qaeda. Senior U.S.

The alleged gunman captured in last month's Mumbai attacks had originally intended to seize hostages and outline demands in a series of dramatic calls to the media, according to his confession obtained Saturday. Ajmal Amir Kasab said he and his partner, who massacred dozens of people in the city's main train terminus, had planned a rooftop standoff, but abandoned the plan because they couldn't find a suitable building, the statement to police says.

Although the war against Islamic militancy has focused on shadowy underground organizations such as Al Qaeda, counter-terrorism officials say there is a growing worldwide threat from an extremist group operating in plain sight in Pakistan. The group, formerly known as Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Righteous, was formed in the late 1980s and, with the support of the Pakistani government, launched attacks against India in the dispute over the Kashmir region.