INDIAN EMBASSY BLAST: 17 Killed in Kabul

ATTACK ON INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING EFFORT

A Taliban suicide bomber has attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing at least 17 people in a second attack on the building in little over a year.

Afghan officials say a car bomber blew himself up near the Indian embassy and the Afghan interior ministry.
The Taliban said it carried out the attack and the embassy was the target. Kabul has been attacked regularly in recent months, and the Indian embassy was itself bombed in July 2008, with dozens of people killed.

Most strikes in the capital target foreign forces or government offices – but civilians are also often killed.
More recently, six Italian soldiers were killed last month in a bomb attack on a military convoy.

India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the suicide bomber “came up to the outside wall of the embassy with a car loaded with explosives”. Television pictures showed charred vehicles at the site and ambulances speeding to the location.
An eyewitness, Habib Jan, told the BBC the victims were civilians. “A [Toyota] Corolla car was parked in front of the Indian embassy. It was rush hour, about 10 minutes after I arrived at the office when we heard an explosion. “There were lots of workers cleaning the street – most of them have been killed.”

India has a strong relationship with Afghanistan, building and managing infrastructure projects in what analysts say is a concerted effort to minimise Pakistani influence in the country. Analysts say the strength of India’s relationship with Kabul has made it a key target for the country’s Taliban militants, who have historic links with Pakistan.

Afghan officials linked last year’s bombing to an “active intelligence service” – thought to be Pakistan. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an online statement that Thursday’s attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his vehicle outside the embassy.