Bangalore. Ahmedabad. Who’s Next?

At Least 29 Killed In 16 Serial Blasts, Four Of Them In Narendra Modi's Constituency Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: India appears to be one of the softest targets in the world for terrorists. On two consecutive days, they have struck in two top Indian cities—Bangalore and Ahmedabad—triggering widespread fears of more such attacks. As a sense of helplessness grips the country, security and intelligence specialists say India is increasingly being drawn into the epicentre of terror.
    On Saturday evening, Ahmedabad was rocked by 16 precisely planned blasts in crowded markets and residential areas and at bus stands and hospitals, killing 29 and injuring around 88. The nature of the blasts was similar to those in Bangalore on Friday — quartz timer devices, microprocessors and ammonium nitrate were found at blast sites in both cities. Significantly, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's constituency of Maninagar was rocked by four blasts.
    The blasts which took place between 6.45 and 8 pm were of a higher intensity than those in Bangalore.
    The last three terror attacks have occurred in BJPruled states— Rajasthan, Karnataka and now Gujarat. Security experts were reading meaning into this trend and warned that Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh could well be the next target. As on the eve of the Jaipur and UP court blasts, a group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad blasts in an email to the media minutes before the first blast. Ammonium nitrate used in explosions
    All the blasts, except the one at Sarkhej, took place in the crowded eastern neighbourhoods of Ahmedabad, within a radius of 5 km. The Civil Hospital and L G Hospital campuses were the last to get bombed, about 40 minutes after the first round of blasts. Most of the bombs were planted behind bicycles in tiffins contained in blue polybags while the bombs in the hospitals were placed in automobiles. The bombs were packed with timer devices and microproc-essors. Preliminary reports suggest ammonium nitrate was used in the bombs. Eyewitnesses said multiple bombs were planted within a short range, which went off within an interval of a few seconds. The idea was to attract people to the site with the first blast and then explode the other with more devastating effect. One of the bombs went off near a bus in a Hindu pocket of the otherwise Muslimdominated Sarkhej ripping one side of the bus. The busy diamond market in Bapunagar here was also made a target. At Maninagar, the bombs were planted in a market and bus stops. TNN