Washington, November 25

The then Bush administration had mobilised special forces to neutralise Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists holding people hostage in hotels during the deadly Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, a former White House official has revealed.

But, before the Indian authorities gave the necessary clearances and the special forces could take off for Mumbai from an overseas regional location, Indian commandos had already completed their job, said Anish Goel, who was part of the White House’s 26/11 crisis management group.

Recalling the developments at the White House during the 2008 Thanksgiving weekend, Goel said the US had “some (special forces) teams in the region that we were willing to deploy quickly”. “In the beginning, the Indians were reluctant to accepting US assistance. But, as the attack dragged on for two-three days, they became more accepting of US assistance,” Goel said. — PTI