The Church of Scotland has expressed grief and outrage at the terrorist attacks in India on Tuesday which left 186 dead and hundreds more injured.

|PIC1|Tuesday’s blasts ripped through railway carriages and stations in Mumbai, packed in the busy rush-hour and all within just 11 minutes. Around 700 people have been left injured.

Convener of the Church and Society Council, Morag Mylne, commented: “Our prayers are with those who have lost loved ones or suffered injury and trauma in these appalling attacks.

"The Church of Scotland joins in outrage those of all faiths and none who have condemned this atrocity.

"We offer our sympathies and compassion for all those affected in this incident and will continue to pray for increased understanding and tolerance between all of God's people and an end to these terror attacks around the world."

|AD|More than 150 people have been detained for questioning in India’s financial capital following the blasts as the first cremations or burials of victims started to take place.

“We have detained some people for questioning and raids are happening in many places," said P.S. Pasricha, police chief of the western state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital.

The death toll was the highest since the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai which killed 250.

Although no one has yet claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, India’s media has quoted unnamed security sources as naming the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which oppose Indian rule in Kashmir.

The group were the main suspects for the bomb blasts in New Delhi last October that left more than 60 dead, although they have denied any role in this week’s “inhuman and barbaric acts”.