Apparently the attackers in Mumbai came by sea.

At least some of the terrorists, said to be in their early twenties and armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, landed on the coast of Mumbai’s commercial and entertainment neighbourhood in light and fast Gemini boats, powered by small outboard motors.

These inflatable dinghies, according to Indian navy sources quoted by the Headlines Today TV news channel, were launched from a larger vessel, the MV Alfa, which arrived near Mumbai sometime yesterday and anchored offshore a distance from India’s financial capital.

According to one source the MV Alfa has been overtaken and boarded by the Indian Navy.

If it came from Karachi, Pakistan, as is alleged, the suspicions about home-grown terrorists will drop away and the geopolitical fears will ratchet up.

There is a great deal of confusion in the reporting of what languages were spoken by the attackers, some claiming it could not be understood by Urdu or Hindi speakers, others saying that is what they were speaking.

“The Press Trust of India today quoted an “authoritative source” that the gunmen were Pakistani nationals, but witnesses described said them as young Indians speaking either Hindi or Urdu. ” TimesOnLine

At least on made a statement to an Indian TV station which was understood, and their demands for U.S. or U.K. citizens were widely understood.

UPDATE: Two ships heading to Karachi, thought to be the launch vessels for the attacks, under India Navy control.

*

“…there were reports that a likely marine arm of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba may have been involved in the well-planned attacks that left 125 persons dead.”

Press Trust of India

Juan Cole has a bunch of links.

Lashkar-e-Tayiba, a pan-Islamic terrorist group, headquartered in Islamabad, Pakistan is getting increasing attention - mostly because it has the resources and organization to pull off multiple, sea-borne attacks.

UPDATE II:

At least five Jewish hostages held by Islamic terrorists in a Bombay appartment block have been killed, an Israeli diplomat has said, as it emerged that two of the attackers in India’s commercial capital may have been British-born Pakistanis [?? British citzens of Pakistani origin?].

Times On Line