A check of local hospitals had yielded no Israeli or Jewish victims. Most of the Israeli tourists who were staying in the area have been located.
At least nine people were killed Saturday in an explosion at a cafe in the western Indian city of Pune. The explosion, in which at least four tourists were among the dead, took place at the landmark German Bakery cafe in the city. At least 50 people were injured.
Speaking to reporters, Indian Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said that the explosion was caused by a package which contained ammonium nitrate fuel oil, mixed with a military-type high explosive, known as RDX, and that the attack was clearly terrorist in nature. It was the biggest terror attack in India since the attack on the Chabad center and several hotels in Mumbai fourteen months ago.
The 22 year old cafe is located just meters from the "Osho Commune," a major tourist site, and on the same street as the Pune Chabad House. Speaking to Israel Radio, Chabad House director Rabbi Bezalel Kopichik said that to the best of his knowledge, no Israelis or Jews were in the bakery at the time of the blast, and that a check of local hospitals had yielded no Jewish victims. Most of the Israeli tourists who were staying in the area have been located, he said.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, and Indian authorities have not yet named any suspects. The Mumbai attacks fourteen months ago were committed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, Indian police believe, a Muslim group demanding that India relinquish control over the Jammu and Kashmir regions, surrendering them to Pakistan or establishing them as separate Islamist states.