'Terror' blamed as India blasts kill 42

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FE Team | Published: August 27, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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HYDERABAD, (India), Aug 26 (AFP): Officials were combing for clues Sunday after a string of blasts blamed on militants ripped through the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least 42 people and injuring over 100.
Three explosions rocked a packed amusement park auditorium where a laser show was under way in the mixed Hindu-Muslim city late Saturday, while two others blew up a busy street eatery minutes later, police said.
"One terrorist group or the other, which is bent on destroying the unity of the country, is certainly involved," said Sriprakash Jaiswal, the federal minister of state for home.
Rescue workers at the street stall carried out bodies that were burnt beyond recognition. At the auditorium, severed arms and legs lay scattered on the ground.
"I saw limbs flying around me and blood splattering," 29- year-old Romanna, who goes by one name, told AFP as she waited for help for a chest wound outside the amusement park.
Hyderabad police chief Balwinder Singh said five explosive devices had been used, leaving 36 people dead and 60 injured. At least 15 of the injured were in a serious condition, officials said.
A sixth bomb was recovered from a cinema theatre and defused, he said.
There was chaos at the city's main Osmania hospital as wailing relatives thronged the hallways, searching for their missing loved ones.
Saturday's explosions came three months after 11 people were killed in a bombing at the city's famed 17th-century Mecca Mosque. Police have still not named any group as suspects for that attack.
India has suffered a series of recent attacks that authorities have blamed on militants seeking to upset a peace process between India and Pakistan and stir Hindu-Muslim violence.
"We're seeing a pattern of attacks every two to three months somewhere or other in the country on soft targets," said Ajai Sahni, head of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.
In the deadliest, seven blasts hit financial hub Mumbai's rail network, killing 186 people in July 2006.
About 40 per cent of Hyderabad's 6.5 million people are Muslim.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy condemned the blasts-for which no one has yet claimed responsibility-as the "cruelest acts against humanity" and appealed for calm.
Federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil said he would visit Hyderabad on Sunday while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly condemned the blasts.
Indian authorities say they believe Pakistan-based guerrilla groups fighting its rule in Indian Kashmir are using Indian militants to stage attacks.
The attacks "appear to be linked to what we call Pakistan- backed terrorist groups," said analyst Sahni. Pakistan, which has fought two wars over Kashmir with India, has denied any involvement in attacks on Indian soil.
When India celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence on August 15, authorities stepped up security across the country after new threats by Al-Qaeda and separatist rebels.