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New Delhi (UPI) Sep 20, 2010 Police have launched a manhunt after two Taiwanese tourists were shot by attackers on a motorcycle in the Indian capital. The injured were taken to Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Hospital where authorities said one on the injured had been hit in the stomach. The shooting happened near the Jama Masjid mosque, a popular tourist destination within the old walls of Old Delhi. At a news conference, Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaspal Singh gave few details of the incident, saying only that the shooting happened near one of the gates to the mosque and police are hunting two men. The Jama Masjid, India's second largest mosque, but its best known, suffered two bombings in quick succession in April 2006 in which more than a dozen people injured. The courtyard of the mosque, built in 1656, can hold up to 25,000 worshipers and houses an antique copy of the Koran written on deer skin. Around 1,000 people were in the mosque when the bombs occurred at around 5:30 p.m. on a Friday, the Muslim holy day. Delhi police said at the time that the blasts were "low-intensity" triggered by crude explosives. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks. Police didn't rule out terrorist involvement and the mosque's leader condemned the bombings. The month before the April Jama Masjid bombings, suspected militants targeted the Hindu holy city of Varanasi where simultaneous explosions killed 15 people. The latest Jama Masjid shootings highlights the security issues facing the capital's police as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games. India has beefed up security amid concerns by some of the countries, which will send athletes to the games. Security will include around 17,500 members of paramilitary forces standing by on alert as well as 3,000 commandos, 100 anti-sabotage teams, 200 dogs and 15 bomb disposal squads. Australia announced on the weekend that it believed the security risk was acceptable and Australian athletes would be going to New Delhi, even though a consultant said there was an 80 percent chance of a terrorist attack. Homeland Security Asia-Pacific said there were a several security failings at New Delhi's major hotels as well as at the airport and on public transportation. "The biggest threat to our athletes we've identified are the road transfers from the airport to the village and from the village to the venues," Roger Henning, one of the report's authors, said. "Delhi is a densely populated city and the opportunity for a terrorist strike in the city's choking traffic and crowds is obvious." Henning said there were around 30 extremist groups operating in the Delhi area. But India's Sports Minister M.S. Gill defended security arrangements, saying more than 70 countries had declared their satisfaction with India's security arrangements. "Security will not be just 100 percent, but 120 percent foolproof," Gill said. "There will be around 100,000 security personnel to ensure safety during the games." He said that there had to be a balance between obviously tight security and security that was not all-pervasive and a hindrance to the public and the athletes. He also said that authorities have under control the reported cases of the mosquito-borne, potentially fatal dengue fever near the games' village. "The government is working on war footing and no-one should be worried," Gill said. In April the U.K. athletics Chairman Ed Warner said security concerns surrounding the Commonwealth Games, as well as the London Olympics in 2012, should be kept in perspective. "I'm aware of one or two athletes being wound up by the press wanting them to make statements about Delhi. Am I going? Am I not going? Do I fear terrorists?" he told the BBC radio program. He said people should let the anti-terrorist experts do their job and athletes should concentrate on their training. "You've got to put it in some degree of perspective," he said. "It will be a damp squib of a games if every big-name athlete does not show up. I think there will be a lot of work between now and then to demonstrate it's safe." The athletes start arriving in New Delhi this week and the games run Oct. 3-14.
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