Separatist leaders, including the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, on Wednesday condemned the twin blasts at the temple town of Varanasi.

They said violence against the innocent was "inhuman".

"We condemn the attacks on innocent and unarmed people. Everybody should abhor such acts. Islam does not allow attacks on unarmed people," the hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Ahah Geelani said.

Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said, "We must look at the intentions of people who carry out such attacks and try to foil their nefarious designs."

JKLF vice chairman Bashir Ahmad Bhat said that his organisation has always condemned attacks targeting civilians.

Expressing grief over the loss of life in the blasts, Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Ahmad Shah appealed to all communities to maintain calm and communal harmony. "The people in Varanasi should hold their nerve in this hour of crisis and ensure that the trouble mongers do not succeed in their designs," he said.

"Targeting religious places and public conveniences like trains and railway platforms shows the intent of those behind these attacks, Shah said.