Three terrorist blasts rock Mumbai as death toll rises

Three bombs blasted through India’s financial hub Mumbai on Wednesday evening, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 80 injured. The government is calling the attack a “coordinated” terror strike.

Mumbai's injured lie on the street at the site of the explosion near the Opera House on 13 July 2011 Reuters

One of the blasts occurred in central Mumbai while the other two hit the south of the city, which is the location of the 2008 militant attacks that were blamed on the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the blasts Wednesday, expressing their distress on the loss of lives and injuries.

India blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for the blasts and broke off a peace dialogue with Islamabad. Talks between the two countries had only resumed earlier in the year.

The targets of the attack included a middle class residential area, a wholesale gold market and a building that housed diamond traders and jewellery shops.

“It is clear that the attackers wanted to hurt as many people as possible,” said Chhagan Bhujbal, a minister in the Maharashta state government. “A lot of people are injured.”

The entire city of Mumbai has been put on high alert, according to Home Minister P. Chidambaram. He told the AFP news agency that federal investigative teams were being rushed to the city.

Wednesday night’s bombing is the first since last February when a blast rocked a packed restaurant in the western city of Pune, killing nine people.