US embassy warns of terrorist attacks in India

NEW DELHI - The US embassy in India has warned American citizens of likely terrorist attacks, possibly by al Qaeda, in or around New Delhi and Mumbai in the run-up to the country's Independence Day celebrations next week.

The warning came a day after British police said they foiled a major plot to attack trans-Atlantic airliners, and exactly a month after Mumbai, India's commercial hub, was hit by a series of bomb blasts which killed 186 people and wounded hundreds more.

"We have urged US citizens to keep a low profile, be alert and attentive to their surroundings," an embassy spokesman said.

"The embassy has learnt that foreign terrorists, possibly including members of al Qaeda, allegedly intend to carry out a series of attacks," he said, adding the attacks might occur in or around New Delhi and Mumbai.

The information was gathered by US intelligence agencies and the embassy was working closely with the Indian government, he added.

"Likely targets include major airports, key central Indian government offices, and major gathering places such as hotels and markets," he added.

India celebrates the anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on August 15 and security has already been stepped up in the capital as well as other major cities.

The festivities have been marred in the past by attacks by Islamist militants fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir as well as insurgent groups in the country's troubled northeast.

Security at all 55 airports across the country had already been tightened after the arrests in Britain and hand baggage was not being allowed on certain flights to the West.

An Indian home ministry official said New Delhi was working with US agencies over the terror alert. But officials at several other foreign missions, including the British and the German, said they were not aware of any specific threat.

"Indian agencies have also warned of an attack on vital installations and government offices, airports, railways," a senior home ministry official told Reuters.

"All our agencies are on alert," he added.

Police in the Indian capital said they had arrested two men they said were members of Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba late on Thursday from New Delhi's main railway station after they arrived from Kashmir.

"They were carrying some RDX explosives and weapons. We suspect they planned an attack during Independence Day celebrations," a Delhi Police spokesman said.

Lashkar has been blamed for several deadly attacks in Kashmir and elsewhere across India in the past, including serial bomb blasts in Delhi last year and the Mumbai train bombings.

Officials in Mumbai said they were taking the US warnings very seriously.

"We are stepping up security at the US consulate in Mumbai as well as at the airport and other major installations," said D K Sankaran, the most senior bureaucrat of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

"This warning as well as other factors such as what happened in Britain yesterday and the run-up to Independence Day is making us take this all very seriously," he told Reuters.

- REUTERS