Police prevent terrorist act in New Delhi

Three suspected Islamic militants armed with explosives were arrested by the police near a popular New Delhi tourist site on Thursday.

Photo: Police prevent terrorist act in New Delhi

The three, a Pakistani national and two Kashmiris, were arrested outside the Dilli Haat crafts market in the capital, said New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

The men were carrying a package of high-powered explosives, a detonator and a hand grenade, he said, adding that they were believed to be members of the Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant group.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba was blamed for a series of bombings in New Delhi in 2005 on the eve of the Hindu festival of lights that killed 62 people.

The group is one of more than a dozen Islamic insurgent groups fighting to oust predominantly Hindu India from the Muslim-majority Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Kashmir is divided between India and mostly Muslim Pakistan, with both claiming it in its entirety.

The rebels want Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.

The 17-year Kashmir insurgency has killed more than 68,000 people. In recent years the militants have increasingly staged attacks on Indian targets outside the Himalayan region.