Bombing at bakery in western India kills 8; tourists were apparent targets

A powerful blast at a popular bakery frequented by tourists killed eight people and injured 33 in the western Indian city of Pune on Saturday, the first attack since the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege that appears to have targeted foreigners.
The explosion took place a little after 7 p.m. at the German Bakery in Koregaon Park, a crowded, upscale neighborhood near the Osho Ashram, a spiritual center with many Western followers. The ashram was one of the locations canvassed as a potential target by David Coleman Headley, who is now on trial in Chicago for plotting terrorist acts.
Eyewitnesses told reporters on the scene that there was an unidentified bag at the bakery, which is also near a Chabad House, a Jewish outreach center similar to the one targeted in the Mumbai siege.
"We could hear the blast," Rabbi Betzalel Kupchik said in a telephone interview. "Thank God we are fine. We will continue our work here."
Early reports say four foreign women were among the dead. Officials were seeking to determine their nationalities and those of the other dead and the injured.
The bombing came just one day after Pakistan agreed to resume high-level talks with India, the first such dialogue between the nuclear-armed powers since relations were frozen after the Mumbai massacre.
In New Delhi, the secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry, Gopal Pillai, confirmed that the explosion was an act of terrorism and said a team from the National Investigation Agency was en route to Pune.
Authorities are also investigating who was behind the attack.