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- From: AP, AFP
- July 14, 2011
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd have both slammed the three bombings that killed 17 wounded more than 130 people in Mumbai, saying Australia stands by India.
"I condemn the deadly terrorist attacks overnight in Mumbai," Ms Gillard said."Australia stands with Mumbai and the people of India today. We know their strength and are confident they will meet this latest challenge with courage and determination to stand against such senseless acts of violence."
Her foreign minister said Australia was confident Indian authorities would track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
"Wanton acts of terrorism have no place in the civilised world," Mr Rudd said in a statement.
"Australia stands in solidarity with India at this most traumatic time."
Australia joined a chorus of countries that expressed horror over the bombings, the deadliest attack in Mumbai since Islamist militants assaulted a range of targets including international hotels in 2008.
The US, Canada, France and the UN Security Council have all condemned the latest attack.City hit in rush hour
The three co-ordinated bombings tore through the heart of India's busy financial capital during rush hour, killing 17 people and wounding more than 130 in the worst terrorist attack in the country since the 2008 Mumbai siege.
An injured victim of an explosion is carried for treatment to a hospital in Mumbai. Picture: AP
The bombings came just months after peace talks resumed between India and Pakistan, which New Delhi has blamed for past attacks.
Arup Patnaik, a top police officer, said the attackers used improvised explosive devices in the attack, hidden in an umbrella in the Jhaveri Bazaar jewellery market and kept in a car in the business district of Opera House.
The third blast in Dadar area was caused by an explosive device concealed in an electric meter at a bus stop, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed to the people of Mumbai "to remain calm and show a united face."
Policemen inspect the site of a bomb explosion at Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai. Picture: AP
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and Indian officials refused to speculate on who might be behind the blasts.
Indian officials have accused Pakistan's powerful spy agency of helping coordinate and fund earlier attacks, including the Mumbai siege, which killed 166 people over three days. Peace talks between the countries were suspended after the siege and resumed only recently.
The bombings began with an explosion that ripped through the famed Jhaveri Bazaar jewelry market. A minute later, a blast hit the busy business district of Opera House, several kilometres away in southern Mumbai.
Then, the third bomb exploded in the crowded neighborhood of Dadar in central Mumbai, according to police.
Because of the close timing of the blasts, "we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.
Indian security personnel and investigators gather at a bomb blast site at Dadar in Mumbai. Picture: AFP
A lifeless body lay on a cart. Survivors carried the wounded to taxis. One man was dragged out of the area on a red board used as a stretcher. Bleeding victims crowded into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital, where wards were filled with the wounded, slathered in white burn cream.
At Jhaveri Bazaar, a witness described two motorcycles exploding in flames and saw at least six bodies.
"People were shouting 'Help me, help me,''' the man told Headlines Today television.
People hugged and wept. Crowds gathered in the blast areas as police questioned witnesses, and investigators wearing gloves sifted through the debris for clues.
Cabinet minister Farooq Abdullah said: "Let those perpetrators of this terror remember, we will find them and Inshallah (God willing) we will give them the justice that India believes in."
The blasts marked the first major attack on Mumbai since 10 militants laid siege to the city for 60 hours in November 2008. That attack targeted two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a busy train station.
C. Uday Bhaskar, a defence analyst, said the bombings showed that Mumbai remained vulnerable despite precautions taken after the 2008 attack.
"The local police still does not have either the capability or the capacity to pre-empt such attacks, and this is going to be a constant challenge," he said.
The city has been on edge since the 2008 attack. In December, authorities deployed extra police on city streets after receiving intelligence that a Pakistan-based militant group was planning an attack over New Year's weekend.
In March 2010, Mumbai police said they prevented a major terrorist strike after they arrested two Indian men, who, police said, were preparing to hit several targets in the city. In September, police issued a terrorism alert for the city during a popular Hindu festival.
Last month, India and Pakistan held their first formal talks on the disputed region of Kashmir since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Both nuclear-armed nations claim Kashmir in its entirety, and have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.
- Three bombs rip through India's financial capital
- At least 21 dead and 141 injured, toll rising
- First major terror attack in Mumbai since 2008
- In pictures: Triple blast aftermath
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/blasts-rock-indian-city/story-e6frfkyi-1226094253419#ixzz1S2qzlFUw
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