Independence Day parade bomb kills 15 in India

A BOMB exploded during an Independence Day parade in India's remote northeast yesterday killing at least 15 people, including schoolchildren.

Another 17 were injured, in the separatist region of Kashmir, in a rocket attack during a celebration at a school. The attacks came as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to fight terrorism during a speech at New Delhi's 17th century Red Fort, a tradition followed by each prime minister since India gained independence from two centuries of British colonial rule on August 15, 1947.

The powerful bomb went off on the grounds of a local college in Dhemaji, where the parade was being held, killing 15 people said local lawmaker Dilip Saikia.

The remote town is 1,015 miles northeast of New Delhi, in the state of Assam.

Assam Home Minister Rockybul Hussain said seven of those killed were schoolchildren.

Another explosion also took place in the nearby town of Dhakuakhana, minutes before a parade started, but no casualties were reported.

The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, which had called for a boycott of Independence Day celebrations, was suspected of being behind the two attacks, Inspector General of Police Khagen Sharma said. The group has been fighting for a separate homeland since 1979 in an insurgency that has left more than 10,000 dead.

Nobody claimed responsibility for Sunday's rocket attack in Kashmir, but police blamed it on Islamic rebels fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989.

When the rocket hit, children had gathered to watch an Independence Day ceremony organised by the Indian army at a school, some 45 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state.

The 17 people wounded included two soldiers.

Mr Singh said his government would take a tough stand on terrorism.

"We will fight terrorism forcefully. Let there be no doubt about it.

"But if a group is ready to give up arms and talk to us, we are ready," Mr Singh said.

Helicopters patrolled the skies while nearly 65,000 police and paramilitary troops were on the ground to prevent any attack in the capital, New Delhi.