U.S. Embassy Says Terrorists May Attack Delhi, Mumbai (Update1)
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Embassy in India said foreign terrorists, including members of al-Qaeda, may carry out bomb attacks in New Delhi and Mumbai in the run up to India's independence day celebrations on Aug. 15.
The embassy made the announcement in an advisory to its citizens in India, asking its citizens to maintain a ``low profile.''
India suffered its worse terror attack in 13 years last month, when eight explosions in the country's financial capital Mumbai killed at least 182 people. The danger of another attack on India during the country's 60th independence day celebration in New Delhi has intensified after the U.K. police yesterday foiled a terrorist plot in London.
``The threat on India is very real and all strategic institutions will have to be on extra vigil,'' said N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman of Centre of Media Studies, a political policy group in New Delhi. ``Any further attack, will push India's relation with Pakistan to a new low.''
Arrest, Explosives
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index fell after the U.S. Embassy issued the warning. The Sensex slid 0.3 percent to 11,113.735, after earlier rising as much as 0.8 percent. India's currency fell 0.2 percent to 46.50 against the dollar as of 11.50 a.m. in Mumbai, according to foreign- exchange broker Kanji Pitamber & Co.
Yesterday, two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, including a Pakistani, were arrested in New Delhi with two kilograms of RDX and other ammunitions, possibly to subvert Independence Day celebrations, Press Trust of India reported.
India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist groups fighting in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state, and allowing them to cross the border. Pakistan has denied this, saying it only lends moral support to a freedom struggle, a claim that is increasingly becoming unacceptable at the UN. The South Asian neighbors, after fighting three wars, have improved ties since April 2003 by restoring diplomatic and transport links. |
