not confirm the detention of Masood Azhar , the leader of another militant group , Jaish-e-Muhammad . But he said his government has launched its own investigation into India 's allegations that the gunmen who killed more than 160 people in Mumbai had links to Pakistan . The acknowledgment came three days after Pakistani security forces raided an LeT camp near Muzaffarabad , the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir , in the first sign of government action against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba since the three-day siege of India 's financial capital . Both LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad were formed to battle Indian rule in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir , and both were banned after a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the South Asian nuclear rivals to the brink of war . The United States has listed LeT as a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden 's al Qaeda network . According to the U.S. government , Lakhvi , 47 , has directed LeT 's military operations in southeast Asia , Chechnya , Bosnia and Iraq . Pakistan 's Defense Minister Choudhry Mukhtar Ahmed told CNN 's sister network in India , CNN-IBN , that Lakhvi and Azhar had
ISLAMABAD , Pakistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Pakistani authorities have arrested two top leaders of the Islamic militant group India blames for the November massacre in Mumbai , Pakistan 's prime minister confirmed Wednesday . Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistani security forces had rounded up a number of militant figures . The top military officer in the U.S. on Wednesday said he is `` encouraged '' by Pakistan 's recent arrests of `` significant players '' in the Mumbai attacks . U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the arrests amount to `` first steps '' toward determining who plotted the three day siege last month that killed 160 people in Mumbai , India 's financial capital . `` There are more steps to follow , '' he noted . He also thanked India for showing restraint against Pakistan , which it has accused of harboring the terrorist groups behind the November massacre . Zarar Shah , a top operational commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba , and Zakir Rehman Lakhvi , whose arrest had been reported Tuesday , were among the militant figures rounded up in recent days , Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters . Gilani would