gopalakrishna

Have serial bomb blasts become daily affairs in India? Yesterday, it was the country's tech capital Bangalore. Today, it is India's business hub Ahmedabad. Seventeen serial blasts rocked Ahmedabad on Saturday evening, killing at least 20 people and injuring several.

As usual, politicians and ministers have condemned the Gujarat blasts. India's Home Minister Shivraj Patil said: "Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmedabad seem to be part of the same strategy."

He added: "I condemn the blasts and appeal to people to maintain calm. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured. The Union Home Ministry is maintaining close touch with the Gujarat Government. I am confident that the culprits will soon be identified and brought to book."

In the last few years, terror groups have been attacking India's emerging cities with serial bomb blasts. Bomb blasts have hit all the major cities in Inda in the last five years: they include New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

Here is a chronology of bomb attacks that India witnessed in the last five years:

March 13, 2003: A bomb attack on a commuter train in Mumbai kills 11 people.

August 25, 2003: Two almost simultaneous car bombs kill about 60 in Mumbai.

August 15, 2004: Bomb explodes in Assam, killing 16 people, mostly schoolchildren, and wounding dozens.

October 29, 2005: Sixty-six people are killed when three blasts rip through markets in New Delhi.

March 7, 2006: At least 15 people are killed and 60 wounded in three explosions in Varanasi.

July 11, 2006: More than 180 people were killed in seven bomb explosions at railway stations and on trains in Mumbai, blamed on Islamist militants.

September 8, 2006: At least 32 people are killed in a series of explosions, including one near a mosque, in Malegaon town, 260 km northeast of Mumbai.

February 19, 2007: Two bombs explode aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.

May 18, 2007: A bomb explodes during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in Hyderabad, killing 11 worshippers. Police later shoot dead five people in clashes with hundreds of enraged Muslims who protest against the attack.

August 25, 2007: Three explosions within minutes at an amusement park and a street-side food stall in Hyderabad kill at least 40 people.

May 13, 2008: Seven bombs rip through the crowded streets Jaipur, killing at least 63 people in markets and outside Hindu temples.

July 25, 2008: Seven blasts strike the IT city of Bangalore killing at least one person and injuring at least 15.

__________________
[SIZE="2"][/size]