This just in…five bombs went off in New Delhi today, at approximately 6pm.
India’s capital New Delhi was rocked by blasts in three busy market areas, killing at least 18 people, the worst bomb attack in the country since 50 people were killed in the city of Ahmedabad in July. …Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who said five blasts took place within 45 minutes starting at about 6 p.m., condemned the attacks in a televised statement in the capital. …As many as 50 were injured in the blasts, Delhi Police chief Y.S. Dadwal told reporters at one of the bomb sites. Some television channels put the toll as high as 20 and the number of those injured at 92. [Bloomberg]
Other media outlets are reporting up to fourteen have died from the blast. I’m sure this number will change throughout the course of the day once the facts are sorted out.
Two of today’s blasts took place in the central Connaught Place area and two at a market in the upscale Greater Kailash area, Dadwal said. One blast took place at Ghaffar Market in the Karol Bagh area, he said. [Bloomberg]
With Diwali right around the corner, and in the midst of Ramadan, I’m sure the markets were crowded with people preparing for festivities. It feels like an overwhelming 24 hours of tragedy – between these bombings, Hurricane Ike, and here in Southern California a tragic head on train collision.
I hope all of our readers and family are safe – whether in New Delhi, Houston or LA. If you are in New Delhi, please keep us posted!
UPDATE: The death toll is up to 30, with at least 90 people injured.
The Indian Mujahideen, regarded by security agencies as a front of the Lashkar-Huji terror machine, has claimed responsibility for the blasts… This group had sent emails before the UP court blasts, the Jaipur and Ahmedabad blasts. This time, too, it sent an email to media groups, however, 10 minutes after the first blast. [TimesofIndia]
To keep following the latest, there’s been a pretty well-linked wiki page set up on the Delhi bombings.
sad, sad, sad…
including the discussion here..
policing is just awful …our madherchd politicians wont allow a powerful independent police force to be developed….police are poorly trained and compensated…there is no modern intelligence network being created…
These same stupid politican b*stards each have 100s of guards, vans and guns for themselves…these same swine spend their time creating communal fights and shouting pakistan/communist/secularist/other vote bank rubbish…
and, sure, throw a few thousand rupees (from the govt resources) at the victims whenever there is a terrorist strike…what about improve policing and security infrastucture for prevention?..NEVER!
37 · Reg said
I think by India you mean Pakistan by RAW you mean ISI. Yea India helped the LTTE, but then it fought them with all it had in the jungles of Sri Lanka and lost thousands of soldiers and a prime minister in the process. Pakistan half-heartedly sends Frontier Corps soldiers to fight the taliban but keeps elite PA units on the Eastern border shelling Indian positions so that terrorists can filter into JK.
What does being Hindu have to do with a political act?? Should Christian Americans be ashamed of being Christians for their government to have invaded a sovereign nation without provocation and end up killing hundreds of thousands ???