11/22/2012

Pakistani Taliban threatens India

  • Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was hanged Wednesday in India for his role in the attacks
  • The Pakistani Taliban say they will conduct various attacks against India in revenge
  • They also say they are demanding his body be returned to Pakistan
  • Indian authorities say they have already requested extra security for diplomats

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani Taliban vowed Thursday to carry out attacks against India to avenge the death of a man executed by Indian authorities for his role in the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, was hanged Wednesday in Pune, a city southeast of Mumbai. He was the lone surviving gunman from the attacks in India's financial capital in November 2008 that killed more than 160 people.

Ihsanullah Ihsan, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said the militant group would conduct various attacks in India in response to the execution. He didn't provide further details.

India executes last Mumbai gunman

The Pakistani Taliban, who are closely linked with their namesake in Afghanistan and with al Qaeda, operate in the ungoverned area that sits on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

India has requested extra protection for its diplomats in Pakistan following the execution, said J.P. Singh, a spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs.

He said the ministry had no immediate comment on the threat from the Taliban.

The Taliban spokesman said they are demanding that Kasab's body be returned to Pakistan for an Islamic burial. He criticized the Pakistani government, saying it had failed by not requesting the return of the body.

Indian authorities said Wednesday that Kasab had been buried in the "surrounding area" of the jail where he was hanged. They didn't say what kind of burial rites had been performed.

The Pakistani government has so far barely commented on the execution. The foreign ministry declined to give an immediate reaction Thursday to the Taliban's criticism.

CNN's Sumnima Udas in New Delhi contributed to this report.

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