An unprecedented wave of bombings jarred the Indian financial capital Friday from the Bombay Stock Exchange to the headquarters of Air-India, killing at least 200 people and wounding more than 940 as it spread panic in a city already weary from two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting.

At least 13 bombs, many of them planted in cars and timed to go off in five- to 10-minute intervals, exploded in 12 locales around the city, including Bombay University, two luxury hotels used by tourists and international businessmen, the city's main railway station and a bus station.There was no claim of responsibility for the string of explosions, which began about 1:30 p.m., but Interior Minister S.B. Chavan told a shocked Parliament the bombs were highly sophisticated and the attacks appeared to be the handiwork of terrorists with international links, not of street gangs.

Interior Ministry officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were investigating whether the attacks were carried out by an Islamic fundamentalist group in reprisal for recent anti-Muslim rioting that left 800 people dead in Bombay.

Among the targets of the bomb attacks was the office of the right-wing Hindu chauvinist organization Shiv Sena, or God's Army, which has been blamed for the resurgence of sectarian violence in Bombay in January.

Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, in a statement to the nation, appealed for calm and vowed to "apprehend the perpetrators of this crime." Rao's government placed the country on a security alert, ordered paramilitary troops rushed to Bombay and directed the army to stand by for possible deployment to the city.

"The attacks are part of a conspiracy to destabilize the nation," said Maharashtra State Chief Minister Sharad Pawar, who until last week was India's defense minister. "By striking at the country's commercial center, the terrorists have sought to disrupt the national economy."

Police and hospital officials said the rising death toll from the wave of bombings had topped 200. Dozens of the more than 940 people wounded in the attacks were listed in critical condition at local hospitals. The large number of casualties put pressure on the city's emergency services, and policemen cruising the city in jeeps were urging citizens to donate blood at hospitals.

The bombing campaign came without any warning, signaling the introduction of new urban-terror tactics in a country already battered by escalating ethnic and sectarian unrest and separatist movements.

"The aim of the extremists was clear: to strike at the heart of Bombay's financial area and cause widespread terror," a police officer said.

The highest-profile bombings, and two of the deadliest, occurred at two of the city's high-rise buildings: the Bombay Stock Exchange and the world headquarters of Air-India, the state-owned international carrier.

The blast at the stock exchange occurred at 1:30 p.m. local time when trading was at its peak. Authorities blamed a car bomb in an underground garage for the explosion, which ripped through the lower floors of the 29-floor stock exchange building. The explosion at the stock exchange building was so powerful that nearby buildings were damaged.

After the blast, the nearly 3,000 dealers inside the stock exchange rushed to the exits, sparking a stampede. The building houses several businesses and a bank, and hundreds of workers were trapped for several hours before being rescued by firefighters.

Police said the massive blast at the Air-India building - one of Bombay's best-known landmarks - also was triggered by an explosives-laden car in its underground car parking area.

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Bombs exploded at a dozen other locales within an hour of the first blast, including at two markets, a building close to the police commissariat and aboard a city bus and a train. The unprecedented bombing campaign crippled activity in downtown districts as panic-stricken employees abandoned work and rushed home.

Indian Internal Security Minister Rajesh Pilot said security forces across the country have been alerted to deter new attacks.

The bombings are expected to further politically weaken Rao's 20-month-old minority government. Rao has been under growing attack for his failure to control rising domestic violence. His problems have been compounded by factional infighting in his governing Congress Party.

India has the dubious distinction of having the world's highest incidence of terrorist violence. Dozens of underground separatist groups are waging hit-and-run terror campaigns.

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