Bombings India

A second powerful bomb blast in India in as many days killed 14 people and wounded 33 on a bus Wednesday as the violence-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir prepared to vote despite threats from Muslim separatists. Police said no one had claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. Two Kashmiri groups said they planted a car bomb Tuesday that killed at least 16 people and wounded 38 in New Delhi.

Ward 1 of Hinduja Hospital treats male patients with psychiatric and skin disorders, but not the kind seen here Wednesday. There was the man suffering such mental anguish that he emitted terrified, bone-chilling screams every few minutes. Propped up in beds around him were other dazed-looking patients with fragments of metal embedded in their skin -- along their backs, in their arms and legs.

Muslim militants were suspected in a series of bombings Saturday that killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 200 in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore, on the eve of a national election that threatens to ignite India's ancient communal tensions. The thirteen bombs, which exploded in parked cars, restaurants and bakeries, were apparently timed to coincide with a visit by L. K.

Re "The bombs' reverberations," editorial, Nov. 1 I recently accompanied a U.S. Army helicopter crew as they dropped off winter tents high in the mountains, very close to the India-Pakistan border. With a long history of guerrilla warfare in the area, this mission to help the earthquake victims would not have been possible without cooperation between the two governments. Increased collaboration, such as the opening of border crossings in Kashmir, is critical to getting much-needed shelter and supplies to the local people before winter arrives.

A car bomb tore through an Indian film studio's kickoff for a new movie Wednesday, killing 23 people and injuring 31 among a throng of movie-makers, fans and journalists. Police suspected that the bombing was the work of political rivals of the movie's producer, a lawmaker in Andhra Pradesh state. The explosive-packed car detonated as hundreds were leaving festivities for the start of filming at D. Rama Naidu studio in Hyderabad, 800 miles south of New Delhi, the capital.

A bus bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed six people, and fierce fighting elsewhere in the state claimed nine lives. The bus attack took place about 25 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, where Islamic militants have been waging a war of independence since 1989. At least 40 people were injured.

At least seven people were killed and between 70 and 80 were injured when a bomb ripped through the last car of a night train in northern India on Monday, police and rail authorities said. K. M. Tripathi, director of rail operations at Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state, said the bomb exploded about 10:40 p.m. as the train traveled through the village of Roza near the city of Faizabad. The bomb exploded in a car used partly by passengers and partly for mail.

Tribal militants fighting for a separate homeland in northeastern India claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a train that killed at least 38 people. The Bodoland Liberation Tiger Front (BLTF) released a statement in Assam state's capital, Guwahati, saying its rebels attacked the train because the government had refused to take up its demand for a separate tribal state.

Rescuers sliced and peeled the metal sides off the wreckage of an express train Tuesday, extricating the bodies of dozens of people killed a day earlier when two bombs detonated under the tracks. Meanwhile, in an attack today, a rail bridge was blown up near Guwahati, the capital of Assam state. No injuries were reported in the latest attack, the third in four days. Another bridge was bombed Sunday, injuring seven people.

An explosion on a packed city bus killed at least two people and wounded 43 Wednesday. A police official said the blast was caused by a time-activated bomb that two Sikh militants hid on the vehicle. A police commissioner, R. S. Sahay, said he based his conclusion on witness reports. The device was hidden in a bag of cereal, he said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

The death toll in a bomb attack Sunday by separatist rebels on an Independence Day parade in northeastern India rose to at least 15 as rebels also attacked ceremonies in Jammu and Kashmir state, police said. Many of the victims in Dhemaji, in the northeastern state of Assam, were schoolchildren ages 10 to 14 who were taking part in a parade when a bomb ripped through a college campus, police said. A witness said most of the bodies of the children were burnt beyond recognition.

A bomb attached to a corpse exploded when soldiers turned the body over, killing three and wounding five in India's volatile Jammu and Kashmir state, police said. The soldiers found the body while on patrol in Gohalta, six miles from the cease-fire line that divides the Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Indian soldiers killed five militants in two incidents north of Kashmir, an army spokesman said.

Defying threats of violence, millions voted in legislative elections in five Indian regions, but rebel attacks and clashes between political parties killed 16 people, officials said in New Delhi. Bomb explosions and deadly clashes marred the balloting, mostly in the northeastern state of Assam and in West Bengal. Nearly 130 million people were eligible to vote in 823 districts in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states and the union territory of Pondicherry.

A bus bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed six people, and fierce fighting elsewhere in the state claimed nine lives. The bus attack took place about 25 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, where Islamic militants have been waging a war of independence since 1989. At least 40 people were injured.

The first week of India's unilateral cease-fire in Kashmir started and ended with lethal bombings in the conflict-stricken region. Militant separatists claimed responsibility for an explosion Monday that killed a soldier and a civilian, two of the five people slain on the seventh day of the cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On the first day, a land-mine blast and other attacks claimed 13 lives. Twenty-five people died during the first week of the cease-fire.

At least seven people were killed and between 70 and 80 were injured when a bomb ripped through the last car of a night train in northern India on Monday, police and rail authorities said. K. M. Tripathi, director of rail operations at Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state, said the bomb exploded about 10:40 p.m. as the train traveled through the village of Roza near the city of Faizabad. The bomb exploded in a car used partly by passengers and partly for mail.

At least 25 people were killed and 60 injured when two bombs exploded in northeastern India. Authorities blamed separatist tribal rebels for both attacks. One bomb blew apart a parked passenger bus, killing at least 23 people and injuring 54 in Gauhati. A bomb attack at the same time in neighboring Dispur killed two people and injured six, news reports said.

Investigators found evidence implicating Pakistan in the bombings that killed more than 300 people in Bombay last month, three New Delhi newspapers reported. A total of 13 bombs exploded one after another in Bombay within 2 1/2 hours, killing at least 317 people and damaging India's largest stock exchange, the offices of Air India and residential buildings.

The guerrilla group that brought hopes of peace to Kashmir declared war again Thursday, setting off a decoy grenade that lured police officers and then slaughtering them with a powerful car bomb. At least 11 people were killed and 19 wounded. The Hizbul Moujahedeen, the main Muslim militant group in this Himalayan state, claimed responsibility for the attack in which 10 police officers and one photojournalist died.

A blast in a crowded market injured eight people Thursday and police seized 70 pounds of explosives, days before the arrival of President Clinton, domestic news agencies reported. Police officials said the blast and the explosives seizure were not linked to each other or to Clinton's visit. Security was tightened in the capital, where 55,000 police are already on alert ahead of the visit.