Car bomb targets Indian embassy in Kabul

KABUL/NEW DELHI: In yet another reminder of the desperation of terror groups and their sponsors to get India out of Afghanistan, Taliban terrorists on Thursday executed a suicide car bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 12 people and injuring more than 80 others. The attack came 15 months after the deadly strike near the embassy last year which left more than 60 dead, including an IFS officer and the Indian defence attache. ( Watch Video ) The car bomb attack took place on the street leading up to the Indian embassy and the Afghan interior ministry. (Watch Video ) Two ITBP jawans, Gunwant and Ravinder Singh, were among those injured. ITBP officials said that they suffered minor splinter injuries. Of the 12 people killed — all Afghans — 11 were civilians while one was a police officer. India's ambassador in Kabul, Jayant Prasad, said the blast caused ``extensive damage to the chancery''. It damaged several windowpanes and doors of the Indian embassy building but a reinforced perimeter wall prevented casualties inside. The damage could have been much more but for the security arrangements put in place after last year's attack that was traced to ISI-affiliate Sirajuddin Haqqani. Curiously, one of Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, took responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted on a website, he claimed the attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his a sports-utility vehicle stuffed with explosives just outside the embassy. Indian security agencies, however, said that this could be a smokescreen to keep the ISI out of scrutiny. Last year, a suicide car bomber rammed the gate of the Indian Embassy. Among those killed were senior IFS officer V V Rao and defence attache Brigadier R D Mehta. Taliban had not claimed that attack. Suspicion of India's agencies that the claim could just be a red herring stem from both the similar nature of the two attacks, as well as its timing. They feel that the attack was meant to influence the debate in the US on what strategy to pursue in Afghanistan, with one school of thought suggesting that Pakistan's unease over India's expanding footprint may have to be addressed in order to secure Islamabad's cooperation. Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said the target indeed was the Indian embassy. ``I believe the suicide bomb was directed at the embassy since the suicide bomber came up to the outer perimeter wall of the embassy in a car loaded with explosives,'' Rao said, adding that the intensity of the blast was similar to the one that occurred outside the building on July 7, 2008. The foreign secretary said India would take ``whatever measures needed to safeguard security of our personnel and our interests in Afghanistan''. (Watch Video ) US ambassador Timothy J Roemer described the bombing as deeply troubling. ``On behalf of President Obama, I want to extend to the people of India USA's support to India, and its concern about this bombing in Afghanistan, which is deeply troubling. Our heart goes out to India, to the victims of terrorism, and our prayers are with the families of those injured and killed today,'' said Roemer. Al-Jazeera reported that Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack and that it also claimed that the actual toll was 17. The channel quoting Taliban website identified the suicide bomber as Khalid. Al-Jazeera said Afghan government and intelligence sources have indicated involvement of foreign hand in the blast as ``planned by a state and not a group of bandits'', an apparent reference to Pakistan. Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Fakiri said the attack was carried out by ``enemies of the relations between the two countries'' and that their ``bases are outside of Afghanistan''. Soon after the attack, security at the embassy and that of diplomats and other personnel was reviewed at a meeting at the Afghan interior ministry in which the Indian ambassador and officials from the Afghan foreign ministry were present. Rao said security measures after the 2008 attack had ``worked effectively and have been able to prevent'' what could have been a bigger tragedy. After the last attack, Indian authorities had erected a huge wall of concrete around the embassy to secure the mission which was almost destroyed in that blast. India has also acquired several bullet-proof vehicles for the embassy personnel. In the 2008 attack, Rao and Mehta were killed while they were entering the embassy in their vehicles.