Unknown Group Claims Responsibility for India Bombing

The claims still must be verified but the group is fighting an inner spiritual battle of course. Reuters

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - An unknown Islamist group said on Thursday it set off coordinated blasts that tore through a packed shopping area in a popular Indian tourist city this week, but police say they were still verifying the claim.

Eight bombs, many strapped to bicycles, killed 61 people and injured 216 people in the western city of Jaipur on Tuesday.

But police also said the attack bore some hallmarks of the Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI), and released a sketch of a man in his mid-20s seen near the scene of one bombing speaking Bengali, the main language of Bangladesh.

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India has suffered a wave of bombings in recent years, with targets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains. But it is unusual for any group to claim responsibility for attacks.

Islamist militant groups in Pakistan and Bangladesh intent on fanning hatred between Muslims and Hindus in India, and damaging a fragile peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad, are often blamed for bomb attacks in India.

An email to local media, from a group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen, declared open war on India and threatened more attacks on tourists. No foreign tourists are believed to have died and the attack took place in the low season.

"From the tourism point of view, this attack is to warn the entire crusaders of the world, U.S. and Britain in particular, we muslims are one across the globe and you won't find it easy in India as well," the email, obtained by Reuters, said.