Mumbai Train Bombings Confirmed as Well-Coordinated Attack

After the stock markets in Bombay closed on Tuesday evening, when commuter rail systems were crowded with people heading home, suddenly the rail network was hit with seven blasts that ripped apart densely packed compartments filled with people. The first explosion tore apart a train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, and other blasts targeted more trains, railway tracks, and platforms. At least 163 people are confirmed dead and over 464 were injured in what authorities are calling a well-coordinated terrorist attack. The financial capital suffered similar bombings in 1993, one of which ripped into the Bombay Stock Exchange, killing more than 250 people.

India’s CNN-IBN television network had a reporter aboard one of the trains that was hit. That blast, which killed more than a dozen people, struck the first-class compartment as the train was moving. Railway officials said that all of the train bombs had hit first-class cars. One explosion occurred near an underground subway station. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but the quick succession of the bombings is a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants. The explosions came just a few hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India’s part of Kashmir.

All major cities in India were put on high alert following the train bombings. India’s Prime Minister, Monmohan Singh, called an emergency Cabinet meeting as authorities scrambled to assess the damages, rescue and treat survivors, and recover the dead, their efforts hampered by heavy monsoon downpours. Bombay Police Chief A.N. Roy told Indian television reporters, "We are busy in the rescue operation. Our first priority is to rescue the injured people." The State Department in Washington said that it had received no information about whether there were any American casualties.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf quickly condemned the bombings, offering condolences over the loss of lives. "Terrorism is a bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected, and countered effectively and comprehensively,": Musharraf said. Dozens of militant groups have been fighting Indian rule in the mostly Muslim region of Kashmir, demanding that the region be liberated or merged with Pakistan. New Delhi has accused Pakistan of training, arming, and funding militants. However, Islamabad insists that it only offers diplomatic and moral support to the rebels.

Two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said that it is too early to know for certain what group was behind the attacks, and it is not known whether suicide bombers were involved or if the explosives were triggered by remote control or timing devices. But U.S. officials said that the attacks were probably part of the sectarian violence over Kashmir. The coordinated nature of the attacks and the targeting of trains at peak travel times match the methods used by two Islamic extremist groups that have been active in India during the last several years: Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, or Army of the Righteous, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of Mohammed. Both groups have been designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations and they are considered to be affiliates of al-Qaida.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters following the bombings that authorities in India had been aware of some information that an attack was forthcoming, "but place and time was not known." All train service in India has been suspended, and the public is being warned to stay away from all train stations in the city of 17 million people.