A senior Bridagier rank Defence Attache R D Mehta and an IFS officer Venketeswara Rao were among those killed in a deadly suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul yesterday morning. It is the first such attack of any kind on a Indian mission abroad and the deadliest suicide attack in Afghanistan since the US invasion of 2001. More than 41 people have been confirmed to be dead and about 140 of believed to be injured. However the Indian ambassador Jayant Prasad is believed to be alive and safe. The gruesome incident took place at the entrance of the heavily fortified embassy building complex in Kabul,Afghanistan. The Indian Embassy is located in the same street as the Afghan Interior Ministry and hence the street is cordoned off at both ends by security check posts. How the explosive laden vehicle actually got through those checkposts is anyone’s guess but it is suggested that these check-posts are pretty lackadaisical outposts and can be easily driven through.

That the incident occurred during the rush hour time in the morning has increased the number of casualties. It surely goes to show that this was a carefully planned attack carried out with such deadly precision. An official car- a Toyota Corolla- carrying both the Defence Attache and a diplomat was just entering the premises of the Embassy when the suicide bomber crashed his car on the Embassy gates. The resulting explosion is believed to have shaken the entire area with women and children shopping in nearby shops among those wounded. The blast also killed five security personnel in the Indonesian Embassy which is located nearby. The casualties included persons and families waiting to obtain a visa for entry into India. The magnitude of the blast is shocking. The fact that a vehicle laden with such heavy explosives was allowed into a fortified security complex is baffling. India has dispatched an emergency team to Kabul to address the situation.

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Interestingly the Taliban, which is the major perpretator of violence in the region, has not taken responsibility for the attack. Infact a Taliban spokesman has come out and denied any Taliban involvement in the attack.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast, and a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, denied the militants were behind it. The Taliban tend to claim responsibility for attacks against international or Afghan troops and deny responsibility for bombs that primarily kill civilians.

“Whenever we do a suicide attack, we confirm it,” Mujahid said. “The Taliban did not do this one.”

- Y! News

Meanwhile the Afghan Government has come out with a rather shocking revelation stating that the attack was master-minded by one of the intelligence agencies leading to serious questions being asked about the involvement of the notorious ISI.

The blast happened “in coordination and consultation with some of the active intelligence circles in the region.”

- Afghan Interior Ministry

The relations between Pakistan and India have been tense for a long time over the issue of reconstruction in Afghanistan. With India heavily involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the war-ravaged country, it has not pleased Pakistan one bit. India’s involvement and close ties with Afghanistan are viewed with suspicion in both Pakistan and certain sections of the Taliban.

Ikram Sehgal, a political analyst in Pakistan, said he doubts Pakistan’s intelligence service was behind the attack. He instead blamed Pashtuns — the largest of Afghan ethnic groups that also forms the core of the Taliban insurgency.

“The Indians were asking for it,” Sehgal said. “They have set up so many consulates along the border,” Sehgal said. “It was question of time. The (Pashtuns) see them as enemies, actually. They had to react to the Indians setting up consulates there.”

- Y! News

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is currently attending the G8 summit in Japan has condemned the attack. Afghanistan and the US have alsoissued their condemnations. It would interesting to see what kind of impact this suicide attack has on the various relationships between the countries in the region especially between India and Pakistan.

Watch this space for more updates.

Links:

Photos of the incident ( Warning! Gruesome content )

BBC Report and Video

Times of India