Bomb blasts kill at least 58 in New Delhi markets, bus

NEW DELHI, India – A series of bomb blasts shook the heart of the Indian capital Saturday evening, killing at least 58 people in crowded marketplaces and a public bus in an apparent coordinated terrorist attack on the eve of a national Hindu holiday.

Three explosions went off within minutes of each other starting about 5:30 p.m., during peak shopping hours. The first hit a busy market directly across from the central railway station, in an area popular with backpacking tourists. It was closely followed by two more blasts, one aboard a bus in the southeastern part of the city and another – the most lethal of the three – in a south Delhi marketplace, where at least 36 people died. Scores more were injured.

Officials refused to speculate on who orchestrated the bombings, but popular suspicion immediately fell on Muslim separatist groups based up in the disputed area of Kashmir, on the border with Pakistan.

The last major strike by Kashmiri militants on New Delhi occurred three years ago, a deadly assault on the Parliament that pushed India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, to the brink of war. India has accused its neighbor of covertly backing extremists in their violent campaign to unite all of Kashmir with Pakistan or to create an independent state.

Since then, the two rivals have been trying to negotiate a settlement over the contested Kashmir region, nestled in the Himalaya Mountains. In April, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf declared the peace process “irreversible” and early today the two nations agreed to open the militarized border of Kashmir to aid earthquake victims.

Indian authorities say five or six major militant Muslim organizations continue to be based in mountainous Kashmir, as well as several smaller splinter groups. In addition, dozens of other militant organizations of various stripes operate throughout this country.

“It’s something that has been planned – that is quite obvious,” Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of New Delhi state, said of the attacks. “But it’s far too early to say anything (about) who it is who was behind it.”

Indian television reported late Saturday that 10 people had been detained and that the powerful explosive RDX was used in the blasts.