1993 Mumbai bombings
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The 1993 Mumbai bombings were a series of bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai (Bombay), India on March 12, 1993. The attacks were the worst wave of criminal violence in that country's history.
At 1:30 PM a powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the Mumbai Stock Exchange building. The 28-story office building housing the exchange was severely damaged, and many nearby office buildings also suffered some damage. About 50 were killed by this explosion. About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded elsewhere in the city, and from 1:30 PM to 3:40 PM a total of 13 bombs exploded throughout Bombay. Most of the bombs were car bombs, but some were in scooters. Three hotels, the Hotel Sea Rock, Hotel Juhu Centaur, and Hotel Airport Centaur, were targeted by suitcase bombs left in rooms booked by the perpetrators. Banks, government offices, hotels, an airline office (the Air India Building), and a major shopping complex. Bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazar, Century Bazar, Katha Bazar, Shiv Sena Bhawan, and Plaza Theatre. A jeep-bomb at the Century Bazar exploded early, thwarting another attack. Grenades were also thrown at Sahar International Airport and at Fishermen's Colony, apparently targeting Hindus at the latter.
The official number of dead was 257 dead with 1,400 others injured (some news sources say 317 people died). Several days later, unexploded car bombs were discovered at a railway station. Muslim terrorist groups based in Pakistan were suspected to be responsible for these bombings, and evidence later uncovered pointed to the involvement of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, based in Karachi, Pakistan. Indian officials arrested two men on February 20, 2003 and charged them with organizing the attacks after rioting the year before killed hundreds of Muslims and Hindus.
More than ten years later, on August 25, 2003, two large bombs left in taxis exploded in south Mumbai - the Gateway of India - and at Zaveri Bazaar in the busy Kalbadevi area, killing 52 people and wounding more than a hundred others. India blamed two possible Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed or Lakshar-e-Toiba, for those attacks. Pakistan continues to harbor many of the alleged perpetrators behind these acts of terrorism on Indian soil, and this is an additional hinderance to peace between the two nations.
External links
- The Mumbai bombings (http://www.emergency.com/bombay.htm)
- At least 48 die in Mumbai blasts in 2003 (http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25blast.htm)
- South Asia Analysis Group - Aug. 25 2003: Mumbai: The Jihadi Iceberg (http://www.saag.org/papers8/paper773.html)
- 2003 report: "Why is Mumbai a tempting target?" (http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/26raman.htm)