Three bombs have been detonated almost simultaneously near courthouses in three cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh, northern India on Friday.

The explosions hit the cities of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varansi.

According to officials, the explosions occurred within five minutes of each other near the courthouses.

In Faizabad at least two bombs went off killing four lawyers and injuring other 10.

R.N. Singh, a local police officer, said that one of the bombs was tied to a motorcycle, The Associated Press reports.

This blast was described as being a “powerful” one.

In Varansi the blast wounded 12 lawyers, according to Vipin Mishra, spokesman for the Home Ministry of Uttar Pradesh state.

The explosion in Lucknow was a “minor” one, but made two victims.

Sriprakash Jaiswal, the junior federal home minister, said: “This is the handiwork of some group that wants to disturb communal harmony in the state. They may have targeted the courts because large crowds gather in courthouses here."

This year a series of bomb attacks have occurred in India killing over 100 people.

In the southern city of Hyderabad, nine people were killed in May, in a bomb blast at a historic mosque.

Again, in August, 42 people were killed due to a series of blasts in the same city.

In Punjab six people were killed in a blast that occurred in a cinema in October.

In February over 60 people were killed in a bomb attack aboard a train that was traveling from India to Pakistan. The explosion occurred north of the capital Delhi.

In October a blast killed two people in the city of Ajmer, in Rasjasthan,

Local terrors groups were blamed for many of these attacks.

No suspects were named for the explosion on Friday. Usually the attacks are blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim militants so as to create tensions between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority.