Blasts in Indian city kill at least 29

(CNN) -- At least 29 people were killed and 88 wounded in 17 blasts within a little more than an hour Saturday night in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, police and government officials said.

All metropolitan areas in India have been put on high alert.

"I appeal to the people of Gujarat to remain calm and not let these terrorists be successful in instilling fear," said Narendera Modi, chief minister of Gujarat state, which encompasses Ahmedabad.

Several media outlets and the country's Intelligence Bureau received an e-mail, purportedly from the Muslim militant group Indian Mujahedeen, warning about a possible attack. The group has claimed responsibility for two similar attacks in the past nine months in northern India. Video Watch how the media was tipped »

The Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, the Movement of the Islamic Holy War -- known as HuJi -- claimed responsibility for the bombings, said CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network.

Cross-pollination between terror groups can make it difficult to separate them, analysts said.

All of the explosions were of low intensity, and most went off in eastern Ahmedabad, within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius, according to CNN-IBN.

One explosion was at a bus stop, others at a railway station and on a bus. Several went off at or near hospitals where the injured were being taken.

Video footage from the scene of one explosion showed charred and twisted bicycles and motorcycles lying on the street as a crowd milled around. At least one of the bombs was on a bicycle, authorities said. Others were in tiffin boxes, a type of lunchbox used by Indian adults.

The blasts began about 6:30 p.m. and lasted until about 7:40 p.m., according to CNN-IBN.

Leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the explosions.

Indian Mujahedeen claimed responsibility in May for near-simultaneous bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the northwest Indian city of Jaipur. In that claim, the group declared "open war" against India in retaliation for what it said were 60 years of Muslim persecution and the country's support of U.S. policies.

The group also claimed responsibility for near-simultaneous blasts outside courts in three northern Indian cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh in November. More than a dozen people were killed and 80 injured.

In both the Jaipur and the Uttar Pradesh bombings, one of the blasts came from an explosives-laden bicycle.

In May, security analysts described Indian Mujahedeen as a relatively unknown group. It may be a new home-grown terror network, an alias for an existing group or a foreign militant organization.

Ahmedabad is the largest city in Gujarat state. Officials there were holding an emergency meeting in the wake of the explosions, CNN-IBN said.

The blasts come a day after nine small explosions went off in the city of Bangalore, CNN-IBN reported. Two people were killed and six injured.

The blasts seem to be along the lines of yesterday's Bangalore blasts," Union Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal said. "It is a conspiracy to unsettle the country."

Officials said they believe that the goal of the explosions was to create panic, not to kill a large number of people.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/26/india.blasts/index.html

WTF thats awfull yesterday it was Banglore

This is the first time in India's history, two serial blasts in two cities on two consecutive days. 25 blasts in 48 hours in 2 cities. This is madness. Whose turn next?

May the victims of these acts of terrorism rest in peace. May the terrorists pass through the gates of hell.

This must not go unpunished. If I were the PM, I would give a green signal to RAW and see ISI headquarter/assets in Pakistan reduced to rubble in a massive blast.

@ VAMAN - Please post the correct map of India.

According to the latest updates 46 people killed and 104 injured in the bomb blasts. May the victimes rest in peace. I am seething with anger, how dare those lowly terrorists do this.


Very sorry for the wrong map. The map was along with the news report. It's CNN, Americans what can I say, they are biased, cold war mentality when USA and India were on different sides but they are still hanging on to that. I will delete that map from the post.

Deepest sympathy to the families of the victims, and I hope those who perished may rest in peace.

What does Pakistan have to do with this? The terrorists behind the bombings call themselves the "Indian Mujahedeen". There's no reason to start a war with another country when the perpetrators themselves claim to be Indian Muslims.

However, I still don't quite understood how murdering innocent civilians is going to help them in their war against the Indian government. It would make far more sense to attack military targets, but many of those cowards always resort to targetting civilians instead.

It's a sad story to hear about. Unfortunately, in the modern world this is a common problem. It's important for the nation to remain strong and maintain it's stability.

This is the third time that "Indian Mujahideen" is involved in bombings. Before this no one had ever heard of "Indian Mujahideen" ever. Investigators say that the Indian Mujahideen is a new name used by some Pakistan based terrorist group most likely the Lashker-e-Toiba or Bangladesh based HuJi or India based fundamentalist group SIMI.


Simply terrorists, what else.