13 May 2008
United States Condemns Jaipur, India, Bombing
America stands with India against terrorism, says State’s McCormack
Washington -- The United States has condemned a series of bombings targeting markets and temples in India’s western city of Jaipur.
“There is no justification for the murder of innocent people,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a May 13 statement. “The United States stands with the government and people of India in their ongoing fight to eliminate the scourge of terrorism, and to ensure an open, democratic, peaceful and prosperous society.”
At 7:30 p.m. local time, seven bombs mounted on bicycles detonated across the city’s crowded streets, killing 60 people and injuring 150, according to local news reports. Police reportedly discovered and defused an eighth bomb.
Officials responded by tightening security in the capital, New Delhi, as well as in the country’s financial center, Mumbai.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, local media sources cite Indian government and intelligence officials as suspecting Pakistan- or Bangladesh-based extremists active in the region as the most likely culprits.
With Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee scheduled to visit Islamabad, Pakistan, in just over a week to review the four-year-old peace process, other observers suspected that the attack may have been intended to undermine the peace process between the South Asian neighbors or provoke violence between India’s Hindu and Muslim communities.
India ranks among the countries most targeted by terrorists, according to 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, an annual report produced by the U.S. State Department. Violence stemming from the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, Marxist insurgents, ultranationalist groups and other extremists claimed 2,300 lives in 2007, while India’s police forces and justice system faced institutional challenges in confronting terrorism, according to the report.
The latest incident was among the deadliest bomb attacks in India since a February 2007 attack on a cross-border train killed 67 people and a July 2006 attack, when seven bombs exploded on Mumbai's railway system, killing more than 180 people.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and we express our deepest sympathies to the government and the people of India,” said McCormack.
