Indian Muslims vent anger after mosque bomb leaves 11 dead

A bomb ripped through a historic mosque as Friday prayers were ending in southern India, killing at least 11 people and wounding nearly three dozen. Two other unexploded bombs were 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 throwing stones at police, who responded with baton charges and tear gas. Two people were killed in the violent clashes.

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 hurt in the explosion were severely injured, and the city's police chief, Balwinder Singh, warned that the death toll could rise.

Soon after the blast, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, appealed for calm between Hindus and Muslims.

Mr Reddy called the bombing an act of "intentional sabotage on the peace and tranquillity in the country". He said that one bomb went off at around 1.30pm local time and that police soon afterwards found and defused two other bombs.

The bomb, made of a stick-grenade packed into a metal pipe, was detonated by a mobile phone attached to the device, said the state's police chief, Mohammed Abdul Basit.

About 10,000 people usually attend Friday prayers at the mosque and the blast sparked a panic. "I was very close to the spot of the blast," said Abdul Quader, a 30-year-old who sustained slight injuries to his legs.

"As soon as prayers ended, we were about to get up, there was a huge deafening blast sending bodies into the air," he continued. "People started running helter-skelter, there was such confusion. People were bleeding, running around in a very bad condition."

The NDTV news channel showed video pictures from within the mosque as the blast went off. A loud noise is heard, followed by pieces of masonry flying through the air. Worshippers in white robes and skullcaps, many bent in prayer, initially appeared bewildered by the explosion before rushing outside as startled pigeons fluttered about inside the stone and marble mosque.

Outside, there was chaos following the attack. Throngs of people gathered in the streets, some chanting angry slogans and throwing stones at police, who fired tear gas and tried to disperse the crowd with batons so ambulances could ferry the wounded to hospitals.

The explosion immediately drew comparisons with the bombing of a mosque during a Muslim festival in Malegaon, in western India, on 8 September 2006, which killed 31 people.