Indian police killed five gunmen who attacked a religious site in northern India on Tuesday that is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims and is a flash point for sectarian violence, while a sixth attacker blew himself up. The unidentified gunmen raided a complex which houses a makeshift temple to Hindu God-king Ram which was built over a 16th-century mosque torn down by a Hindu mob in 1992.
Tensions over the site in the town of Ayodhya, about 600km south-east of New Delhi have caused widespread riots in the past and security forces were alerted across the country to prevent trouble after Tuesday's raid.
No group has claimed responsibility but the right-wing Shiv Sena party blamed the raid on freedom fighting groups.
The six attackers arrived by car and an explosives-laden jeep. One blew up the jeep, killing himself, next to a tall, yellow iron-railing fence around the 80 acres complex, officials said.
"The body was in shreds," local college teacher V.N. Arora told Reuters by telephone.
That blast ripped open a hole in the fence through which the five gunmen entered into the complex, firing at police inside. They were killed after nearly two hours of fighting, officials said.
"It looked like very powerful explosives were used to create a passage into the complex. All the attackers were wearing black trousers and shirts which made them look like commandos," Arora said.
Television footage showed the charred shell of the jeep, with its top and back missing, next to the complex. Nearby on the pavement was a charred, severed arm.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm.
"It is fortunate that the attack was foiled and the attackers were killed during the shootout," he said in a statement. "It is also fortunate that no damage occurred to the physical structures at the site of the incident."
Home Ministry officials said they had general information that important facilities and religious sites around the country could be targeted and states had been alerted about it.
"Obviously it was a militant group which launched the ghastly attack ... their identity is being established. The information is they were not locally from Ayodhya," Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told a news conference.
One of the attackers was a suspected suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body, half of which was apparently blown off during the shootout, a Uttar Pradesh official said.
Five automatic rifles and three grenades were recovered from the dead men, he added.
"It's not a symbolic attack but a very serious attack," BJP Chief Lal Krishna Advani said. "The reaction to this attack should be proportionate."
Meanwhile, Pakistan condemned the attack. "Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Hizbul Mujahideen said Hindu groups orchestrated the attack.
"The attack is a deep conspiracy to worsen relations between Hindus and Muslims. The attack is the handiwork of hard-line Hindu groups," a man who identified himself as a Hizbul commander told a Kashmiri news service.
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