11 killed, scores hurt in Hyderabad blasts

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HYDERABAD, India, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- At least 11 people died and dozens were injured when two bombs exploded Thursday in Hyderabad in southern India, in what police said was a terrorist attack.

The first blast was reported at a park and the second at a restaurant in the Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad, The Hindu reported.

"It appears to be a terrorist attack, though we have not yet got full information of the incident. At least 10 are dead," director general of police V. Dinesh Reddy told The Hindu.

The blasts came from two bicycles at two sites 150 meters away from each other, Sushil Kumar Shinde, India's home affairs minister, said during a briefing in New Delhi. Eight people were killed at one site and three at the other. About 50 people have been injured.

Shinde said the central government had warned state governments that an attack was planned, The New York Times reported.

"We have had some information for the last two days of such an incident," the minister said "At this stage it is difficult to say more."

Teams from the National Investigation Agency, the National Security Guard and the Intelligence Bureau were traveling to the site, Shinde said.

"This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh posted on his Twitter page.

The Times said Hyderabad has been the target of terrorist activities in recent years, particularly those involving homemade bombs.

In August 2007, two bombs exploded simultaneously, ripping through two popular spots in Hyderabad, killing at least 42 people. In the hours after the twin blasts, police reported finding and defusing 19 more bombs at bus stops, movie theaters, pedestrian bridges and street intersections.