13 killed in Indian mosque blast
Ap, Hyderabad
A bomb ripped through a historic mosque as Juma prayers were ending in southern India, killing at least 13 people and wounding nearly three dozen, officials said. Two other unexploded bombs were found and defused by police. Minutes after the blast at Hyderabad's 17th-century Mecca Masjid, Muslims angered by what they said was a lack of police protection began chanting slogans - a situation that quickly deteriorated as mobs threw stones at police, who dispersed them with baton charges and tear gas. The bombing and ensuing clash between worshippers and police raised fears of wider Hindu-Muslim violence in the city, which has long been plagued by communal tensions - and occasional spasms of religious bloodletting. Many of the 35 people injured in the explosion at the 17th-century Makkah Masjid were severely wounded, and the city's police chief, Balwinder Singh, warned the death toll could rise beyond the seven already dead. Soon after the blast, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, appealed for calm between Hindus and Muslims. Reddy called the bombing an act of "intentional sabotage on the peace and tranquility in the country."
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