At Least 10 Dead in Attack on Indian Parliament

Reuters

NEW DELHI (Dec. 13) - A group of armed men opened fire in India's parliament Thursday, killing several people in an unprecedented attack on the seat of government in a nation frequently racked by violence.

Several ministers were in the building, next to the prime minister's office, but were not hurt. There was no immediate indication of the reason for the attack.

Local television said the raid was carried out by five terrorists, four of whom were killed in a shootout with security guards. Doctors at a nearby hospital said at least six guards were killed and 14 seriously injured.

The fate of the fifth attacker was not known.

Witnesses heard gunfire from the building for at least an hour after the attack began about 11:45 a.m. (1:15AM EST), soon after both houses of parliament were adjourned for the day.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's office at first said he was in the complex, but officials later said he had not yet arrived when the shooting started and had since been taken to a safe location under heavy guard.

Hundreds of troops in full battle gear took up position around the parliament, sealing off the area as security forces throughout Delhi were put on red alert.

Authorities fear there are several more casualties in the building and dozens of stretchers were being readied at a nearby hospital, witnesses said.

All streets leading to the parliamentary complex, home to both houses of parliament and almost 800 MPs, were closed.

India is racked by separatist and communal violence, but it is the first time such an attack has been launched on the heavily guarded parliamentary complex.

On October 1, 38 people were killed in a suicide-bomb attack on the state assembly in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir in India's far north.

A Pakistan-based militant group first claimed responsibility for that attack, but later denied having carried it out.

03:15 12-13-01