WORLD / International Response
US issues terror warning in India
(AP)
Updated: 2006-08-11 21:08
NEW DELHI - The US Embassy in India's capital warned Friday that foreign
militants, possibly al-Qaida members, may be planning to carry out
bombings in two major Indian cities in the coming days.
An e-mail sent to American citizens registered with the embassy said New
Delhi, the capital, and Bombay, the country's financial and entertainment
hub, were the targets of the alleged plot, and that the attacks were
believed to be planned around India's Independence Day, which falls on
Aug. 15.
The embassy confirmed that it had sent the e-mail, and the chief
secretary of India's Maharshtra state, where Bombay is located, confirmed
that authorities had intelligence about a possible terror plot.
But the chief secretary, DK Sankaran, refused to provide additional
details, saying only that "adequate security measures are being taken at
sensitive installations, offices and areas."
That was clear on the approach road to New Delhi's international airport,
where guards armed with assault rifles stopped cars, buses and trucks,
checking IDs and searching some vehicles.
However, Indian Home Ministry officials said they had received no notice
of the possible plot. Home Secretary D.K. Duggal called the warning
"innocuous," saying it was an internal embassy matter.
Word of the alleged plot came a day after British police said they had
thwarted another terrorist plot, possibly just days away, to blow up
US-bound jetliners over the Atlantic.
Investigators described a plan on the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks that
would use common electronic devices to detonate liquid explosives to
bring down as many as 10 planes in near-simultaneous strikes.
The U.S. Embassy's warning for India said the "likely targets include
major airports, key central Indian government offices, and major
gathering places such as hotels and markets."
It urged American citizens to maintain a low profile, and be alert and
attentive to their surroundings between Aug. 11 and Aug. 16.
Security around India has already been beefed up because of the coming
Independence Day celebrations, a time of year when militants from the
country's myriad regional separatist movements often launch attacks.
The alleged plot appeared tied to Independence Day and not the reported
plan to blow up airliners over the Atlantic.
Although neither US nor Indian officials would explain the source of
their intelligence reports, the Press Trust of India reported Friday that
police in New Delhi had arrested two members of a Pakistani Islamic
militant group suspected in a string of bombings in India, including last
month's attacks on Bombay's commuter trains, which killed 207 people.
The news agency said the arresting officers believed they had foiled a
terror plot by the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which is
believed to have ties to al-Qaida.
One of the two alleged Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militants arrested is Pakistani,
and both were arrested late Thursday with 4.4 pounds of a powerful
explosive known as RDX, and a huge quantity of other ammunition, PTI
reported. They were nabbed at New Delhi's train station.
The Pakistani was identified only as Anaz, a native of Islamabad, and the
other man as Abrar Ahmed, from the northern Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh, PTI said.
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