The Long War Journal: Bombs detonated on the Samjhauta Express

Written by Bill Roggio on February 19, 2007 7:29 AM to The Long War Journal

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/02/bombs_detonated_on_t.php

Two bombs kill 67, 15 wounded, 12 critical on Pakistani-Indian rail

India has suffered yet another mass-casualty attack on its rail lines. Terrorists planted up to five bombs on the Samjhauta Express, a rail that transports travelers to and from India and Pakistan. Two of the bombs detonated, killing 67 passengers. Another 15 were wounded in the resulting fires, 12 of them are in critical condition.

The casualties could have been much higher, as only two of the five bombs actually detonated. The bombs were clearly designed to kill as many passengers as possible. "Forensic experts at the site said a deadly cocktail of low-intensity explosives and kerosene bombs were used to trigger the blasts and the fires," reports India's DD News. "Northern Railway General Manager V N Mathur told reporters in Deewana that two suitcases containing IEDs were recovered from train and the track, one of which contained petrol or kerosene. The live IEDs were defused."

Indian authorities have detained one person in connection with the bombings, however there is no indication on an affiliation with a terrorist group.

As Indian security expert B Raman notes, past terror attacks on the Indian rail line in Mumbai and a cemetery in Malegaon have been traced back to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and "its Indian collaborator the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)." The Mumbai bombing killed 163 and wounded over 460 wounded, while the Malegaon bombing killed 37 people and wounded 125. The Malegaon bombing was specifically designed to incite sectarian violence between Muslims and Hindus.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has strong ties with al Qaeda as well as receives support from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). LeT is al Qaeda's regional affiliate inside Pakistan, as was responsible for the attack on the Indian Parliament in December of 2001 which nearly started a war between Pakistan and India.

The Samjhauta Express bombing comes as Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan's Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet with the Indian government to further the peace negotiations and discuss the contentious issue of Kashmir and Jammu. Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda have ample reasons to sabotage these talks.