Indian Minister: Some attackers were British

Two British-born Pakistanis were among eight of the Mumbai gunmen taken alive, Indian Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said today.

British security officials said none of the attackers’ nationalities had been confirmed but authorities in India were checking the men’s identity documents.

The group that claimed responsibility for the attacks, Deccan Mujahideen, 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 Mujahideen.

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.

Britain has a large Kashmiri population.

“The issue of Kashmir clearly resonates in Britain,” the British security official said. “But we have yet to confirm yet whether any of the attackers were British or not.”

Britons with family ties to Pakistan, India and Kashmir have been involved in a host of attempted terrorist attacks in Britain since 2001.

Three of four British-born men who carried out the 2005 July 7 London bombings had family ties to Pakistan.

Indian-born Dhiren Barot was jailed in Britain 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-Qaida figure, travelled to Kashmir in 1995 to fight against Indian forces.

The continuing dispute over Kashmir has emerged as a recurrent theme in the radicalisation of young British Muslims, commonly cited as a justification for their attacks.

British-born Parviz Khan, who was jailed for life over a 2007 plot 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.