2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul was a suicide bomb terror attack on the India
n embassy in Kabul
, Afghanistan
on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing
took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when officials enter the embassy.
U.S. intelligence officials suggested that Pakistan
's ISI intelligence agency
had planned the attack.
Pakistan tried to deny any responsibility,
but United States President George W. Bush
confronted Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with evidence and warned him that in the case of another such attack he would have to take "serious action".
Gilani promised to investigate the attack, but later Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq
described President Bush's accusation as "total rubbish" and said there was not enough evidence of ISI involvement.
and other forms of support to the coalition forces
. After the overthrow of the Taliban, India established diplomatic relations with the newly-elected democratic government, provided aid and participated in Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts through the construction of roads, railways, electricity transmission lines, schools and hospitals. Indo-Afghan relations strengthened in the wake of Afghanistan's persisting tensions and problems with Pakistan
, which is widely believed to shelter and support the Taliban. Both India and Afghanistan also developed strategic and military cooperation against the insurgency. India pursued a policy of close cooperation with Afghanistan in order to gain friendly influence in Central Asia
as well as to keep a check on Kashmiri militants
that it claims are operating from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. India also provides training to Afghan National Army
officers and military personnel at its training institutions, including the National Defence Academy and the School of Artillery at Devlali. India has also helped Afghanistan in "capacity-building" by training Afghan pilots and technicians in operating Russian-origin Mi-35 helicopter gunships. India is also a supplier of military parts for Soviet-era Afghan tanks and aircraft.
By 2007, India had pledged US$850 million to Afghan reconstruction efforts, the largest amount from any country without a military presence in Afghanistan, and later scaled up the aid to more than US$1 billion. India is currently the largest regional donor of humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in post-Taliban Afghanistan. About 3,000 Indians are estimated to be working on various reconstruction and developmental projects in Afghanistan, and they have often been subjected to attacks by Taliban insurgents. In November 2005, after an incident in which an Indian national was kidnapped and murdered, India deployed 200 soldiers of the elite Indo-Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) to provide security for Indian nationals and the projects supported by India. By 2008, ITBP's presence in Afghanistan was steadily increased to over 400 personnel.
India's growing influence in Afghanistan has upset Pakistan and other pro-Taliban elements. The Times
said in an editorial that with the United States and other NATO members unwilling to sustain long-term commitments to Afghanistan, the Taliban see India as the only regional enemy capable of resisting them.
was attacked twice by hand grenades in 2007. One soldier of the ITBP was killed and four others injured in a terrorist attack by the Taliban on 5 June 2008. In the aftermath of the attack, India's Home Ministry
cautioned its ITBP personnel to take necessary precautionary measures and also to remain at guard against fidayeen (suicide bomber) attacks. It also noted that the security being provided by the Afghan Police was "not up to the mark". In spite of these efforts, the embassy bombing of 2008 was later followed up by the 2009 Kabul Indian embassy attack
and the February 2010 Kabul attack
on Indian citizens and interests in Afghanistan.
, driven by the suicide bomber, rammed into two Indian diplomatic vehicles entering the embassy and detonated. The gates to the embassy were blown off and the walls of some buildings in its compound were damaged. A plume of smoke and dust was seen rising from the center of Kabul city, and the explosion was heard several miles away. Several nearby shopkeepers also became immediate victims of the attack, and the nearby Indonesian embassy also suffered damage. Kabul Police immediately sealed off the area.
A statement released by the Afghan interior ministry said, "The initial findings of the ministry show that the main target of this attack has not been security forces like in most attacks but has been particularly planned to target the Indian embassy". There was immediate confusion and panic in the Indian embassy after the bomb blasts. According to a CNN
reporter, a man who answered the phone at the Indian embassy abruptly hung up, saying, "We are not fine. All communications have been cut off". The Ministry of External Affairs of Government of India
was reported to be in touch with India's ambassador to Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad
. The Indian ambassador and his deputy were inside the building complex at the time of the explosion but were not hurt. Indian External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee
, called for an emergency meeting of officials in Delhi
after the bomb attack to review security arrangements. An anonymous person reported that rumours said the Indian embassy had previously received bomb threats.
officer Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta
was entering the embassy gates in a car along with V. Venkateswara Rao when the attack took place. Both were killed in the blast.
and the United States' CIA are reported to be scanning vast volumes of intercepted communications and questioning informants to find some clues. According to CNN-IBN, Indian and Afghan agencies believe that the Pakistani Army's 324 Military Intelligence Battalion based in Peshawar
had planned the attack on the Indian embassy and executed it in collaboration with either the Taliban or al-Qaida. Afghanistan's Interior Minister has stated that the suicide bombers were trained in Pakistan.
India's ambassador
to Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad, stated that, after reviewing the scene, the main target of the attack was believed to be the Indian embassy building. He also added that, considering the huge amount of explosives used in the attack, it was clear that target was not top Indian diplomatic officials but the embassy itself. Bomb scene review further revealed that the embassy guard killed in the attack had his hand on the closed gates. The ambassador stated that it is likely that the guard did not open the gate because he saw a suspicious car driving behind an embassy vehicle. The suicide attacker then might have decided to explode his device near the gate rather than inside the embassy's compound. According to investigating officials, much of the impact was taken up by the sand filled blast barriers
. These barriers, which were built across the embassy for added protection just one week before the blast, saved it from structural damage.
An investigative report in the Times of India identified the attacker as "22-year-old Hamza Shakoor from Gujranwala
district in Pakistan
," citing unnamed sources. It also claimed that "intelligence about an imminent attack was remarkably precise, giving an indication about the centres of planning and execution." US Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates
added that the US was offering help to Afghan and Indian governments to investigate further. Soon American officials came to believe that the attack was conducted by the Haqqani network
, a Taliban group led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani from Pakistan
.
involvement in the attack. India’s National Security Advisor
M.K. Narayanan said, "We have no doubt that the ISI is behind this."
On 1 August 2008, United States intelligence officials leaked a report to the New York Times that the attack was planned by the Pakistani intelligence service through the Haqqani network and Taliban. Their conclusions were based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and the perpetrators before the attack and the subsequent arrest of an ISI officer inside Afghanistan. CIA deputy director Stephen R. Kappes had visited Islamabad
before the attack, to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. The NYT story claims that the ISI officers involved had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorised by superiors in the Pakistan Army
.
US officials also called into question the reliability of Pakistan as an ally in the American war on terror
. President George W. Bush
confronted Pakistani prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani in Washington D.C. with evidence of ISI's involvement in the Kabul attack and warned that in the case of another attack he would have to take "serious action".
that opposed the Taliban. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, India opened four consulates in Herat
, Mazari Sharif, Kandahar
and Jalalabad
and backed Hamid Karzai
's national government as well as the US-led ISAF
against the Taliban insurgency. India is Afghanistan's fifth-largest bilateral donor and its growing presence in post-war Afghanistan has caused much concern to the Taliban and Pakistan as it views Indian measures as a threat to its influence in the region. The President of Pakistan
, Pervez Musharraf
, had accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of "favouring" India. Islamabad has also reportedly accused Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad of providing support to insurgents in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan
region, a claim repeated by Urdu newspapers to conservative and hardline Islamic constituents in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Coupled with Pakistan's old and documented animosity towards India, analysts claim Pakistan had strong motives to target Indian nationals and their economic projects in Afghanistan.
The statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai noted that "enemies of Afghan-India ties were behind attack" without clearly specifying which enemies. On 7 July 2008, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry claimed that the attack was carried in collaboration with a "a regional intelligence service" and added that the bombers received training in Pakistan. Afghanistan has in the past blamed its neighbour Pakistan and its intelligence service ISI for various terror incidents on its soil.
Denying its involvement in the attacks, a Taliban spokesman said in a statement, "they (India) send secret military experts to Afghanistan and they train the Afghan army. Had we carried out the attack, we would have claimed responsibility for it with pride since we have good reasons for it." The Taliban spokesman also implicated Pakistan instead and further stated that the attack had its roots in the regional Indo-Pakistan rivalry. On 8 July, Afghanistan stated that it had no doubts that the attack was carried out in collaboration with "foreign intelligence agencies", again an implicit reference to Pakistan's ISI. Prime minister of Pakistan
Yousaf Raza Gillani
denied any involvement of ISI in the attack and also remarked that his country had no interest in destabilising Afghanistan. Subsequently, there have been reports of Afghan officials blaming Pakistan directly and explicitly for the attack on the Indian embassy. Indian security analysts at the Institute of Conflict Management have claimed that "the ISI-backed Taliban will not allow any Indian consolidation in Afghanistan, nor will they allow any stability in Kabul."
denied involvement when asked to comment on reports alleging that ISI masterminded the Kabul blasts. It was also clarified that the Kabul bombings will be discussed in detail at the meeting of the joint anti-terror mechanism later the same month.
On 23 October, it was reported that India had shared sensitive information with Pakistan that pointed towards the ISI's alleged complicity in the embassy bombing as both countries ended a special meeting of their joint-terror mechanism on a "positive" note.
later called Prime Minister of India
Manmohan Singh
and expressed his condolences. On 14 July Karzai declared whom he believed to be the foreign state behind the attack, stating, "Now this has become clear. And we have told the government of Pakistan that the killings of people in Afghanistan, the destruction of bridges in Afghanistan ... are carried out by Pakistan's intelligence and Pakistan's military departments."
- The Armenian Foreign Ministry said, "with deep indignation we learned about the terrorist act near the Indian embassy in Kabul which took lives of tens of peaceful people. Among the innocent victims are our partners working in the Indian embassy."
- Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov
said, "Bulgaria categorically condemns this cruel act of terrorism." He went on to say that he hoped the attack "will not dissuade India from actively supporting the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a process in which Bulgaria is also closely involved."
- David Emerson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, condemned the attack, saying, “Previous attacks have not broken the will of Afghans or of the international community. We are heartened by India’s determined response to continue meeting its substantial commitment to Afghanistan.”
- The European Union described the bombing as a "terrorist attack targeting innocent civilians". EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
added that "Such actions, which are clearly intended to undermine the process of stabilisation and reconstruction in Afghanistan, will achieve nothing."
- Pranab Mukherjee
, India's External Affairs Minister, condemned the "cowardly terrorists' attack" and added that "such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan." India also rushed a high-level emergency team of experts to review the situation. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said, "the target is clearly the innocent citizens. Efforts to spread chaos and disturb peace will not be allowed to succeed at any cost. The government is determined to defeat nefarious designs of terrorist elements. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be dealt with firmly. The security agencies are already working in this regard. All sections of society are required to remain calm and extend fullest co-operation to them."
- Foreign Affairs Ministry said, "the Nepal Government strongly condemns the heinous act of terrorism."
- In a statement, Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
condemned the bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul, stating that "Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as this menace negates the very essence of human values". A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry also dismissed claims of Pakistan's involvement in the attack as "total rubbish".
- Before the 2008 G8 summit
, Chinese Premier
Hu Jintao
told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, "We strongly denounce the terrorist attack on the Indian embassy. I sincerely express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the bombing in Afghanistan."
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, "Our hearts go out to the victims' families and relatives, and we express our support to those injured in this inhuman act. We grieve over the death of our colleagues, Indian diplomats. We resolutely condemn the terrorists' savage attacks and we are convinced that they will be given a worthy rebuff."
- The Foreign Ministry said, "we condemn this act of terror and pledge our full support to India in your fight against this scourge."
- British foreign secretary David Miliband
said he "was appalled to hear the news". Adding that these were "cowardly actions carried out by those with no regard for human life" and that such acts "are designed to undermine the efforts of democratic governments and the international community to bring peace and stability to the region".
– Kai Eide
, the special envoy of UN Secretary General to Afghanistan said, "I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. In no culture, no country, and no religion is there any excuse or justification for such acts. The total disregard for innocent lives is staggering and those behind this must be held responsible." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
also condemned the attack "in the strongest terms." The Security Council also described the attack as a "reprehensible act of terrorism."
-US State Department spokesman
Sean McCormack
described the bombing as "terrible news" and said, "we have offered any assistance, not only to Afghan but also to Indian authorities, in terms of follow-up, determining who's responsible for these attacks." White House
spokesman Gordon Johndroe
said in a statement, "the US stands with the people of Afghanistan as well as India, as we face this common enemy."
- Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said, "Vietnam strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July, killing many civilians. We would like to extend our profound condolences to the victims’ families."
, Nimruz, a day after the attack on Indian embassy in Kabul. The engineers and workers on board reported having noticed a "suspicious package" after boarding the bus on the day, but it was only after further investigation that it was revealed that a remote-operated bomb had been placed on board. Provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad placed the blame for the attempted bombing of the workers on Taliban militants, who have been responsible for more than a dozen worker deaths in the area over the last few years.
. In September 2007, India held a joint military exercise with the United Kingdom to train British forces in counter-insurgency operations, particularly those in Afghanistan. India also has an operational air force command at the Farkhor Air Base
in neighbouring Tajikistan
. Indian Express said in an editorial
, "after the Kabul bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that it has avoided debating so far. New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan, while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military presence there. For too long, New Delhi has deferred to Pakistani and American sensitivities about raising India's strategic profile in Afghanistan." However, some analysts have feared that if India joins the United States-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, it would harm the soft power
it has gradually built in the region as a result of the widespread popularity of Bollywood
films and Indian television soaps
among Afghans.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n embassy in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when officials enter the embassy.
U.S. intelligence officials suggested that Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's ISI intelligence agency
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
had planned the attack.
Pakistan tried to deny any responsibility,
but United States President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
confronted Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with evidence and warned him that in the case of another such attack he would have to take "serious action".
Gilani promised to investigate the attack, but later Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq
Mohammed Sadiq (diplomat)
Mohammed Sadiq is a Pakistani diplomat.He was appointed Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan in December 2008.He has held a number of other senior posts within the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC in 1999-2000.-References:...
described President Bush's accusation as "total rubbish" and said there was not enough evidence of ISI involvement.
Background
During the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, India offered intelligenceIntelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
and other forms of support to the coalition forces
ISAF
ISAF may refer to:* International Sailing Federation, the world governing body for Olympic and other competitive sailing.* International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led security mission operating in Afghanistan since 2001....
. After the overthrow of the Taliban, India established diplomatic relations with the newly-elected democratic government, provided aid and participated in Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts through the construction of roads, railways, electricity transmission lines, schools and hospitals. Indo-Afghan relations strengthened in the wake of Afghanistan's persisting tensions and problems with Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, which is widely believed to shelter and support the Taliban. Both India and Afghanistan also developed strategic and military cooperation against the insurgency. India pursued a policy of close cooperation with Afghanistan in order to gain friendly influence in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
as well as to keep a check on Kashmiri militants
Terrorism in Kashmir
The insurgency in Kashmir has existed in various forms. Thousands of lives have been lost since 1989 due to the intensification of both the insurgency and the fight against it....
that it claims are operating from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. India also provides training to Afghan National Army
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...
officers and military personnel at its training institutions, including the National Defence Academy and the School of Artillery at Devlali. India has also helped Afghanistan in "capacity-building" by training Afghan pilots and technicians in operating Russian-origin Mi-35 helicopter gunships. India is also a supplier of military parts for Soviet-era Afghan tanks and aircraft.
By 2007, India had pledged US$850 million to Afghan reconstruction efforts, the largest amount from any country without a military presence in Afghanistan, and later scaled up the aid to more than US$1 billion. India is currently the largest regional donor of humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in post-Taliban Afghanistan. About 3,000 Indians are estimated to be working on various reconstruction and developmental projects in Afghanistan, and they have often been subjected to attacks by Taliban insurgents. In November 2005, after an incident in which an Indian national was kidnapped and murdered, India deployed 200 soldiers of the elite Indo-Tibetan Border Police
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is an Indian force conceived on October 24, 1962 for security along the India's border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, border covering 2115 kilometres...
(ITBP) to provide security for Indian nationals and the projects supported by India. By 2008, ITBP's presence in Afghanistan was steadily increased to over 400 personnel.
India's growing influence in Afghanistan has upset Pakistan and other pro-Taliban elements. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
said in an editorial that with the United States and other NATO members unwilling to sustain long-term commitments to Afghanistan, the Taliban see India as the only regional enemy capable of resisting them.
Other attacks on Indian interests
According to the New York Times, India's external ministry officials have been raising the issue of security of Indian personnel in Afghanistan for the past several months. The Indian consulate in JalalabadJalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
was attacked twice by hand grenades in 2007. One soldier of the ITBP was killed and four others injured in a terrorist attack by the Taliban on 5 June 2008. In the aftermath of the attack, India's Home Ministry
Ministry of Home Affairs (India)
Ministry of Home Affairs , known as the Home Ministry or MHA, is an Indian government ministry. It is an interior ministry mainly responsible for the maintenance of Internal security and domestic policy.-Ministerial Team:...
cautioned its ITBP personnel to take necessary precautionary measures and also to remain at guard against fidayeen (suicide bomber) attacks. It also noted that the security being provided by the Afghan Police was "not up to the mark". In spite of these efforts, the embassy bombing of 2008 was later followed up by the 2009 Kabul Indian embassy attack
2009 Kabul Indian embassy attack
The 2009 Kabul Indian embassy attack was a suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 8 October 2009 at 8:30 am local time...
and the February 2010 Kabul attack
February 2010 Kabul attack
The February 2010 Kabul attack on February 26, 2010 was a combined suicide bombing and shooting attack. A car bomb levelled the Arya Guesthouse, also known as theHamid Guesthouse,popular with Indian doctors....
on Indian citizens and interests in Afghanistan.
The bombing
The car bomb detonated at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time on 7 July 2008. The Indian embassy, which is in the center of Kabul, is located across the street from the office of the Interior Ministry of the Government of Afghanistan and is close to several other government buildings. The bombing occurred on a busy, tree-lined street where people usually line up at the embassy gates to apply for visas to India. An explosive-packed Toyota CamryToyota Camry
The Toyota Camry is a series of mid-size automobiles manufactured by Toyota since 1982, and sold in the majority of automotive markets throughout the world...
, driven by the suicide bomber, rammed into two Indian diplomatic vehicles entering the embassy and detonated. The gates to the embassy were blown off and the walls of some buildings in its compound were damaged. A plume of smoke and dust was seen rising from the center of Kabul city, and the explosion was heard several miles away. Several nearby shopkeepers also became immediate victims of the attack, and the nearby Indonesian embassy also suffered damage. Kabul Police immediately sealed off the area.
A statement released by the Afghan interior ministry said, "The initial findings of the ministry show that the main target of this attack has not been security forces like in most attacks but has been particularly planned to target the Indian embassy". There was immediate confusion and panic in the Indian embassy after the bomb blasts. According to a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reporter, a man who answered the phone at the Indian embassy abruptly hung up, saying, "We are not fine. All communications have been cut off". The Ministry of External Affairs of Government of India
Ministry of External Affairs (India)
The Ministry of External Affairs is the foreign ministry of India. It is the Indian government agency responsible for the foreign relations of India. The Minister of External Affairs holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is S M Krishna...
was reported to be in touch with India's ambassador to Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad
Jayant Prasad
Jayant Prasad was born on June 5, 1952 and educated in Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. After lecturing on modern Indian history for two years at St...
. The Indian ambassador and his deputy were inside the building complex at the time of the explosion but were not hurt. Indian External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,...
, called for an emergency meeting of officials in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
after the bomb attack to review security arrangements. An anonymous person reported that rumours said the Indian embassy had previously received bomb threats.
Casualties
Most of the 58 dead were locals and included two top Indian officials. Senior Indian ArmyIndian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
officer Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta
Ravi Datt Mehta
Ravi Datt Mehta , was a brigadier in the Indian army. He died in the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul while serving as India's Defence Attaché to Afghanistan on July 7, 2008.-Early life and Military career:R.D...
was entering the embassy gates in a car along with V. Venkateswara Rao when the attack took place. Both were killed in the blast.
Indian casualties
- Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta had been assigned a key role as defence attachéMilitary attachéA military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
, serving as part of India's military training and logistical help to Afghanistan, and was posted in Kabul for six months. He was said to have a "good relationship" with Afghan defence minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. During his tenure in the Indian Army, which he commenced with the class of June 1976, he had gained experience in counter-insurgency operations in both Jammu and KashmirJammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
and North-East IndiaNorth-East IndiaNortheast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal...
. It has been suspected that he was specifically targeted by insurgents, as he had a key role in training the Afghan military and was closely tracking links between the Taliban and Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence. - V. Venkateswara Rao was an Indian Foreign ServiceIndian Foreign ServiceThe Indian Foreign Service is the foreign service of India. It is the body of career diplomats of India.The Indian Foreign Service is part of the Central Civil Services of the Government of India...
officer of the class of 1990 and was working as an Indian press counselor in the Afghan mission. - Two Indian officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border PoliceIndo-Tibetan Border PoliceThe Indo-Tibetan Border Police is an Indian force conceived on October 24, 1962 for security along the India's border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, border covering 2115 kilometres...
, Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh, were also killed in the blast. An Indian Air ForceIndian Air ForceThe Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
IL-76 aircraft was sent to Kabul to retrieve the four bodies.
Casualties from other states
Six Afghan police constables were killed and five others sustained injuries. An Afghan Indian Embassy employee by the name of Niamutullah was also killed in the blast. The five Afghan guards outside the Indonesian Embassy were killed, and two Indonesian diplomats were injured in the attack.Investigations
Afghanistan's intelligence agency Riyast-i-Amniyat-i-Milli, India's Research and Analysis WingResearch and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...
and the United States' CIA are reported to be scanning vast volumes of intercepted communications and questioning informants to find some clues. According to CNN-IBN, Indian and Afghan agencies believe that the Pakistani Army's 324 Military Intelligence Battalion based in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
had planned the attack on the Indian embassy and executed it in collaboration with either the Taliban or al-Qaida. Afghanistan's Interior Minister has stated that the suicide bombers were trained in Pakistan.
India's ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad, stated that, after reviewing the scene, the main target of the attack was believed to be the Indian embassy building. He also added that, considering the huge amount of explosives used in the attack, it was clear that target was not top Indian diplomatic officials but the embassy itself. Bomb scene review further revealed that the embassy guard killed in the attack had his hand on the closed gates. The ambassador stated that it is likely that the guard did not open the gate because he saw a suspicious car driving behind an embassy vehicle. The suicide attacker then might have decided to explode his device near the gate rather than inside the embassy's compound. According to investigating officials, much of the impact was taken up by the sand filled blast barriers
Separation barrier
A separation barrier is a wall or fence constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate two populations. These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and topography...
. These barriers, which were built across the embassy for added protection just one week before the blast, saved it from structural damage.
An investigative report in the Times of India identified the attacker as "22-year-old Hamza Shakoor from Gujranwala
Gujranwala
Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
district in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
," citing unnamed sources. It also claimed that "intelligence about an imminent attack was remarkably precise, giving an indication about the centres of planning and execution." US Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
added that the US was offering help to Afghan and Indian governments to investigate further. Soon American officials came to believe that the attack was conducted by the Haqqani network
Haqqani network
The Haqqani Network is an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating from Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence during the 1980s Soviet war in...
, a Taliban group led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Pakistani involvement
On 13 July India stated their suspicions about the ISI'sInter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
involvement in the attack. India’s National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (India)
The National Security Advisor of India is a member of the National Security Council , and the primary advisor to the Prime Minister, the Indian Cabinet and the NSC on internal and international security issues.-Overview:...
M.K. Narayanan said, "We have no doubt that the ISI is behind this."
On 1 August 2008, United States intelligence officials leaked a report to the New York Times that the attack was planned by the Pakistani intelligence service through the Haqqani network and Taliban. Their conclusions were based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and the perpetrators before the attack and the subsequent arrest of an ISI officer inside Afghanistan. CIA deputy director Stephen R. Kappes had visited Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
before the attack, to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. The NYT story claims that the ISI officers involved had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorised by superiors in the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
.
US officials also called into question the reliability of Pakistan as an ally in the American war on terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
confronted Pakistani prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani in Washington D.C. with evidence of ISI's involvement in the Kabul attack and warned that in the case of another attack he would have to take "serious action".
Motivations
During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which was backed by Pakistan, India had supported the Northern AllianceUnited Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
that opposed the Taliban. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, India opened four consulates in Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
, Mazari Sharif, Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
and Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
and backed Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
's national government as well as the US-led ISAF
ISAF
ISAF may refer to:* International Sailing Federation, the world governing body for Olympic and other competitive sailing.* International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led security mission operating in Afghanistan since 2001....
against the Taliban insurgency. India is Afghanistan's fifth-largest bilateral donor and its growing presence in post-war Afghanistan has caused much concern to the Taliban and Pakistan as it views Indian measures as a threat to its influence in the region. The President of Pakistan
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
, Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
, had accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of "favouring" India. Islamabad has also reportedly accused Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad of providing support to insurgents in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan
Balochistan
Balochistan or Baluchistan is a region which covers parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. It can also refer to one of several modern and historical territories within that region:...
region, a claim repeated by Urdu newspapers to conservative and hardline Islamic constituents in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Coupled with Pakistan's old and documented animosity towards India, analysts claim Pakistan had strong motives to target Indian nationals and their economic projects in Afghanistan.
The statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai noted that "enemies of Afghan-India ties were behind attack" without clearly specifying which enemies. On 7 July 2008, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry claimed that the attack was carried in collaboration with a "a regional intelligence service" and added that the bombers received training in Pakistan. Afghanistan has in the past blamed its neighbour Pakistan and its intelligence service ISI for various terror incidents on its soil.
Denying its involvement in the attacks, a Taliban spokesman said in a statement, "they (India) send secret military experts to Afghanistan and they train the Afghan army. Had we carried out the attack, we would have claimed responsibility for it with pride since we have good reasons for it." The Taliban spokesman also implicated Pakistan instead and further stated that the attack had its roots in the regional Indo-Pakistan rivalry. On 8 July, Afghanistan stated that it had no doubts that the attack was carried out in collaboration with "foreign intelligence agencies", again an implicit reference to Pakistan's ISI. Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yousuf Raza Gilani is the current prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the support of its coalition partners, Pakistan Muslim League , Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on 22 March 2008...
denied any involvement of ISI in the attack and also remarked that his country had no interest in destabilising Afghanistan. Subsequently, there have been reports of Afghan officials blaming Pakistan directly and explicitly for the attack on the Indian embassy. Indian security analysts at the Institute of Conflict Management have claimed that "the ISI-backed Taliban will not allow any Indian consolidation in Afghanistan, nor will they allow any stability in Kabul."
Denials by Pakistan
Immediately after the report in the New York Times, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq described it as "total rubbish" and said there was no evidence of ISI involvement. "The foreign newspapers keep writing such things against ISI, and we reject these allegations." On 15 October, in an India-Pakistan bilateral meeting to address cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, Islamabad denied any role of the ISI in the 7 July bombings. Pakistan's National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali DurraniMahmud Ali Durrani
Mahmud Ali Durrani is a retired Pakistani army officer. He was the National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani's administration until he was fired in January 2009 for "not consulting the Prime Minister while giving statements on foreign relation matters"...
denied involvement when asked to comment on reports alleging that ISI masterminded the Kabul blasts. It was also clarified that the Kabul bombings will be discussed in detail at the meeting of the joint anti-terror mechanism later the same month.
On 23 October, it was reported that India had shared sensitive information with Pakistan that pointed towards the ISI's alleged complicity in the embassy bombing as both countries ended a special meeting of their joint-terror mechanism on a "positive" note.
International reaction
On behalf of states around the world, their respective representatives commented on both the attack and the resulting casualties: - Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the embassy soon after the attack to show his support. His ministry's spokesman, Sultan Ahmad Baheen, said, "the enemies of Afghanistan and India's relationship cannot hamper our relationship by conducting such attacks". He added, "India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other. Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations." A statement released by the Afghan foreign ministry said, "the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan strongly condemns today's terrorist attack on the embassy of the friendly and brother country of India". Afghan President Hamid KarzaiHamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
later called Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
and expressed his condolences. On 14 July Karzai declared whom he believed to be the foreign state behind the attack, stating, "Now this has become clear. And we have told the government of Pakistan that the killings of people in Afghanistan, the destruction of bridges in Afghanistan ... are carried out by Pakistan's intelligence and Pakistan's military departments."
- The Armenian Foreign Ministry said, "with deep indignation we learned about the terrorist act near the Indian embassy in Kabul which took lives of tens of peaceful people. Among the innocent victims are our partners working in the Indian embassy."
- Australia - Foreign Minister Stephen SmithStephen Smith (Australian politician)Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
said the Australian government "condemns the car bomb attack ... and extends its deep sympathies to the Afghan government and people and to the Indian government and people." He went on to add "This attack further demonstrates their determination to kill, maim and intimidate the Afghan people and to undermine international efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan."
- Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov is a President of Bulgaria, whose second and last mandate expires on January 22, 2012; he was elected after defeating his predecessor Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2001 and he came into office on January 22, 2002...
said, "Bulgaria categorically condemns this cruel act of terrorism." He went on to say that he hoped the attack "will not dissuade India from actively supporting the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a process in which Bulgaria is also closely involved."
- David Emerson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, condemned the attack, saying, “Previous attacks have not broken the will of Afghans or of the international community. We are heartened by India’s determined response to continue meeting its substantial commitment to Afghanistan.”
- The European Union described the bombing as a "terrorist attack targeting innocent civilians". EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...
added that "Such actions, which are clearly intended to undermine the process of stabilisation and reconstruction in Afghanistan, will achieve nothing."
- Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,...
, India's External Affairs Minister, condemned the "cowardly terrorists' attack" and added that "such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan." India also rushed a high-level emergency team of experts to review the situation. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
said, "the target is clearly the innocent citizens. Efforts to spread chaos and disturb peace will not be allowed to succeed at any cost. The government is determined to defeat nefarious designs of terrorist elements. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be dealt with firmly. The security agencies are already working in this regard. All sections of society are required to remain calm and extend fullest co-operation to them."
- Foreign Affairs Ministry said, "the Nepal Government strongly condemns the heinous act of terrorism."
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop SchefferJaap de Hoop SchefferJakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as the 11th Secretary General of NATO from January 5, 2004 until August 1, 2009....
said in a statement, "On behalf of NATO, I wholeheartedly condemn the bombing at the Indian Embassy. The loss of life and injuries to so many is a tragedy, and a clear attempt to undermine regional relations."
- In a statement, Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister of Pakistan
The Foreign Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current Foreign Minister is Hina Rabbani Khar who took office as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 11 February 2011, and as full Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20 July, 2011...
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi is well-known Politician in Pakistan. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government of PPP, Muttahida Quami Movement[MQM], ANP and JUI-F formed after the 2008 general elections. He was a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, where...
condemned the bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul, stating that "Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as this menace negates the very essence of human values". A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry also dismissed claims of Pakistan's involvement in the attack as "total rubbish".
- Before the 2008 G8 summit
34th G8 summit
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō, Japan from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo ; and Nago, Okinawa . The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders...
, Chinese Premier
Paramount leader
Paramount leader literally "the highest leader of the party and the state ", in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China....
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, "We strongly denounce the terrorist attack on the Indian embassy. I sincerely express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the bombing in Afghanistan."
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, "Our hearts go out to the victims' families and relatives, and we express our support to those injured in this inhuman act. We grieve over the death of our colleagues, Indian diplomats. We resolutely condemn the terrorists' savage attacks and we are convinced that they will be given a worthy rebuff."
- The Foreign Ministry said, "we condemn this act of terror and pledge our full support to India in your fight against this scourge."
- British foreign secretary David Miliband
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
said he "was appalled to hear the news". Adding that these were "cowardly actions carried out by those with no regard for human life" and that such acts "are designed to undermine the efforts of democratic governments and the international community to bring peace and stability to the region".
– Kai Eide
Kai Eide
Kai Aage Eide is a Norwegian diplomat. He was appointed the United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on 7 March 2008, a position he held until March 2010 when Staffan de Mistura took over.Eide has previously served as...
, the special envoy of UN Secretary General to Afghanistan said, "I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. In no culture, no country, and no religion is there any excuse or justification for such acts. The total disregard for innocent lives is staggering and those behind this must be held responsible." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
also condemned the attack "in the strongest terms." The Security Council also described the attack as a "reprehensible act of terrorism."
-US State Department spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Department Spokesman on June 2, 2005, and served until January 20, 2009.-Early career:...
described the bombing as "terrible news" and said, "we have offered any assistance, not only to Afghan but also to Indian authorities, in terms of follow-up, determining who's responsible for these attacks." White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
spokesman Gordon Johndroe
Gordon Johndroe
Gordon Johndroe was Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush, Deputy Press Secretary and a spokesman for the United States National Security Council...
said in a statement, "the US stands with the people of Afghanistan as well as India, as we face this common enemy."
- Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said, "Vietnam strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July, killing many civilians. We would like to extend our profound condolences to the victims’ families."
Further threats to Indian nationals
A bomb was found on a bus transporting 12 Indian road construction workers of Border Roads Organization to Afghanistan on 8 July 2008 in ZaranjZaranj
Zaranj or Zarang is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004. It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the...
, Nimruz, a day after the attack on Indian embassy in Kabul. The engineers and workers on board reported having noticed a "suspicious package" after boarding the bus on the day, but it was only after further investigation that it was revealed that a remote-operated bomb had been placed on board. Provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad placed the blame for the attempted bombing of the workers on Taliban militants, who have been responsible for more than a dozen worker deaths in the area over the last few years.
Calls for Indian military intervention
According to some defence analysts, India should increase its military presence in Afghanistan not only to protect Indian projects and nationals there, but also to aid the coalition forces to improve the overall security situation in the war-torn country. Gurmeet Kanwal, head of the Center for Land Warfare Studies, said, "I would say the time has come to live up to our responsibility. If it involves military intervention, so be it." C. Raja Mohan, an Indian foreign policy analyst, urged India's government to increase military presence in Afghanistan and also added "Afghanistan needs to be stabilised. Pakistan needs to be stabilised. This requires more drastic remedies." In April 2008 Afghanistan's Defense Minister formally requested India's help in counter-insurgency operations during his visit to New Delhi. India has already provided large-scale military equipment to the Afghan National Army and has also given crucial intelligence inputs to the United States-led coalition forces. Several members of the Afghan army have undergone anti-terrorist training in India and in April 2007, the Indian Army also sent a delegation to set up an army training school in Afghanistan and UzbekistanUzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. In September 2007, India held a joint military exercise with the United Kingdom to train British forces in counter-insurgency operations, particularly those in Afghanistan. India also has an operational air force command at the Farkhor Air Base
Farkhor Air Base
Farkhor Air Base is a Tajik military air base located near the town of Farkhor in Tajikistan, south east of the capital Dushanbe. It was expected to become an Indian military base situated in a foreign country and just 2 km from the Tajik-Afghan border....
in neighbouring Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
. Indian Express said in an editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
, "after the Kabul bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that it has avoided debating so far. New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan, while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military presence there. For too long, New Delhi has deferred to Pakistani and American sensitivities about raising India's strategic profile in Afghanistan." However, some analysts have feared that if India joins the United States-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, it would harm the soft power
Soft power
Soft power is the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction. It can be contrasted with 'hard power', that is the use of coercion and payment...
it has gradually built in the region as a result of the widespread popularity of Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films and Indian television soaps
Indian soap opera
Indian soap operas are soap operas written, produced, filmed in India, with characters played by Indians , with episodes broadcast on Indian television channels/channel chains that are not often limited to the Republic of India itself: often many “serials,” as they’re more commonly referred to as,...
among Afghans.