Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamat-i-Islami rally against India in Lahore, Pakistan on... 
(AP)
Taliban fighters battling Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border volunteered Tuesday to fight alongside the army if war breaks out with traditional foe India over the Mumbai attacks.
Analysts say the offer is meant to fan the flames of anti-Hindu sentiment and draw support away from Islamabad's fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the tribal regions close to Afghanistan.
The government, which is appealing for calm, has not responded to it.
"That is what they would love, to see the attention of the Pakistan army shift from the tribal areas to the eastern border with India," said defense analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.
The Taliban's offer came in a video recording by its deputy chief, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, that was made available to reporters Tuesday.
"If India launches a war on Pakistan, we will divide the fight into two parts. The air defense will be the responsibility of the military, and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan will fight the war on ground," he said. "If it makes a mistake to attack Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Taliban will defend Pakistan and Islam."
Tehrik-e-Taliban is headed by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant blamed by Pakistan for the assassination of the country's moderate ex-premier, Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto's widower is President Asif Ali Zardari.
The group is accused of other suicide attacks in Pakistan and is strong in the tribal regions, where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding out.
"The Taliban want to generate goodwill for themselves in Pakistan by emphasizing they are friends of the government," said Rizvi. "A lot of Islamist elements and parties have been saying that the real threat to Pakistan comes from India rather than Taliban, so why should the military fight them?"
The nuclear-armed nations have fought three wars since the subcontinent was divided in 1947, two over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is claimed by both.
The Mumbai attackers are said by New Delhi to have been trained by the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Pakistani militant group with roots in the disputed Kashmir region.
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