Militants deny bombing Delhi
2005-11-01 22:50
Srinagar - A feared militant group widely believed to have been behind the deadly weekend bombings in New Delhi has denied any involvement in the attacks.
The denial came a day after India's prime minister said there were foreign links to the bombings at two of the capital's markets - a veiled reference to Pakistan-based militants.
A spokesperson for the Pakistani-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, called accusations of its involvement "completely baseless and false".
The spokesperson, who identified himself as Abu Huzaifa, said his group, which had carried out dozens of attacks in the past, didn't target civilians.
Three near-simultaneous blasts
Abu Huzaifa said: "Lashkar doesn't believe in carrying out attacks against civilians, especially women and children. We reiterate that Lashkar had no hand in the Delhi attacks."
Three near-simultaneous blasts in the Indian capital killed 62 people, ripping through two crowded markets and a bus on Saturday.
Indian officials had not directly accused Lashkar of staging the attacks. But, they had said that a little-known Kashmiri group, Islamic Inquilab Mahaz, which took credit for the blasts, had ties to Lashkar.
Also on Tuesday, two other militant groups also fighting to oust India from the divided Kashmir region, denied involvement in the attacks.
In Pakistan, a spokesperson for Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group blamed for numerous terrorist attacks in the past, accused India of using the attacks "for political purposes".
Two soldiers, civilian killed
The blast came two days before an Indian court sentenced a Lashkar member to death for his role in the 2000 attack at the 17th century Red Fort in India's capital that killed two soldiers and a civilian.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a veiled reference to Pakistan-based Islamic militants, saying a probe into the bombings indicated "external linkages of terrorist groups".
Musharraf condemned the bombings as a "dastardly terrorist attack" and promised co-operation with India in the investigation.
The bombings came after an unprecedented agreement between Pakistan and India to open five points through the Line of Control, which splits Kashmir between the two countries, in order to unite divided families and help speed aid to quake victims.
- AP