Police: Militants Warned of Hyderabad Attack Last Year
Militant Islamists told Indian police interrogators last year of plans for a possible attack in the area of Hyderabad where twin blasts killed 14 people, a senior police official said Friday.
"We interrogated two militants (from the Indian Mujahideen group), who said they had monitored various spots in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune for a possible attack. One of the places they mentioned was Dilsukh Nagar, which was hit last night," S.N. Shrivastava, a Delhi police commissioner, told Agence France Presse.
Shrivastava said that his team shared the information with police in Hyderabad immediately, who then flew to Delhi to conduct their own interrogation of the militants.
The attacks, the first deadly bombings to hit India since 2011, hit a packed district in Hyderabad, a hub of the country's computing industry which hosts local offices of Google and Microsoft among others.
Many of those killed and injured were daily wage laborers stopping to pick up food at the local fruit market before heading home.
New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his sympathies for the "brave people" of Hyderabad while U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon "strongly condemn(ed) the indiscriminate attacks.”
Pakistan, accused by New Delhi of responsibility for previous attacks in India, said "all acts of terrorism are unjustifiable regardless of their motivation.”
"Being itself a victim of terrorism, Pakistan fully understands and shares the pain and agony of the people of India," said a foreign ministry statement.
While Hindus form the majority of the population in Hyderabad, one of India's largest and most historic cities, there is a sizable community of Muslims living in the old quarter.
Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for numerous bomb blasts in Indian cities in recent years, and is often listed as a suspect in attacks across the country.
Source: Agence France Presse
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