Category World News

Indian police are investigating a deadly car explosion in New Delhi under an anti-terrorism law, officials have said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to apprehend those responsible for what he called a “conspiracy” behind the blast.

Police were still to give details on Tuesday on what caused the explosion near the Indian capital’s historic Red Fort, but officials said that the case had been registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India’s main “anti-terrorism” law, giving investigators broader powers to detain suspects.

India’s “anti-terrorism” force, the National Investigation Agency, is leading the probe, the home affairs ministry said.

Monday’s explosion in a Hyundai i20 car has killed at least 12 people and injured 20, although there is some confusion over the exact number of dead due to the condition of the bodies of the dead after the blast.

The explosion, outside a busy metro station near one of India’s most iconic sites, was the first significant security incident since a shooting attack in April that left 26 dead in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, sparking clashes with Pakistan.

“I assure everyone that the agencies will get to the bottom of the entire conspiracy,” Modi said, in a speech during a state visit to neighbouring Bhutan, without giving further details.

“All those involved will be brought to justice.”

Blast ‘shaken sense of security’ in India

Reporting from close to the site of the blast, journalist Ishan Garg said the explosion had “shaken the sense of security” of Indians in the capital and further afield.

“The blast has sent the entire nation into a state of alert,” Garg told Al Jazeera, as he stood in front of the cordoned-off site of the explosion near the historic Red Fort, where investigators are carrying out their work.

He said heavy security had been deployed in the heart of the Indian capital, while the city’s borders were also under tight scrutiny.

Officials in states including Rajasthan and Odisha said they were ramping up security in the wake of the blast.

Faridabad link investigated

Indian media outlets, citing police sources, reported that investigators believe the explosion may be linked to raids on a suspected “terror” cell and the seizure of a large cache of explosive material in the city of Faridabad hours before the blast.

Faridabad, an industrial district in the neighbouring Haryana state, lies just 30km (18 miles) from the area in Delhi where Monday’s blast took place.

Prior to the blast, a large cache of explosives was reportedly seized in Faridabad, while in Indian-administered Kashmir, two Kashmiri doctors were arrested, including one from Faridabad. The car involved in the explosion was linked to one of the arrested doctors, according to reports.

Citing police sources, the Press Trust of India news agency reported that police had traced the route of the vehicle involved in the explosion from Faridabad to New Delhi’s Red Fort, using CCTV footage and data from a toll plaza to map out its 11-hour route.

According to the agency, the vehicle was first seen outside Asian Hospital in Faridabad, before it was seen crossing a toll plaza and entering Delhi at 8:13am (02:43 GMT).

At 3:19pm (09:49 GMT), the car entered a parking area near the Red Fort, where it remained for nearly three hours.

German police have detained a suspect accused of running a darknet platform that called for prominent politicians to be murdered, according to prosecutors.

The suspect, a German-Polish dual citizen identified only as “Martin S.” in line with German privacy rules, was detained in the western city of Dortmund late on Monday, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. Public broadcaster ARD reported that he had ties to the far-right Reich Citizens movement, citing security sources.

He is suspected of “terrorism” financing, providing instructions for committing serious acts of violence endangering the state and dangerous dissemination of personal data.

Prosecutors allege that Martin S. had been calling for attacks on politicians, officials and other figures in German public life on the darknet – the name given to parts of the internet that can only be accessed using specialised software – since at least June. He is accused of anonymously running a platform on which he published lists of names, self-styled death sentences and instructions for building explosives.

Prosecutors did not address his motive or suggest he was working for a foreign actor.

Martin S. also allegedly called for donations in cryptocurrency that were intended to be offered as a reward for killing his targets. The platform contained sensitive personal data on potential victims, prosecutors said.

While authorities did not name any of the politicians or public figures Martin S. had targeted, Spiegel news magazine reported that former chancellors Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz, as well as other former federal ministers, were on the list.

German politicians complain that they are increasingly subject to attacks, both verbal and physical, at a time of deepening polarisation.

There has also been a general increase in the scale of cyber threats to Germany and other Western countries.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, asked about the case at a previously scheduled news conference, said the investigation into a suspect trying to generate money to finance attacks against public figures via “a right-wing extremist platform” had been ongoing since June. He declined to give further details.

Federal prosecutors are responsible for significant extremism-related and national security cases in Germany.

Russian owners have agreed to sell their shares in Serbia’s Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) after the major oil and gas company was slapped with Western sanctions.

Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom Neft owns a 44.9 percent stake in NIS, while an investment division of its parent company, Gazprom, holds 11.3 percent. The Serbian government retains a 29.9 percent share.

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced on social media on Tuesday that the Russian companies had sent a request to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury to request the extension of a sanctions waiver based on negotiations with a third party.

“The petition states that the Russian side is ready to give up control and influence over the NIS company to a third party,” she said, adding that the Serbian state supported this request.

The minister said OFAC has already responded to some comments, and Serbia anticipates that it will know Washington’s position as early as this week.

“Time is running out and a solution has to be found, but the citizens must not suffer and run out of fuel. That won’t and shouldn’t happen,” Djedovic Handanovic wrote.

NIS is a major provider in the Serbian market, and the Balkan state is trying to ensure continued operations as winter approaches and the US and its European allies ramp up pressure on Russia to end its war with Ukraine.

The sanctions on NIS came into effect in early October, leading to banks processing the company’s payments and Croatia’s JANAF pipeline stopping its deliveries of crude oil.

Officials estimate that the refinery can only operate until November 25 without new crude supplies.

The broader package of US sanctions has also targeted Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, and dozens of their subsidiaries.

Lukoil has stakes in oil and gas projects in 11 countries, as well as refineries and petrol station networks across several European states.

In late October, Lukoil announced it is pursuing a swift sale of several overseas assets.

The company has said it is talking with potential buyers, and that transactions would be carried out under a sanctions grace period that runs until November 21. Lukoil said it would seek an extension if necessary to complete the fast-tracked transactions.