we will never succumb

At least 11 people have been killed and 76 others injured in a bomb blast outside the Delhi HC on Wednesday morning. The terror strike, which was reportedly carried out by Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), took place outside Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court at 10:14 am, today.

An email received by different media organizations including NDTV said that the Harkat-ul-Jihadi (HuJI) takes responsibility for today's blast. HuJI is a Pakistan-based terrorist group. The email states, "We owe the responsibility of today's blasts at High Court Delhi... our demand is that Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major High Courts and the Supreme Court of India."

"We take the mail very seriously," said NIA Chief SC Sinha.

Afzal Guru has been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for his role in the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. His mercy petition that asks for his sentence to be commuted to life is pending with President Pratibha Patil. The Home Ministry has reportedly recommended that it be rejected.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, currently in Bangladesh on an official visit, described the attack as "a cowardly act of a terrorist nature." He added, "We will deal with it;we will never succumb to the pressure of terrorism; this is a long war."