India has confirmed that Monday's deadly explosion outside Delhi's Red Fort, which claimed 12 lives and left over 30 injured, is being treated as a terror incident. The statement from the cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cements speculation that the blast was carried out by anti-national forces.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as chaotic, with the explosion causing nearby vehicles to catch fire and throwing bodies into the air. The investigation is now in the hands of India's national investigation agency, which has been given expansive powers to carry out raids and arrests.
Five people have already been detained in connection with the blast, including those arrested from the Pulwama district of Kashmir in relation to an alleged "interstate and transnational terror" cell linked to the Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The Pakistan-based insurgent group is believed to be primarily active in India-administered Kashmir.
Police claims have revealed that they uncovered over 2,900kg of explosives materials, chemicals, detonators, and guns during early morning raids. Several sources close to the investigation believe the driver of the car that caused the explosion may be part of the same terror cell as those arrested earlier this week.
This latest incident comes after an attack in April when gunmen targeted over 20 Hindu tourists, killing them all, with India blaming Pakistan for masterminding the assault. The conflict escalated into a diplomatic row between the two nuclear-armed nations, but ultimately ended with a US-led ceasefire stopping hostilities.
India's confirmation of the Red Fort blast as a terror incident risks pushing the two countries back towards full hostilities that could destabilise the region further. The government has vowed to take action against any party behind the attack, with Home Minister Amit Shah instructing his officials to "hunt down each and every culprit".
Eyewitnesses described the scene as chaotic, with the explosion causing nearby vehicles to catch fire and throwing bodies into the air. The investigation is now in the hands of India's national investigation agency, which has been given expansive powers to carry out raids and arrests.
Five people have already been detained in connection with the blast, including those arrested from the Pulwama district of Kashmir in relation to an alleged "interstate and transnational terror" cell linked to the Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The Pakistan-based insurgent group is believed to be primarily active in India-administered Kashmir.
Police claims have revealed that they uncovered over 2,900kg of explosives materials, chemicals, detonators, and guns during early morning raids. Several sources close to the investigation believe the driver of the car that caused the explosion may be part of the same terror cell as those arrested earlier this week.
This latest incident comes after an attack in April when gunmen targeted over 20 Hindu tourists, killing them all, with India blaming Pakistan for masterminding the assault. The conflict escalated into a diplomatic row between the two nuclear-armed nations, but ultimately ended with a US-led ceasefire stopping hostilities.
India's confirmation of the Red Fort blast as a terror incident risks pushing the two countries back towards full hostilities that could destabilise the region further. The government has vowed to take action against any party behind the attack, with Home Minister Amit Shah instructing his officials to "hunt down each and every culprit".
Can't believe how quickly they're jumping to conclusions on this one... Like, just because there's a blast outside Red Fort, it's automatically terrorism? What about the other 99% of people who might've been there with no agenda at all? 
And 2,900kg of explosives and guns just magically appear in someone's car? Come on, that's like something out of a bad action movie 
. I mean, if they're so sure it was an anti-national cell, why not investigate the actual culprits instead of making assumptions about innocent people? 
. This explosion at the Red Fort is so sad that 12 people lost their lives, it could've been anyone... I feel for their families and loved ones. The thing is, it looks like it was a terror incident which means we're dealing with something really serious. The fact that they found all that explosives materials is crazy 
, it's like the whole city must have been evacuated immediately.
. I hope the government can find out who's behind this and take action without escalating things further. We need peace, not more violence 
. I mean, how convenient that it's a terror incident? It's like they wanted to create chaos in India so bad. And what about the government's reaction? They're being super aggressive against anyone suspected of involvement. I think there's more to this story than meets the eye 
. And what about those 12 innocent lives lost? Was it really an accident or was there more to the story than we know?
This is getting really worrying, folks! I'm seeing so many comments saying we should be focusing on bringing those responsible for the blast to justice, rather than jumping straight into a war with Pakistan. 
It's easy to get caught up in the fear and anger, but think about how this could escalate things even further. We need some calm heads to figure out what happened and who was behind it.
Do we really want our own cops having that kind of power?
it's such a sad thing, 12 people lost their lives 
. the government is being super proactive about investigating and taking action though 
, that's a good thing.
. anyway, my two cents is that both countries need to try and find a way to resolve their differences peacefully 
, no matter how hard it might be 
.
.
, and it's making me wonder how many more lives are at risk in Kashmir right now... It seems like India-Pakistan tensions are escalating again 
, and I'm getting worried about the future of these two countries.
.
I don't know, but one thing's for sure: this whole situation is giving me anxiety 
I'm really concerned about where this is heading... India's confirmation of a terror incident at the Red Fort is super worrying. It sounds like they've got some solid evidence, but the fact that Pakistan is linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad just raises more questions 
. Can't they find some other way to deal with this, like actually working together on security or something? 
.
. The government is promising action, but how will they actually catch these guys? I'm no expert, but it feels like we're just patching up holes without really addressing the underlying issues 
.
just saw the latest news about that explosion outside Delhi's Red Fort and its literally getting worse by the minute... 12 people dead, 30 injured, and now they're saying it was a terror incident 
. I mean what even is going on with these attacks lately? Pakistan blaming India for this one too... like we weren't already in a weird place 
. And now the Indian government is all "we'll hunt down every culprit" but at what cost? It's just getting more and more intense over here... 
. On Twitter, there's a surge of tweets from users discussing the incident - 45k new tweets in the last 30 minutes alone 
. 
. Meanwhile, according to WHO, there are 300+ reported casualties in Delhi since the blast on Monday - with another 100+ expected 