Hmmm. The bombers seem to have targeted Hindu worshipers. Now who would want to do that? From CNN, with thanks to all who sent this in:
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — Three explosions in the holy Indian city of Varanasi have killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens, Indian authorities told CNN.
The first blast was in the Hindu Sankat Mochan temple on Tuesday, according to Indian Home Secretary V.K. Dugal.
The other two blasts occurred at a railway station where an express train was boarding, police said. There were casualties, they said, but the number was unknown.
Officials said they expected the casualty count to rise.
The blasts were aimed at “soft” targets “to create tension and disrupt communal harmony,” Dugal said….
Several parts of the Indian city in Uttar Pradesh state were cordoned off, police said, and temples in the area — and as far away as New Delhi — were on high alert….
The idols at the temple, which are busiest on Tuesdays, were safe, police said.
The shrine is usually crowded at dusk with devout Hindus making a nightly offering to the monkey-god Hanuman, AP quoted police inspector Madan Mohan Pande as saying….
Varanasi is Hinduism’s holiest city and is ordinarily filled with pilgrims visiting temples and bathing in the holy waters of the Ganges River, which runs through town. It is also a popular spot with foreign tourists, especially backpackers, according to AP.