Gunmen used drugs to keep fighting

Mumbai: The Mumbai terrorists used cocaine and stimulants to stay awake during the 60-hour fight with Indian commandos last week.

Officials said that drug paraphernalia, including syringes, was recovered from the scene of the attacks, in which almost 200 people died.

The heavily-built men, who had reportedly undergone training at a camp established by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group in Pakistan, also used steroids to build up their physiques.

"We found injections containing traces of cocaine and LSD left behind by the terrorists and later found drugs in their blood," said one official.

"There was also evidence of steroids, which isn't uncommon in terrorists.

"These men were all toned, suggesting that they had been doing some heavy training for the attacks. This explains why they managed to battle the commandos for over 50 hours with no food or sleep."

One terrorist used drugs to keep fighting despite suffering a life-threatening injury.

The 10 men who attacked prominent Mumbai landmarks were able to hold off hundreds of India's best-trained special forces by mounting sophisticated ambushes, maintaining a constant, steady rate of return fire and having a superior knowledge of the layout of the buildings seized.

The single captured gunman told police he underwent months of commando-style training in a militant camp in Pakistan.