It looks like al-Qaeda or an Islamofascist offshoot has decided to add another nation to its blood enemies. Instead of attacking Western targets, terrorists set off a wave of bombings across India today, attacking civilian transportation in several cities and killing scores of people:

Suspected Islamist militants killed seven people, six of them tourists, on Tuesday in a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, police said, the most concerted targeting of civilians in months.

In the bloodiest strike, a grenade was thrown inside a bus in Srinagar, near the city's famous mountain-ringed Dal Lake, killing the six holidaymakers and wounding seven. Four other people were also hurt. ...

At least 40 people were killed in seven blasts on the suburban rail network in India's financial capital Mumbai on Tuesday, television channel CNN-IBN said, quoting police.

India's Home Secretary said that no terrorist group had taken responsibility for the strikes, but that India knew who committed them and that "we are going to get them". This has all the earmarks of an AQ operation. They attacked the transportation system, concentrating their biggest efforts in Mumbai, India's financial center. The terrorists targeted their attacks to maximize civilian deaths. Similarities between these attacks and the London subway bombings are apparent and apposite.

What motivated AQ to go after India? It's hardly the first country one associates with the West, and many Muslims live within the majority-Hindu nation. However, India's outreach to Pakistan to resolve the conflict in the Kashmir threatens to end one of the major provocations that incites Muslims to jihad in the region. It also tends to prop up Pervez Musharraf, a man they have tried twice to assassinate. India's troubles with religious sectarianism (especially with Muslims) go back centuries, of course, and the historical irritants would have been enough for them in any event.

But mostly AQ and other Islamist terrorists have targeted tourists, and India is in the middle of its tourist season. The Srinagar attack left six tourists dead. AQ wants to destroy India's economy, fragile enough as it is, by keeping tourists away from the country.

It looks like India will have a 7/11 to match Madrid's 3/11 and our 9/11.

Note: Mumbai is the Indian name for the city we call Bombay.

UPDATE: Amit Varma's blog will give the up-close perspective that the blogosphere provides. Keep checking for updates. (via Instapundit)

UPDATE II: Reuters now reports that the death toll has reached 135, as of noon CT:

City Police Commissioner A.N. Roy told Reuters 135 people were killed while Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the state's top elected official, said 300 people were injured in the blasts, which took place in the space of around 10 minutes.

"We are not sure if it is RDX or not," Roy said, referring to the possible use of high-powered plastic explosives.

It seems that India's emergency response has not proven sufficient for the task, according to this report. Expect the numbers to rise accordingly, and keep India in your prayers.

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