Foreign Secy flying to Kabul today

“Last time about 90-100 kg explosives were used. On first look,our experts tell us that at least 200 kg explosives were used this time.”

The car laden with explosives,Prasad said,tried to enter the Embassy through a side gate as the main gate is almost impenetrable now. Two Afghan policemen,Alam Khan and Mohammed Osman,seemed to have detected something suspicious and asked the car to back off. It was then that the driver decided to ram it into the barricade,setting off an explosion that left 17 dead,including the two alert policemen.

“They (policemen) deserve full credit. We were observing what happened from our posts and it was clear that the Afghan police were quick to act because of which the attackers could not succeed,” Prasad said.

Such was the impact of the blast that the residence of the Afghanistan Deputy Speaker,over 100 m from the embassy,was also badly damaged. Soon after the incident,the Afghan Foreign Minister and Interior Minister visited the site and showed solidarity with Indian officials.

On who could be behind the attacks,Prasad said: “It is too early to say. A joint investigation team has been formed and help is being taken from all friendly countries and their agencies here. All I can say is we have certain technical leads which are being followed.”

According to reliable sources,the finger of suspicion again points to ISI-supported Taliban groups like those of Jalaluddin Haqqani which was held responsible for the last attack.

It’s learnt that the last specific alert on a possible attack on the Indian embassy came in the last week of August. Since then,there have been at least four more alerts,based on intelligence inputs from foreign agencies active in Afghanistan. Less than a week ago,sources said,there was an alert about a possible attack on Indian engineers working on projects in Afghanistan.

For sometime now,security agencies of other countries have been noticing an increased frequency of threats against Indian assets in Afghanistan. While much of the attention of the plotters has been on Indian consulates in Kandahar,Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharief,the mission in Kabul has always been a major target ever since the last attack in which senior officials of the embassy were killed.

Today’s attack was quite similar to the previous one in execution. The impact of the blast was massive,causing extensive damage to property. After the last attack,a security assessment was carried out,because of which several changes were made that seem to have helped limit the attack this time,said sources.

With Pakistani agencies getting increasingly resentful of the Indian presence in Afghanistan,sources said,such attacks were expected. Pakistan has been applying diplomatic pressure on the US to limit India’s influence,an aspect that was reflected in the leaked report of US commander Gen Stanley McChrystal.

Prasad,however,sought to calm nerves. “There is absolutely no need to panic and we are fully prepared to meet any eventuality. The security situation has been deteriorating here,but we are better prepared too.”