India has executed the lone surviving gunman from a group of militants who killed 166 people in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was hanged Wednesday at a prison in Pune, near Mumbai.

The home minister in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, said Wednesday that the execution is a tribute to those who lost their lives in the attack.

Kasab, who is a Pakistani national, was convicted in 2010 on charges of murder, terrorism and waging war against India. He initially pleaded not guilty, but later confessed to his involvement in the three-day siege.

He appealed his death sentence, but India's Supreme Court upheld the punishment and the country's president denied his mercy plea.

Kasab and nine other young, heavily-armed Pakistanis attacked luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station in India's financial capital.

India has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the siege. It claims the attacks were carried out with state support from Pakistan — a charge Islamabad denies.