Hindu Temple Attack Siege Over

Indian commandos brought a seven-hour Hindu temple siege to an end on Wednesday, killing three gunmen who shot dead 29 devotees and wounded more than 70.

"The incident is over," police superintendent R.B. Brahmabhatt told reporters. "All the three have been killed and we are still searching the entire premises."

A police official said one National Security Guard commando was killed in the siege that began on Tuesday when the unidentified gunmen burst into the pink sandstone Akshardham Temple in western Gujarat state and opened fire, killing 29 men, women and children.

The attack was the most serious since a military standoff began nine months ago between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan sparked by a raid on the Indian parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. The confrontation brought the nations close to war in June.

Without explicitly naming Pakistan, Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said "enemies of the country" were behind the temple attack. Pakistan condemned the assault and denied any part in it.

The attackers had raided the temple as the faithful were praying Tuesday evening. Witnesses said they leaped out of a car, jumped a fence to enter temple complex, and then sprayed gunfire. Hundreds of commandos quickly swarmed into the compound and set up positions, said R.B. Brahmabhatt, the city's acting police chief.

By Wednesday morning, more than 14 hours after the attack, the gunmen remained in control of part of the complex — and some worshippers were still inside, officials said. Earlier, bloody bodies were carried away on stretchers and many wounded limped out, their clothes stained with blood. About 45 people were wounded in the initial attack.

Advani, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, described the shooting as a suicide attack. He said the attackers, armed with hand grenades and AK-47 rifles, had taken up positions on the roof of a building inside the complex.

Hospital officials said at least six women and four children were dead and the wounded included five police officers who were hit by bullets.

Advani said the attack appeared tied to state elections being held Tuesday in northern Jammu-Kashmir state, the only majority Muslim state in largely Hindu India.

"The enemies of the nation feel that the developments in Jammu and Kashmir are strengthening India's viewpoint, and that a big attack could divert attention from there. I see in this a very deliberate design," he said.

He did not elaborate. India alleges that its neighbor, Pakistan, sponsors Muslim terrorists in Indian territory. Islamabad denies it.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "We're shocked by this horrific act. We condemn the senseless violence."

While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and government officials were careful not to make accusations, fears spread across western Gujarat state that Islamic rebels would be blamed — which could set off anti-Muslim mob violence and spiral into widespread sectarian unrest.

"This is adding kerosene to a burning fire. There will be trouble in the riot-prone areas," said Maya Desai, a college student in Ahmadabad, about 15 miles from the attack site.

Security was tightened in Gujarat and several other states with large populations of both Hindus and Muslims, and state and national officials repeatedly called for calm.

Gujarat witnessed vicious religious rioting in late February, when a Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu activists. That attack set off a wave of reprisal killings and rioting in which Muslims were the main victims. In total, about 1,000 people were killed, according to government estimates.

"I hope people will understand that communal conflict would serve the interest of those who do this," Advani said, appealing for peace.

In New Delhi, the imam of the country's largest mosque called the attack "anti-Islamic."

"Islam does not permit the killing of innocent civilians. I appeal to Muslims and our Hindu brethren to join hands to wipe out terrorism," Syed Ahmed Bukhari was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

But the World Hindu Council, an ally of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, called for a nationwide general strike on Thursday to protest what it called "jihadi terrorism." India's opposition Congress party planned a Gujarat state strike for Wednesday.

There were a number of reports that the gunmen were dressed as police officers — a ploy commonly used by Muslim militants — though officials said they could not confirm that.

The temple, an ornate sandstone complex, is enormously popular among Hindus, with thousands of worshippers arriving every day.