Mumbai was hit by three coordinated bomb blasts during the evening rush hour on July 13, killing at least 21 people and injuring over 100, including businessmen from the city's thriving gold and jewellery trade. No organization has claimed responsibility, but authorities say they suspect the Indian Mujahedeen, a terrorist group sworn to avenge the 2002 massacre of hundreds of Muslims in the neighboring state of Gujarat [2] (which has claimed recent attacks in New Delhi [3], Jaipur [4] and elsewhere). The anniversary of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts [5] that killed more than 180 commuters also fell this week, on July 11.
The first explosion was in the crowded Zaveri bazaar, a market packed with hundreds of gold and jewellery shops. The second came at the Opera House, hub of the city's diamond district. The third blast hit the central residential district of Dadar, at the Kabutar Khana (Pigeon House) junction, where businessmen on their way to the railway station habitually stop to feed grain to the pigeons. Dadar neighborhood is a stronghold of the opposition Shiv Sena, a Hindu militant party whose headquarters were targeted in the 1993 bomb blasts following the demolition of the Ayodhya mosque [2]. (The Guardian [6], Xinhua [7], July 13)
Investigations still continue into the November 2008 Mumai terror attacks [8], that left over 160 dead.
See our last post on India [9].
