Terror strike on US mission

Armed terrorists riding motorcycles have shot dead four policemen at the America Centre in Calcutta.

Draped in shawls, the four attackers burst through security checkpoints before turning a hail of bullets on the police guards. They also sprayed the front of the building with gunfire. Three of the officers were killed on the spot, while another died on the way to hospital.

At least 14 people - including 11 state police officers, nine pedestrians and one private security guard - were injured in the dawn attack, which is being treated as a terrorist assault on US interests. The attackers were not hurt. It is not clear if the police officers fired back.

Calcutta police commissioner Sujoy Chakraborty said the attack occurred when the police officers on the night shift were changing guard. "They used high-calibre automatic weapons. It is a terrorist attack but we cannot yet identify which group was involved," he said.

However, a senior home ministry official said a man called Delhi police and told them the attack had been carried out by Harkat-ul Jehad-e-Islami, a Pakistan-based militant group which fought the Indian army in Kashmir in the 1990s but is believed to be no longer active. The claim could not be immediately verified.

Meanwhile local intelligence sources said that they suspected the involvement of an Islamic radical group active in India. The US consul-general in Calcutta, Christopher Sandrolini, said no consular staff were injured or killed.

The joint commissioner of Delhi police, Suresh Roy, said authorities had received several intelligence reports of a terrorist attack ahead of the country's Republic Day celebrations, which are scheduled for Saturday.

Following the shootings, police in the Indian capital were ordered onto full alert to protect the diplomatic enclave.

The American Centre is one of two US government buildings in Calcutta and a major landmark. It houses the US Information Service library, the embassy's publicaffairs office, the press section, and a centre for cultural events. Hundreds of students visit its library each day but anti-American protests by communists and labour unions are often staged outside.

Today a pool of blood could be seen outside the centre. Spent AK-47 bullets littered the street, where several hundred police stood guard.

India marks 26 January with a parade demonstrating its military might and cultural diversity. But in the past, celebrations have been marred by guerrilla attacks in the rebellion-torn regions of Kashmir and in the north-east. The authorities in India also increased security in the wake of the attack on the Indian parliament last month.

The Indian government has been pressuring Pakistan to crack down on Islamic militants. It is demanding the extradition of 20 people it describes as criminals and terrorists. Indian external affairs minister Jaswant Singh said 15 of those on the list were the subjects of "red alert" Interpol notices. The list includes senior members of four groups involved in the struggle in Kashmir.

ID Swamy, India's junior interior minister, said today: "We can assume that incidents like these can only be carried out by those people who are waging a proxy war for the last two decades against India. This could be a part of those activities."

"We were hopeful after General Musharraf 's statement that there would be some change on the situation in the ground, but we do not see that happening."

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf announced on 12 January that he would not tolerate terrorism aimed at ending Indian control in Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between the two countries and the cause of two wars between them.

Today's attack occurred as Francis X Taylor, the US ambassador-at-large and George Bush's coordinator for counter-terrorism, was in India to discuss ways to prevent such violence.

On Monday, Indian and American officials also held the first meetings of the Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism, the first since the 11 September terror attacks in the United States.

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