Briefcase bomb kills 11 near India's High Court

NEW DELHI?? A powerful bomb placed in a briefcase outside the High Court in New Delhi killed at least 11 people and wounded 61 on Wednesday in an attack authorities said was claimed by a South Asian militant group linked to al-Qaida.

The bomb dug a crater three to four feet deep near the main reception counter where passes are issued for lawyers and visitors to enter the sprawling sandstone building before the main security checkpoint.

Authorities said the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI) militant group ? an al-Qaida affiliate with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh ? had sent an email claiming responsibility. Ilyas Kashmiri, who U.S. authorities believe was recently killed in Pakistan, was the head of HUJI and a senior al-Qaida member.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on an official visit to Bangladesh, the first visit by an Indian premier in 12 years.

In an email to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the group called on India to repeal the death sentence of a man convicted in connection with an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 and warned it would otherwise target major courts in the country.

"That mail has to be looked at very seriously because HUJI is a very prominent terrorist group among whose targets India is one," NIA chief S.C. Sinha told reporters.

The blast comes as security has been stepped up at key locations as parliament is in session and ahead of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

It also comes less than two months after near-simultaneous triple bomb attacks in India's financial hub Mumbai killed 24. No one has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The blast shook the courthouse, sending lawyers and judges fleeing outside, said Sanjiv Narula, who was in the building.

Story: Suicide bombers kill 20 in Pakistan

"There was smoke everywhere," said Sangeeta Sondhi, a lawyer who was parking her car near the gate when the bomb exploded. "People were running. People were shouting. There was blood everywhere. It was very, very scary."

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Police said the bomb exploded in an unsecured area outside a gate where the public gathers to enter the court complex. The High Court is an appeals court below India's Supreme Court. It is located not far from parliament and the prime minister's office.

'Panic'
"There was a bomb blast where you enter the court ... there was panic everywhere," witness Kriti Uppal told CNN-IBN.

It was the first major terror attack in India since a string of bombs exploded in three busy Mumbai neighborhoods on July 13, killing 20 people.

The blast was the second explosion at the High Court this year. On May 25, a small explosion that appeared to be a failed car bomb erupted in the court parking lot.

Wednesday's attack rekindled memories of the string of deadly bombings that rocked the country in 2008.

But that violence had mostly abated after the November 2008 siege of Mumbai, when 10 Pakistan-based militants wreaked havoc across India's commercial capital for 60 hours, killing 166 people.

However, a series of smaller attacks raised concerns in recent months that the violence was returning.

Story: Pakistan arrests 3 in 'another fatal blow' to al-Qaida

Last Sept. 19, two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded two Taiwanese men outside a famous New Delhi mosque.

A few minutes later, a bomb rigged to a nearby car malfunctioned and caught fire.

On Dec. 7, a bomb exploded in the city of Varanasi, killing a 2-year-old, and a few months later came the failed attack on the New Delhi High Court.

The July attack in three busy neighborhoods in Mumbai was the worst bombing to hit the country in years.

Some analysts feared the smaller attacks were an effort to regroup by the Indian Mujahedeen ? a domestic extremist group blamed for many of the 2008 attacks.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44419570/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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