INDIA : DELHI TRAGIC MOURNING DELTA

NEW DELHI : The death toll rose to 13, on Tuesday, with at least 150 injured, from some of the Indian capital's worst sectarian violence in years as rampaging rioters in several parts of the city set fire to buildings and vehicles, and attacked journalists.

Global rights group Amnesty International tweeted that ''political leaders in India who are fuelling hatred and creating a violent environment by making hate speeches must be held accountable.''

Protests against a contentious citizenship law began on a smaller scale on Sunday but escalated on Monday and Tuesday into running battles between Hindus and Muslims in New Delhi's north-east, where rioters armed with stones, swords and even guns were out in force.

The capital's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who visited the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital earlier pleaded for the ''madness to stop''.

''I appeal to everyone to stop the violence,'' the Press Trust of India [PTI] quoted him as saying.

Delhi Police spokesman Mandeep Randhawa pleaded with locals ''not to take the law in their own hands.''

An AFP reporter saw at least 10 injured people admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital over a half-hour period, some claiming to have bullet wounds.

''Since yesterday, we've been calling the police to enforce a curfew, to send reinforcements,'' Saurabh Sharma, a student from a riot-hit area who took his injured friend to the hospital,'' said. [AFP]