New Delhi on high alert as embassies warn of attack
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers guarded New Delhi's markets and shopping centres yesterday after foreign embassies in India issued warnings of imminent militant attacks.
The US, British, Australian and other Western embassies issued urgent alerts advising their nationals to avoid busy parts of the city, where blasts in upmarket shopping areas in 2008 killed 22 people.
Commandos and armoured cars guarded metro stations, shopping malls and crowded market places across the sprawling city of 16 million people.
Police with automatic weapons patrolled Delhi's four most popular shopping districts, and explosives experts used tracker dogs to sweep sensitive areas.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat urged residents to inform the police of "any suspicious object, person or vehicle".
Canada and New Zealand were among the countries warning citizens to take precautions in New Delhi, a rapidly expanding and chaotic city that wants to bolster its international image before hosting October's Commonwealth Games.
The US embassy posted an advisory on its website on Saturday warning: "There are increased indications that terrorists are planning imminent attacks in New Delhi."
It named popular city centre shopping zones such as Connaught Place as "especially attractive targets for terrorist groups".
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