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India probes deadly Mumbai bomb blasts

India probes deadly Mumbai bomb blasts
12:51 – 14/07/11
©India said it received no prior warning or claim of responsibility for the attack
© AFP Indranil Mukherjee

MUMBAI (AFP) – (AFP) –  India’s home minister said on Thursday that crude bombs hidden to cause maximum injuries were used in the triple Mumbai blasts that killed 17, as investigators began their hunt for the perpetrators.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram refused to speculate about the group behind the coordinated attacks at rush-hour on Wednesday in India’s commercial hub, saying authorities had received no prior warning or claim of responsibility.

All groups hostile to India are on the radar. We are not ruling out anything, we are not ruling in anything. We are looking at everyone, he told reporters after visiting the scene of the blasts.

The bombs made of ammonium nitrate — an ingredient for fertilizer commonly used in improvised devices — went off within 15 minutes of each other in two crowded commercial areas of south Mumbai and a central residential district. 

I think they chose the places because of the density of the population and the very congested nature of these areas, Chidambaram said. They chose places where even a low-intensity blast could have a great impact. 

The official death toll stood at 17, he said, though a severed head had also been discovered which could mean the figure could rise. A total of 131 injured were admitted to hospital, of which 23 were in a serious condition.

Asked why the commercial and entertainment capital of India had again been hit, the minister replied that all cities in the emerging Asian nation were vulnerable to attacks.  

We live in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world. Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terror, he said.

©Indian authorities said the three bombs were made of ammonium nitrate
© AFP/Graphic

The strongest of the coordinated explosions hit busy jewellery trading districts in the south of the city, the same area targeted two and half years ago in the traumatic 2008 assault blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.

The trauma of that attack — 60 hours of mayhem as 10 gunmen rampaged through the main railway station and luxury hotels, killing 166 — is still fresh in the minds of Mumbaikars.  Related article: World leaders condemn Mumbai blasts

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

 Salim Dharolia, a small-time diamond trader who was waiting to collect the body of his son at the Saifee hospital, wondered aloud why more blood had been shed in his city.

I have lost my only son. He got married two months ago. Why are people of Mumbai being targeted all the time? What is our crime? he told AFP.

Authorities said forensic teams from New Delhi and Pune, a city 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Mumbai, had collected samples from the blast sites. Police were also hoping closed-circuit television footage would provide clues.

©Indian police are hoping CCTV footage will provide clues on the fatal bomb attacks
© AFP Prakash Singh

I am confident that… we will be able to zero in on the group that caused these bomb blasts, Chidambaram added. 

Relatives of the hurt and deceased gathered at the 13 city hospitals where victims were transferred in ambulances, cars and trucks driven by locals who rushed to help.

Among the dead was real estate agent R.K. Shah, 47, whose distraught wife had identified his body at Saifee hospital. 

  He was scheduled to show two shops for rent to his clients, Pratika Shah told AFP in the early hours of Thursday. Before leaving home, he had told me that he would host a big party for his friends if the deals materialised.

©The devices exploded at a wholesale gold market and a district housing diamond traders in Mumbai
© AFP Indranil Mukherjee

 Now, he is no more. I am here to collect his body.

The United States and the United Nations led international condemnation of the blasts, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling them despicable and vowing to visit India next week as planned. 

While the perpetrators are unknown, initial suspicions fell on two Islamist groups that have targeted India in the past: the home-grown Indian Mujahideen and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The last major bombing in India was in February last year in Pune, when a blast at a packed restaurant killed 16 people including several foreigners.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

In 2006, a series of seven high-powered blasts on suburban trains in Mumbai killed 187 commuters and left 800 injured — an attack that India also blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

©In November 2008 militant gunmen attacked multiple targets in Mumbai including five-star hotels
© AFP Prakash Singh

  India broke off a peace dialogue with Pakistan after the 2008 assaults, blaming Islamabad for failing to crack down on the LeT. Talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals only resumed earlier this year.

The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in the last week of July.

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World

India probes deadly Mumbai bomb blasts

India probes deadly Mumbai bomb blasts
12:51 – 14/07/11
©India said it received no prior warning or claim of responsibility for the attack
© AFP Indranil Mukherjee

MUMBAI (AFP) – (AFP) –  India’s home minister said on Thursday that crude bombs hidden to cause maximum injuries were used in the triple Mumbai blasts that killed 17, as investigators began their hunt for the perpetrators.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram refused to speculate about the group behind the coordinated attacks at rush-hour on Wednesday in India’s commercial hub, saying authorities had received no prior warning or claim of responsibility.

All groups hostile to India are on the radar. We are not ruling out anything, we are not ruling in anything. We are looking at everyone, he told reporters after visiting the scene of the blasts.

The bombs made of ammonium nitrate — an ingredient for fertilizer commonly used in improvised devices — went off within 15 minutes of each other in two crowded commercial areas of south Mumbai and a central residential district. 

I think they chose the places because of the density of the population and the very congested nature of these areas, Chidambaram said. They chose places where even a low-intensity blast could have a great impact. 

The official death toll stood at 17, he said, though a severed head had also been discovered which could mean the figure could rise. A total of 131 injured were admitted to hospital, of which 23 were in a serious condition.

Asked why the commercial and entertainment capital of India had again been hit, the minister replied that all cities in the emerging Asian nation were vulnerable to attacks.  

We live in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world. Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terror, he said.

©Indian authorities said the three bombs were made of ammonium nitrate
© AFP/Graphic

The strongest of the coordinated explosions hit busy jewellery trading districts in the south of the city, the same area targeted two and half years ago in the traumatic 2008 assault blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.

The trauma of that attack — 60 hours of mayhem as 10 gunmen rampaged through the main railway station and luxury hotels, killing 166 — is still fresh in the minds of Mumbaikars.  Related article: World leaders condemn Mumbai blasts

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

 Salim Dharolia, a small-time diamond trader who was waiting to collect the body of his son at the Saifee hospital, wondered aloud why more blood had been shed in his city.

I have lost my only son. He got married two months ago. Why are people of Mumbai being targeted all the time? What is our crime? he told AFP.

Authorities said forensic teams from New Delhi and Pune, a city 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Mumbai, had collected samples from the blast sites. Police were also hoping closed-circuit television footage would provide clues.

©Indian police are hoping CCTV footage will provide clues on the fatal bomb attacks
© AFP Prakash Singh

I am confident that… we will be able to zero in on the group that caused these bomb blasts, Chidambaram added. 

Relatives of the hurt and deceased gathered at the 13 city hospitals where victims were transferred in ambulances, cars and trucks driven by locals who rushed to help.

Among the dead was real estate agent R.K. Shah, 47, whose distraught wife had identified his body at Saifee hospital. 

  He was scheduled to show two shops for rent to his clients, Pratika Shah told AFP in the early hours of Thursday. Before leaving home, he had told me that he would host a big party for his friends if the deals materialised.

©The devices exploded at a wholesale gold market and a district housing diamond traders in Mumbai
© AFP Indranil Mukherjee

 Now, he is no more. I am here to collect his body.

The United States and the United Nations led international condemnation of the blasts, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling them despicable and vowing to visit India next week as planned. 

While the perpetrators are unknown, initial suspicions fell on two Islamist groups that have targeted India in the past: the home-grown Indian Mujahideen and the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The last major bombing in India was in February last year in Pune, when a blast at a packed restaurant killed 16 people including several foreigners.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

In 2006, a series of seven high-powered blasts on suburban trains in Mumbai killed 187 commuters and left 800 injured — an attack that India also blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

©In November 2008 militant gunmen attacked multiple targets in Mumbai including five-star hotels
© AFP Prakash Singh

  India broke off a peace dialogue with Pakistan after the 2008 assaults, blaming Islamabad for failing to crack down on the LeT. Talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals only resumed earlier this year.

The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in the last week of July.

About The Author

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