The UK government is investigating whether some of the attackers in the deadly India shootings could be British citizens with links to Pakistan or the disputed territory of Kashmir, but there was no such evidence yet, officials said on Friday.
Earlier reports alleged at least one of the gunmen could have been a UK-born Pakistani.
But a UK Foreign Office spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the department policy, said none of the attackers identified so far was British.
PHOTO: AFP
“Our deputy high commissioner in Mumbai has spoken to the Indian authorities who have said that there is no evidence that anyone, either those shot, or those detained, are British,” the Foreign Office spokeswoman said on Friday.
Indian Home Minister Jaiprakash Jaiswal said a captured gunman had been identified as a Pakistani. Authorities were still trying to confirm the identities of several of the attackers.
The group that claimed responsibility for the attacks, Deccan Mujahidin, was unknown to global security officials.
The name suggested the group was Indian though some security officials have said it may be an offshoot of the Indian Mujahidin.
One of the suspects reportedly called an Indian television station, speaking the main Pakistani language of Urdu, to demand the return of Muslim lands. That was a reference to Kashmir, territory claimed by both India and Pakistan.
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday “elements in Pakistan” were to blame but gave no detailed information.
Indian officials have alleged that some of the explosives and ammunitions used in the deadly attacks that have killed more than 140 appeared to have come from the Pakistani port city of Karachi — a known hotbed of militant activity.
Pakistan officials, however, have said there was no clear evidence yet to support the claim. Pakistan’s head of Inter Services Intelligence agency was traveling to India to work with his Indian counterparts and examine existing evidence.
Britons with family ties to Pakistan, India and Kashmir have been involved in a host of attempted terrorist attacks in the UK since 2001.
Three of four British-born men who carried out the 2005 London transit network attacks, killing 52 commuters, had family ties to Pakistan. Indian-born Dhiren Barot was jailed in the UK in 2006 over plots to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, other US financial targets and landmark London hotels.
Barot, who was raised in the UK and regarded by British intelligence as a key al-Qaeda figure, traveled to Kashmir in 1995 to fight against Indian forces. The ongoing dispute over Kashmir has emerged as a recurrent theme in the radicalization of young British Muslims, commonly cited as a justification for their attacks.
British-born Parviz Khan, who was jailed for life over a plot last year to kidnap an unnamed British Muslim soldier and behead him, used fundraising for earthquake relief in Kashmir as a cover to collect funds for his plan.
The UK, home to nearly 2 million Muslims, also has a large Kashmiri population — many of whom identify themselves as being of Pakistani origin.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where many people favor independence from India or a merger with Pakistan.
The region is divided between the two countries and both claim it in its entirety.
Militant separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule.
The uprising and a subsequent Indian crackdown have killed about 68,000 people, most of them civilians.
Elections are due next month in Kashmir. Campaigning already has been marred by violence. One person was killed in a hand grenade attack on Tuesday, the day before the Mumbai attacks.
“The issue of Kashmir clearly resonates in Britain,” the UK security official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work. “But we have yet to confirm whether any of the attackers were British or not.”
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