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Rediff.com  » News » Indian intelligence agencies had warned Kabul about possible attack

Indian intelligence agencies had warned Kabul about possible attack

By Shishir Bhate in New Delhi
July 10, 2008 11:59 IST
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Two weeks before the suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed 41 people, Indian intelligence agencies had alerted Afghan authorities of the possibility of such an attack by the Taliban.

Four Indians, including a defence attache and a high-ranking diplomat, were among those killed in the terror attack on Monday.

Government sources said the involvement of Pakistan in the latest terrorist attacks could not be ruled out, with Pak military intelligence trying to strike a deal with the Taliban.

Soon after the attack, Afghanistan too had blamed a 'foreign intelligence agency' for the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, making a veiled reference to Pakistan.

Security at the Indian Embassy in Kabul was increased and new barricades were erected around it two days before the bomber blew himself up.

According to sources, the loss of human life in Monday's suicide bombing would have been 'much, much higher' had new efforts to buttress security at the mission had not been taken.

Ruing that 'there is little anyone can do when someone decides to blow themselves up,' sources did mention that this attack on the Indian mission in Kabul was 'serious' and 'we will not let them (those responsible for sheltering, arming and funding enabling terrorists) go.'

Indian security forces are on high alert within the country and at all Indian missions abroad following a threat perception from terrorists through Pakistan.

Referring to the recent suicide bombing near the Lal Masjid in Islamabad that killed 20 people, Indian government sources said that with 'Pakistan too experiencing bombings and attacks that left innocent civilians dead or maimed, it might learn the cost of terrorism and work towards wiping out the menace.'

The Indian Embassy in Kabul will soon be shifted in a new and more secure building in Kabul, sources said.

Despite the attacks, India has vowed to intensify its efforts to help with the reconstruction work in Afghanistan and to ensure stability in the country.

Meanwhile, a member of Parliament, on Wednesday, claimed that it is a deliberate design by the Pakistan military intelligence to perpetrate horrific acts of terrorism in India and Indian installations in nations like Afghanistan, and also within Pakistan to derail the peace process between the two neighbours.

He said the Pakistan military is trying to create a state of unrest among people in an attempt to show the new dispensation in Islamabad in poor light and thereby seize back power.

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Shishir Bhate in New Delhi