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Kashmir militants claim Delhi blasts
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-31 07:20
"One way or the other, Lashkar is behind it," he added.
Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based expert on terrorism, agreed the blasts
were almost certainly carried out by groups from the subcontinent but inspired
by the methods of al Qaeda.
"It is very likely the attacks were meant to affect the peace process between
Pakistan and India," he said.
SENSE OF FEAR
S. Regunathan, the top bureaucrat in Delhi's local government, said 57 people
were killed and about 140 wounded in the blasts, although some media said 61
people died.
More than 110 were still in hospital, many of them critically injured, some
with severe burns.
Delhi's chief minister appealed for people to stay away from public areas for
the next few days ahead of the major Hindu celebration of Diwali, or the
festival of lights, on Tuesday and the Islamic Eid al-Fitr a few days later.
The markets where the blasts occurred opened on Sunday but were almost empty.
There were also scares at two fairs in the capital on Sunday after an
unattended bag was found at one and information received about a bomb at
another. The schools where the fairs were being held were searched, but no bombs
found.
Elsewhere, extra armed police manned new barricades on the streets and the
turnout at some temples and mosques was lower than normal in the cool, clear
autumn day.
"There is some sense of fear, obviously," said 40-year-old resident Mohammad
Salim.
But the scene at India Gate, a monument in the heart of
New Delhi near most VIP installations, was like any other holiday. Dozens of
teenagers played cricket on the lawns near the structure erected in memory of
war heroes.
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