'Systemic failure' led to attacks

NEW DELHI: The Indian navy said a "systemic failure" of security and intelligence services led to the Islamist militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 183 people, PTI news agency reported yesterday.

India's police, coast guard and intelligence communities are pointing fingers over whether information existed that could have been acted on to prevent the three-day rampage in the financial hub.

"There is perhaps a (gap) that exists and we will work to sort this out. There is a systemic failure which needs to be taken stock of," navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said at a press conference.