Militants deny bomb threat to Taj Mahal

Pakistani militants have denied threatening to bomb the Taj Mahal.

A spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba says the threat - which New Delhi claims it received by e-mail - is a fraud intending to malign Muslims.

Meanwhile, Indian authorities are tightening security around the monument.

"Taj Mahal is a symbol of Muslim rule in India," said Abdullah Sayyaf, a spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant group. "We will never destroy it."

"The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba never attack any civilian target," he added. "We operate only in Kashmir and fight with Indian security forces."

But officials in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where the Taj Mahal is located, confirm security has been increased.

Officials are already starting to make a massive camouflage cloth to be strung across the 17th century mausoleum, if war breaks out between India and Pakistan.