MUMBAI - THE only gunman captured during the Islamist attacks on Mumbai has provided testimony of the operation's links to a Pakistan-based militant group, Indian press reports said on Sunday, quoting intelligence sources.

Ajmal Amir Kamal, whose young, clean-shaven face has become an enduring image of the attacks after he was caught on a CCTV camera wearing a 'Versace' T-shirt, is reportedly being interrogated in a safe-house in Mumbai.

According to the sources quoted by several newspapers, Kamal, 21, has identified all the attackers as Pakistani citizens and acknowledged that they were trained by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

He confirmed the militants had come ashore at Mumbai in dinghies launched from a hijacked vessel whose crew had been killed, the sources said.

Laskhar-e-Taiba is notorious for a deadly assault on the Indian parliament in 2001 that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war.

US intelligence has also noted various indications of Lashkar involvement.

'Some of the things that have been learnt thus far do point in the direction of a Kashmiri connection,' a US counter-terrorism official said.

'At this point people are looking very hard at the Lashkar-e-Taiba,' said the official, who declined to be identified.

Lashkar is officially outlawed in Pakistan, but India has repeatedly accused Islamabad of failing to clamp down on the organisation and its training camps.

Earlier, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged India not to 'over-react' after Indian and US officials suggested the militants, who killed nearly 200 people, could have been from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The group, which is fighting against Indian control of Kashmir, was behind the deadly 2001 assault on the Indian parliament that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied any responsibility.

Intelligence chiefs scrambled to explain why they had failed to prevent at least a dozen militants mounting the multiple attacks on the city on Wednesday evening.

Security forces only regained control of Mumbai 60 hours later when they succeeded in killing the last three militants holed up with hostages inside the famous Taj Mahal hotel.

The previous day, elite troops had stormed a Mumbai Jewish centre and killed two gunmen - but also found eight dead Israeli hostages.

Another luxury hotel that was attacked, the Oberoi/Trident, was cleared of militants late on Friday, with scores of trapped guests rescued and dozens of bodies found.

Officials said that 195 people had been killed and nearly 300 injured in the attacks, which began when the militants split into groups to strike multiple targets across the city, including the main railway station and a hospital.

About 30 foreigners were killed including nine Israelis, five Americans, two French, two Australians and two Canadians.

One militant group entered Mumbai by boat, while others had arrived a month ago to stockpile arms and explosives and infiltrate the targets before the attacks were launched.

Survivors have given terrifying accounts of the carnage. Phillippe Meyer, who had been on a business trip to Mumbai, said he was stuck in one of the hotels targeted by militants.

'We found ourselves shut away in our rooms for a very long time, about 40 hours. The information was very confusing,' said Meyer, 53, as he returned to France.

Television footage of the inside of the Taj hotel showed half-eaten meals left on tables as diners fled for their lives.

The restaurant walls were pockmarked with bullet holes and the floor covered with a thick layer of glass.

'I cannot believe what I have seen in the last 36 hours. I have seen dead bodies, blood everywhere and only heard gunshots,' said Muneer Al Mahaj, an Iraqi national, after he was rescued.

Witnesses said the attackers had specifically rounded up people with US and British passports.

The United States, Israel and Britain were among countries that offered expert assistance to help with the investigation. -- AFP

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