Seven Killed In India Mosque Bomb Blast

A bomb exploded during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

A bomb exploded during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least seven people and sparking violent protests in which two protesters died in clashes with police.

Police said more than 50 people were injured in the blast at Mecca Masjid, the main mosque in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.

A few hours after the blast, police fired on an angry crowd which tried to set fire to a petrol pump near the mosque, killing two protesters and wounding five.

Thousands of worshippers were praying at the sprawling mosque at the time of the blast.

Officials said the death toll could rise and three other crude bombs were defused as crowds, angered by the attack, clashed with police around the mosque.

"I had just said my prayers and there was a blast. Suddenly I was hit by a rock," Naseeruddin, 45, told Reuters as he lay in hospital, his head wrapped in a blood-stained white bandage.

"When I looked up, another rock hit my face. Then I fell unconscious," the street vendor said. Nearby, other wounded men groaned in pain as their relatives kept watch.

New Delhi said it was a "terrorist" attack, but did not name the militant groups under suspicion.

Hyderabad, one of India's most important IT hubs, has a large Muslim population and several historic mosques.

Hundreds of men and boys in white prayer caps rushed out of the mosque after the explosion.

Men in blood-soaked long white shirts moved quickly through the crowds and got into ambulances. The marble floors around the mosque were splattered in blood.

Angry crowds shouting "Allah is Great" fought pitched battles with police around the mosque, pelting stones.

Some people hurled stones at shops and vehicles, damaging more than a dozen buses.

A police officer at the scene said the bomb was triggered by a mobile phone.

The blast took place at the area where worshippers wash their hands and face before prayers.

FRIDAY ATTACKS ON MOSQUES

Friday's attack was the third major bombing of a mosque in India over the last year. Each attack has sparked fears among authorities that communal unrest could be triggered between minority Muslims and majority Hindus.

A bomb blast killed 32 people last year at a mosque in the western state of Maharashtra, an attack which police blamed on a banned Islamic students group trying to spark communal tension.

Last year, two bomb explosions at New Delhi's main mosque, Jama Masjid, wounded 10 people.

All the blasts including the latest one took place on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer when mosques are generally crowded.

One security analyst said Islamist militants, bent on forcing Muslims everywhere to follow a strict form of Islam, could be behind the wave of attacks on mosques.

"There have been attacks on Muslims in countries like Iraq, Thailand and Pakistan by Islamist militants," B. Raman, the former head of the counter-terrorism unit of India's spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.

"This seems to be happening in India as well by those who follow a pan-Islamist ideology," he said.

But a Muslim community leader demanded officials look into other suspects.

"The police must investigate all angles to see whether the suspects are Muslim or Hindu extremists," said Kamal Faruqui, the chairman of Delhi Minority Commission.

Around 140 million people of India's billion-plus population are Muslims. Hindus make up more than 80 percent of the population.