New Delhi has rushed additional paramilitary forces to Assam following a bombing in Guwahati which left seven dead and 30 injured—apparently the work of the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Days earlier, the ULFA warned that it would step up attacks on Hindi-speaking residents of the eastertn state to retaliate against the death of several of its cadres in the hands of security forces. (Indian Express, Udayavani, May 27)

Security forces are on high alert in India's Punjab state as Sikh religious leaders called a bundh (general strike) to protest what they say is blasphemy by a breakaway sect. Schools, markets, businesses and transportation were paralysed across Punjab May 22. Sikh protesters also clashed with police in neighboring Haryana state, leaving one dead and dozens injured. The controversy began after Gurmeet Ram Singh, leader of the multi-faith Dera Sacha Sauda, appeared in a newspaper advertisement dressed in the attire of revered Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the tenth and last Sikh guru. (Deccan Herald, AFP, May 3)

India's intelligence agencies are examining a telephone card and cellphone supposedly recovered from a deactivated exlposive found at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, scene of the deadly May 18 bombing. The card was reportedly purchased by one Shahed Bilal, said to be an operative of the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul Jehad Islami (Huji), which is in turn said to be linked to the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

A bomb exploded in a historic mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. At least nine people have been killed and fifteen injured in the Mecca Mosque, where over one thousand people had gathered for Friday prayers [May 18]. [At least three more were killed in subsequent violence in the city.] [IBN, India, May 18]

The Maldives coastguard opened fire on a vessel suspected of carrying members of the Tamil Tigers from Sri Lanka [May 17], after a 12-hour stand-off. The boat was sunk and five people on board detained. [Maldivian authorites say the vessel was sunk, and five people on board have been detained. The Tamil Tigers have denied involvement.] [BBC, May 17]

From the Times of India, May 16:

NEW DELHI — The government on Tuesday informed Parliament that naxalites were working in close coordination with some terrorist outfits operating in J&K and were also in touch with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka.

Two people were killed [May 14] in bomb blast in a marketplace [at Guwahati] in the restive northeastern state of Assam, where separatists continue to mount a violent insurgency. [AFP, May 14] Elsewhere in Assam, protests staged over the killing of a civilian by state security forces [in a counter-guerilla operation] prompted clashes between Assamese and "tribespeople," who attacked the protesters' barricades with sticks and bows and arrows. [The clashes in the town of Digboi left five dead, including two burned to death, and halted work at the local oil refinery.] [Reuetrs, May 14]

Several Bangladeshi railway stations have been targeted by a series of small bombs [May 1]. The devices were detonated in the capital, Dhaka, the southeastern port of Chittagong and the northern city of Sylhet, at around 7:30 AM local time. Metal plates found at two of the sites contained the inscription: "Zadid [new] al-Qaeda." One person was injured. [The inscriptions included threats against the Ahmadiyya minority, and read: "If Hazrat [Prophet] Mohammad is not declared the superman of the world by May 10, all non-governmental organizations will be blown up."] AlJazeera, May 1]