The use of firearms is increasing among South Asians in London

It will be based on Operation Trident - the Met unit which specialises in gun crime in London's black communities.

Kidnappings, drug crime and the use of guns, including sub-machine guns, are rising among South Asians according to documents obtained by BBC News.

The unit will also look at organised crime, including passport and credit card scams with global links.

Murders in London's South Asian communities have risen from 10 in 1993 to 38 in 2003. Kidnaps rose from 90 in 1998 to 228 last year.

'No ghettos'

One man, whose nephew was held against his will and killed by a gang, said their behaviour had been "inhuman".

He told BBC News: "After beating my nephew, they could've just left him or taken him to the hospital, but they set him alight."

An intelligence-gathering arm is expected to be up and running within two months, with a fully fledged unit within a year.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, who will head the unit, told BBC News he did not think there were any "ghettos" in London.

But he added: "If the scale and rate at which some of the problems are emerging are not tackled, of course that could very well happen and that's been expressed in other developed countries. We will not allow that to happen in London."

The unit has been backed by the leading Muslim peer, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham.

He criticises mosques and temples for not doing enough, and told BBC News Asian parents had lost control of younger generations.

Operation Trident was founded in 1998 after a spate of shootings in Brent and Lambeth.

In areas covered by Operation Trident, the murder rate halved in the year to April 2004 - down from 24 to 12 - and detectives have charged suspects in eight of the cases.