Thursday, November 27, 2008

A chronology of some of the biggest attacks in India in the past five years

Carnage in India attacks
Thursday November 27th, 2008
Groups of heavily armed men have attacked several high-profile hotels and restaurants in the Indian city of Mumbai, leaving at least 82 people dead and more than 250 injured.

Attackers were still holding hostages early on Thursday and engaged in a standoff with security forces at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels.

Police said six attackers had been killed and nine others arrested hours after the attacks began on Wednesday night, but Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state where Mumbai is located, said the situation was not yet under control.

Army troops called in to support the police had begun moving into the two hotels and there were reports of gun battles.

Western hostages
Indian authorities said seven to 15 foreigners were thought to be held hostage at the Taj Mahal hotel, but it was not immediately clear if hostages at the Oberoi were Indians or foreigners, said Anees Ahmed, a senior state official.Witnesses at both hotels said the attackers singled out British and American citizens.

"They kept shouting: 'Who has US or UK passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the Taj Mahal.
Several European legislators visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit, were reportedly among people who had barricaded themselves inside the hotel.It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, part of which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.

Indian police, said eight locations were targeted in what they called terrorist attacks,, including the two hotels which are among the best-known upscale destinations in the city. Other hotels, the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, the Leopold's restaurant popular with tourists, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, were also hit.


Bomb Attacks past 5 years (this is only the main blasts)
March 13, 2003 - Bomb attack on a commuter train in Mumbai kills 11 people.

August 25, 2003 - Two car bombs kill about 60 people in Mumbai.

August 15, 2004 - Bomb explodes in the northeastern state of Assam, killing 16 people, mostly schoolchildren, and wounding dozens more.

October 29, 2005 - Sixty-six people killed when three blasts rip through markets in New Delhi.

March 7, 2006 - At least 15 people killed and 60 wounded in three blasts in the northerly Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi.

July 11, 2006 - More than 180 people killed in seven bomb explosions at railway stations and on trains in Mumbai that are blamed on an Islamist group.

September 8, 2006 - At least 32 people killed in a series of explosions, including one near a mosque in Malegaon town, 260km northeast of Mumbai.

February 19, 2007 - Two bombs explode aboard a train heading from India to Pakistan. At least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, burned to death.

May 18, 2007 - A bomb explodes during Friday prayers at an historic mosque in the southern city of Hyderabad, killing 11 worshippers.

August 25, 2007 - Three co-ordinated explosions at an amusement park and a street stall in Hyderabad kill at least 40 people.

May 13, 2008 - Seven bombs rip through crowded streets in the western city of Jaipur, killing at least 63 people in markets and outside Hindu temples.

July 25, 2008 - Eight bombs explode in the city of Bangalore, killing one woman and wounding at least 15 other people.

July 26, 2008 - At least 16 bombs explode in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 people and wounding 161. The "Indian Mujahideen" claims responsibility for the attack and the May 13 bombings in Jaipur.

September 13, 2008 - At least six bombs explode in crowded markets and streets in the heart of New Delhi, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores more. The Indian Mujahideen again claim responsibility.

October 30, 2008 - A series of apparently co-ordianted bomb blasts in three districts of northeastern Assam state kill at least 20 people.
source from: AlJazeera
web site: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2008/09/2008913161531128475.html


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