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Jihad Watch is reporting that the recent bombing of the commuter rail in Bombay, India, has the appearance of being Kashmir Jihadists.  If so, then we should look for tensions over the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan to heat up again.

Remember the most recent spate of tensions there?  India and Pakistan almost went to war over Kashmir (all the while, the U.S. was courting Pakistan in order to gain assistance with the war in Afghanistan).  While I think that Dick Armitage is mostly a lackey, he apparently managed to suppress the tensions and pull a nuclear India and nuclear Pakistan back from the brink of war.

It would be better for world stability if this was an internal affair within India rather than the work of Muslim terrorists.  Michelle Malkin thinks that this is possible (reference here).

We’ll see.

 **** UPDATE #1 ****

The arrests make it currently look like it is Islamic Terrorists.  From Fox News:

The Indian home minister said on Indian television that authorities had information of an attack but did not know when or where it was to occur.

“There is no information about who is behind these blasts,� Asthana said, but soon after the attacks, police arrested members of Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamic group in India responsible for previous attacks in India.

**** UPDATE #2 ****

Bill Roggio has some info over at the Counterrorism Blog.  Still no word yet on anyone taking responsibility for this. 

Also, hat tip to Jihad Watch, the AP has this:

By MUJTABA ALI AHMAD

Associated Press Writer

SRINAGAR, India (AP) - A series of grenade attacks killed eight people and wounded more than two dozen in the main city of Indian Kashmir on Tuesday as Islamic militants pressed their fight against New Delhi’s rule over the Himalayan region, police said.

Two of the five attacks targeted the region’s vital tourism industry and killed at least seven visitors from other parts of India.

The attacks came as violence surges in Kashmir despite peace efforts between India and Pakistan, which both claim all of the predominantly Muslim region that is divided between them.

This is not good news.  It looks like this is a well-planned and orchestrated escalation of the violence (by Muslim terrorists) in the ongoing battle over Kashmir.

**** UPDATE #3 **** 

The death and injury toll climbs.  Reuters is now reporting:

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Bombs exploded on packed commuter trains and stations in India’s financial hub, Mumbai, on Tuesday, killing over 160 people and wounding hundreds, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the seven bomb explosions that took place within about 10 minutes during evening rush hour.

But suspicion was likely to center on Muslim militants fighting New Delhi’s rule in disputed Kashmir, who have been blamed for several bomb attacks in India in the past.

“The death toll is 163 and around 460 people have been injured,” police inspector Ashok Jadhav told Reuters. 

**** UPDATE #4 **** 

NBC news from just a few minutes ago:

NBC News and news services

Updated: 7 minutes ago

MUMBAI, India - Eight bombs exploded in the commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing at least 147 people and wounding more than 400 in what authorities called a well-coordinated terrorist attack.

The State Department said two U.S. citizens have been injured in the attacks, which happened within 10 minutes of each other.

India’s major cities were put on high alert. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened an emergency Cabinet meeting and said that “terrorists� were behind the attacks, which he called “shocking and cowardly attempts to spread a feeling of fear and terror among our citizens.�  

Al-Qaida likely linked to attacks
One of the officials said the attacks’ coordinated nature and their targeting of trains at peak travel times match the modus operandi of two Islamic extremist groups that have been active in India during the last several years: Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, or Army of the Righteous, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Army of Mohammed.

The U.S. government has designated both groups as terrorist organizations and considers them affiliates of al-Qaida.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News that the Mumbai attacks are “more likely than notâ€? the work of Lashkar e Taiba, the Kashmir separatist group, based on early analysis of the attacks. Laskhar translates to “The Army of the Pure.”

“They have targeted trains before and are the leading suspect,� said the official. “They have gone after trains and train platforms in 2002 and 2003. It is more likely than not the work of Lashkar. In fact you can say it is very likely their work.�

**** UPDATE #5 **** 

The death toll climbs still higher:

Bombs exploded on packed commuter trains and stations in India’s financial hub, Mumbai, today, killing over 160 people and wounding hundreds, officials said. 

Eerie similarities are beginning to emerge between the Madrid bombings and this attack.

A leading terror expert said that chilling similarities between Madrid, 7/7 and today’s blasts in Mumbai meant it was almost certain Islamic extremists were behind the latest outrage.More than 160 people were killed and hundreds more injured when seven bombs exploded during the evening rush hour on the train network in the Indian financial capital. And “India train blasts echo Madrid Attacks.”

**** UPDATE #6 **** 

Them’s fightin’ words from Singh:

Singh Vows Terror Fight as Governments Condemn Mumbai Attacks

July 12 (Bloomberg) — India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to tackle terrorism with “all possible measures” as governments across the world condemned the worst attack in Mumbai in 13 years. At least 163 people were killed.

“We will work to defeat the evil designs of terrorists and will not allow them to succeed,” Singh said yesterday after seven blasts on the suburban rail network in the country’s commercial hub.

Explosions occurred within 30 minutes starting at 6 p.m., ripping through rush-hour crowds in the city of 16 million. Much of the rail network was suspended and phone services disrupted. The Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, which seeks an end to Indian control of Jammu & Kashmir state, claimed responsibility, according to the CNN-IBN television channel.

Britain will “stand united with India” in a “shared determination to defeat terrorism,” Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement. “The terrorists to blame for carrying out this evil act must receive the harshest punishment,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.