Bombings In Mumbai

by hilzoy

CNN:

"A series of seven explosions hit crowded rush-hour trains Tuesday evening in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, killing at least 135 people, police said.

Officials said 250 to 300 people were injured in the blasts.

There was some confusion about the number of dead and injured as information was compiled from hospitals and explosion sites in Mumbai, the west Indian seaport previously called Bombay.

Video footage from a train station showed people in bloodstained clothes receiving medical treatment, while others were carrying victims and some lying motionless near railroad tracks. Windows of a train appeared to be spattered with blood.

At least one train was split in half. (Watch rescuers pull blood-covered victims from wrecked trains -- 1:59)

The blasts hit trains or platforms at the Khar, Mahim, Matunga, Jogeshwari, Borivili and Bhayander stations. The seventh explosion struck a train between the Khar and Santacruz stations, a police official told CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network.

Police also found and defused another bomb at the Borivili station, according to CNN-IBN.

A CNN-IBN correspondent who was on one of the trains said it was leaving a station when the blast occurred. People jumped and were killed as the train hit them.

"Limbs [are] lying everywhere, bodies [were] cleared from the tracks by local business owners who rushed from their shops," the correspondent said.

Another correspondent, Anjali Sinha, tried to get on a train at the Matunga station but it was too crowded. As that train pulled away, a blast shattered the men-only first-class coach.

"There was smoke, fire, it was absolutely ..." she stammered, her voice shaking.

A correspondent for CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN, reported seeing 15 bodies at the Matunga train station."

This is just horrible. Seven coordinated blasts, during rush hour, on a train system serving 4.5 million people a day. And, by all accounts, the monsoon rains are not helping the rescue efforts.

My thoughts are with the victims.

Comments

[Jesurgislac]

Oh, ****.

I saw the story here.

[Ugh]

I still can't believe this sort of thing hasn't happened in the U.S.

[sad]

That's horrible news. Hang in there, India.

God, and I was feeling pretty cheerful about Basayev's death, too. Not that I like Putin in the least, but in this case the enemy of my enemy was emphatically *not* my friend, he was just a particularly brutal and repellent terrorist.

So--progress against Chechen terrorists, but a setback in India (mostly likely Kashmiri terrorists, though that's not a deeply informed guess).

[Pooh]

(mostly likely Kashmiri terrorists, though that's not a deeply informed guess).

Can someone with more knowledge than myself explain how the India/Pakistan/Kashmir thing is or is not about religion? My impression, rightly or wrongly, is that while pro-Pakistani groups might be Muslim, they aren't quite the same ideological animal as al Qaeda.

I'm trying (perhaps too soon) to understand the larger context at work here.

[Anarch]

Can someone with more knowledge than myself explain how the India/Pakistan/Kashmir thing is or is not about religion?

TBH, I'm not sure even they know any more...

[ScottM]

I was surprised at how quickly it moved off my hometown paper's website... and how it was a strip at the bottom of page one this morning. Does anyone remember how we treated Spain or Britain's bombings?

[Joe]

"Can someone with more knowledge than myself explain how the India/Pakistan/Kashmir thing is or is not about religion? My impression, rightly or wrongly, is that while pro-Pakistani groups might be Muslim, they aren't quite the same ideological animal as al Qaeda."

they are exactly the same ideological animal as Al Qaeda. In fact, the group that is most likely involved, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), is part of Bin Laden's global jihad network.

And these people arent just pro-Pakistani, they are Pakistani. They dont come from the Pakistani occupied part of Kashmir either -- they mostly are of Pakistani-Punjabi ethnicity, which is totally different from someone of Kashmiri ethnicity.

This group enjoys lots of support not only from the Pakistani people, but also from its government. Its hard to imagine that one of the biggest allies (supposed allies) in the War on Terror is also one of terrorism's biggest supporters.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba's aim is turn all of India into an Islamic state. Kashmir is just the first domino.

But India isnt their only target. In addition to the countless acts of terrorism committed in India, this group is active all over the world. Its ultimate goal is to place the whole world under the rule of Islam.

Thats why the Lashkar-e-Toiba has been involved in acts of terrorism in Australia, the UK, and even the US. They have been linked to the 7/7 london bombings last year and also the recent terrorist plot to blow up the CN tower in Toronto, Canada. Other members have been arrested for plotting to blow up the New York subway system (not the recent plot in which a Lebanese American was arrested, but a much earlier one).

some links on the LeT

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lt.htm
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm