Series of Bomb Kill Almost Two Dozen in India

Via Yahoo News! (AP) -

NEW DELHI - A series of bombs exploded at a park and crowded shopping areas across India's capital Saturday evening, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens. Muslim extremists claimed to be behind the latest in a recent wave of attacks that has killed more than 100.he bombs were clearly timed for maximum bloodshed and panic. Placed in jammed shopping districts, the explosives began to go off just before sundown — prime time for weekend shoppers in crowded, chaotic New Delhi — sending thousands fleeing in fear.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said at least 18 people died in five explosions, but some media reports put the death toll as high as 25. Mayor Arti Mehra said at least 61 more suffered wounds.

"It's a very cowardly act of violence," Mehra told reporters near the scene of two of the explosions, in the M-Block market of the upscale Greater Kailash neighborhood. "They want to break the spirit of Delhi. They have tried this in other places before and they have not succeeded and they will not succeed here. They will not scare us."

Just who the attackers are remains unclear.

A number of Indian media outlets received an e-mail sent just before the blasts warning that India was about to receive "the Message of Death."

"In the name of Allah, Indian Mujahideen strikes back once more. ... Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can," said the message.

The Indian Mujahideen was unknown before May, when it claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in the western city of Jaipur that killed 61 people. The group also said it was responsible for July blasts in the state of Gujarat that killed at least 58.

India, a largely Hindu country, has long battled Muslim militant violence in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, the country's only majority Muslim state, but it's not clear if the new group has any ties to Kashmiri separatist movements.

Investigators contend Indian Mujahideen is linked to — or is a front for — a banned extremist group, the Student Islamic Movement of India, which authorities blame for many attacks in recent years. But they have produced so little evidence against the group that some courts have ruled the banning order should be dropped.

While dozens of people have been arrested in recent months, including some identified as ringleaders, India's underfunded and often ill-trained security agencies haven't been able to stop the attacks.