Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

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John Snow
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by John Snow »

"In India's neighborhood uncle is a part of the problem not a solution"
Spinster 1999


Until and unless uncle feels the presence of surya taking to wings, he will not revist his strategy. Surya Rao speaks and articulates very well the parlance foggy bottom can quickly understand.
svinayak
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by svinayak »

US is focused on Haqqani.
India-Pakistan Strife May Hurt U.S. in Afghanistan

Regional JockeyingIs Blamed in ISI,
Al Qaeda Dealings

By JAY SOLOMON
August 2, 2008; Page A6

WASHINGTON -- Officials in the Bush administration say renewed tensions between India and Pakistan could be damaging U.S. efforts to conquer the Taliban and achieve stability in Afghanistan.

These concerns surfaced Thursday when the U.S. charged that Pakistan's intelligence agency helped militants carry out an attack last month on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 58 people.
[Photo]
Associated Press
Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, a region where attacks on NATO forces have increased significantly this year. U.S. officials say tension between India and Pakistan may be making the problem worse.

U.S. officials said Thursday they concluded that elements of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, aided the attack, based on telecommunications intercepts linking Pakistani intelligence officials to Afghan insurgents. The U.S. officials said India's security services drew similar conclusions based on their own telecommunications intercepts and intelligence.

Pakistan's government Friday said it needs to purge Taliban sympathizers from its intelligence service, but denied that the ISI helped militants in the July 7 bombing, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. intelligence officials have voiced concerns for years that Pakistan's rivalry with India could destabilize Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government has historically pursued a policy of "strategic depth" in Afghanistan, supporting their Pashtun allies in the country to guard against India or Iran encircling Pakistan on its western border. During the 1990s, the ISI built up the Taliban in support of this strategic policy.


But since the collapse of the Taliban regime in the U.S.-led war that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., India and Iran have expanded their own influence in Afghanistan.

India has built a network of diplomatic missions and played a role in overseeing new infrastructure projects. Iran, meanwhile, has enjoyed especially close ties with President Hamid Karzai's government, thanks to Tehran's own role in funding aid and development projects.

Some U.S. officials say they are concerned that the growing roles of Pakistan's rivals in Afghanistan are feeding the ISI's desire to support the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

The officials say a better U.S. policy would have been to limit India's high-profile activities inside Afghanistan. They also say Washington may again need to play a more active role in mediation between Islamabad and New Delhi to stabilize Afghanistan and the broader South Asian region.

"Having the Indians running around Afghanistan was sure to invite retaliation," said a U.S. intelligence official with extensive experience in Afghanistan. "We may need to play a more direct role in calming things down."


Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama proposed just that in an interview last week. "If one of the central concerns of Pakistan is its security posture towards India, then we need to put that on the table for discussion as we try to solve the problems in Afghanistan," he said.

The U.S. has had increasing difficulty in quelling the insurgency in Afghanistan. Roadside bombs killed five North Atlantic Treaty Organization soldiers and a civilian Friday in eastern Afghanistan, an area where the number of insurgent attacks has increased 40% this year, compared with the same period in 2007, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. and Afghan officials charge that most of the militants in the area use Pakistan as a base. The issue was discussed during President George W. Bush's meeting this week with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani. The Central Intelligence Agency sent its No. 2 official, Steve Kappes, to Islamabad last month to discuss concerns over the border areas.

A string of bombings in India in recent weeks has raised concerns in New Delhi about possible ISI involement. On July 26, a string of explosions in the western city of Ahmedabad killed more than 45 people, one day after explosions in the high-technology center of Bangalore killed at least one person. In May, coordinated bombings killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur.


New Delhi alleged the ISI played a role in a 2001 attack on India's parliament building, which nearly led the two countries to an all-out war. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, conducted months of shuttle diplomacy between New Delhi and Islamabad to avert a possible nuclear confrontation.

U.S. officials believe the militants who carried out the Indian embassy attack in July are linked to the Haqqani Network, an insurgent grouping headed by the Afghan mujahadeen commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Mr. Haqqani is based out of the tribal-region district of North Waziristan, and U.S. military and intelligence officials believe he works closely with both al Qaeda and the Taliban in coordinating suicide attacks against Afghan and NATO troops inside Afghanistan.

Mr. Haqqani has maintained close links to the ISI dating to the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviet Union. The CIA also forged ties to Mr. Haqqani during the war, providing financing and arms to the Pashtun commander.

"Haqqani has been at the center of the insurgency for the past three years," said a U.S. official. "But he's become even more active in recent months."

The CIA and ISI have debated in recent years what to do with Mr. Haqqani. The ISI has argued that the commander could potentially be integrated into the Kabul government's security apparatus, potentially winning additional support for President Karzai's government from Afghanistan's sizable Pashtun population. The U.S. has concluded that Mr. Haqqani and his son, Siraj Haqqani, have grown too close to al Qaeda to be part of any reconciliation process.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com
svinayak
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by svinayak »

If you look at ISI as an extension of the western agencies then it makes lot of sense
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by Avinash R »

Man behind Kabul blasts identified?
8/3/2008

22-yr-old Hamza Shakoor has been identified as the bomber who carried out the suicide attack outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, according to sources. The blast killed more than 40 people including a Brigadier of the Indian army.

According to sources, Hamza Shakoor hails from the Gujranwala district of Punjab in Pakistan.He was an activist of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Shakoor is said to have been recruited by the Gujranwala chapter of the Jamaatul Daawa as a jehadi operative in 2006. He was chosen for suicide-hit training earlier this year.

Sources say that the chief of the JuD Hafiz Saeed has quoted Hamza Shakoor as an example to other young militants while speaking about the importance of suicide attacks.

A suicide bomb that struck Kabul last month (June, 2008) blew off the gates of the Indian Embassy. The car bomb, which exploded just as two diplomatic vehicles entered the compound, rattled much of Afghanistan's capital. Dozens were killed and a large number of injuries were reported.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by sum »

22-yr-old Hamza Shakoor has been identified as the bomber who carried out the suicide attack outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, according to sources. The blast killed more than 40 people including a Brigadier of the Indian army.

According to sources, Hamza Shakoor hails from the Gujranwala district of Punjab in Pakistan.He was an activist of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Shakoor is said to have been recruited by the Gujranwala chapter of the Jamaatul Daawa as a jehadi operative in 2006. He was chosen for suicide-hit training earlier this year.

Sources say that the chief of the JuD Hafiz Saeed has quoted Hamza Shakoor as an example to other young militants while speaking about the importance of suicide attacks.

A suicide bomb that struck Kabul last month (June, 2008) blew off the gates of the Indian Embassy. The car bomb, which exploded just as two diplomatic vehicles entered the compound, rattled much of Afghanistan's capital. Dozens were killed and a large number of injuries were reported.
Who identified him? Indians or Amrikans?
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by vishwakarmaa »

sum wrote:Who identified him? Indians or Amrikans?
How does it matter?
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by vishwakarmaa »

India should openly support Iran's nuclear programme.

Pakistan's nuclear programme forwards American and Chinese interests in the sub-continent.
- It gives amrikan self-built excuse to maintain equal equal force parity in sub-continent and sell F-16s to pak and F-18s to India and Indians accept it naively, good for amerika.
- It keeps India busy with pakistan, good for China.

Iran has its own reasons to toe Indian line and appose Pakistan. If Iran becomes nuclear, it will neutralize pakistan's advantage against India and hence it will neutralize Amrikan and Chinese "pawn" against India.

Pakistan can cry foul about nuclear Iran, while India will be free to take on other biggies.

I totally support funding and making Iran Nuclear. Its in our self-interests.

We should tell Israel same that americans tells us - "Nuclear Iran is necessary for power parity(equal-equal) and peace in middle-east".

"Democracy" is only a tool to weaken others. Russia achieved security not through democracy. China achieved security not through democracy.
Last edited by vishwakarmaa on 03 Aug 2008 18:05, edited 1 time in total.
vishwakarmaa
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by vishwakarmaa »

What Indian experts never told us is - pakistan acquired nukes with full consent of Americans.

Its strange that people still blame just china for it, when amerika had total control on non-nuclear pakistan during soviet war.

It was a meaningfully taken decision to allow Pakistan go nuclear. Not just "negligence" done for self-interests.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by vishwakarmaa »

American approach - Preach democracy at home, screw the outside world under the name of "democracy".

This approach is good for us.
Raju

Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by Raju »

sum wrote:
22-yr-old Hamza Shakoor has been identified as the bomber who carried out the suicide attack outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, according to sources. The blast killed more than 40 people including a Brigadier of the Indian army.

According to sources, Hamza Shakoor hails from the Gujranwala district of Punjab in Pakistan.He was an activist of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Shakoor is said to have been recruited by the Gujranwala chapter of the Jamaatul Daawa as a jehadi operative in 2006. He was chosen for suicide-hit training earlier this year.

Sources say that the chief of the JuD Hafiz Saeed has quoted Hamza Shakoor as an example to other young militants while speaking about the importance of suicide attacks.

A suicide bomb that struck Kabul last month (June, 2008) blew off the gates of the Indian Embassy. The car bomb, which exploded just as two diplomatic vehicles entered the compound, rattled much of Afghanistan's capital. Dozens were killed and a large number of injuries were reported.
Who identified him? Indians or Amrikans?
he was identified by the taliban itself.

IIRC by a local chieftain belonging to the Baitullah Masood group. They got hold of two Pakistanis.
sum
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by sum »

How does it matter?
Would have been happy if the Indians claimed to have identified him since it would show that our agencies are really on the prowl.... :twisted:
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by John Snow »

We have data, we have meta data, we have now information but where is the action to become wisdom for future?


Data here is Taliban (behind the bombing) we have Meta data = the name, nationality, address of the person behind the attack, we now have information that ecapsulates meta data, data and the motive, ISI + Taliban to deter India doing good in Afghan
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by pauldevis »

Govt announces $450 mn fresh assistance for Afghanistan
NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the July 7 attack on its mission in Kabul, India Monday announced fresh assistance of $450 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan as the two countries vowed to fight the menace of terrorism jointly.

The fresh aid has taken India's total contribution to reconstruction of Afghanistan to $1.2 billion making it one of the leading donors to that country.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by NRao »

The threat to Indo-Afghan dealings is the West that views that region in terms of Indo-Pak relations, when in fact it is the inept themselves that needs reform.

The US/NATO would prefer $450 Million worth of Indian soldiers under their command, rather than the aid, which will be again viewed as Indians "running around".

That the problem exists BECAUSE it has moved from Afghanistan to some other area is totally lost on them!!! What is worse is that this was predicted.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by amit »

vishwakarmaa wrote:India should openly support Iran's nuclear programme.

Pakistan's nuclear programme forwards American and Chinese interests in the sub-continent.
- It gives amrikan self-built excuse to maintain equal equal force parity in sub-continent and sell F-16s to pak and F-18s to India and Indians accept it naively, good for amerika.
- It keeps India busy with pakistan, good for China.

Iran has its own reasons to toe Indian line and appose Pakistan. If Iran becomes nuclear, it will neutralize pakistan's advantage against India and hence it will neutralize Amrikan and Chinese "pawn" against India.

Pakistan can cry foul about nuclear Iran, while India will be free to take on other biggies.

I totally support funding and making Iran Nuclear. Its in our self-interests.

We should tell Israel same that americans tells us - "Nuclear Iran is necessary for power parity(equal-equal) and peace in middle-east".

"Democracy" is only a tool to weaken others. Russia achieved security not through democracy. China achieved security not through democracy.
Do you even realise that despite friction the ultimate objective of both Sunni Pakistan and Shia Iran is to plant the flag of Islam on Red Fort?

Khommeni called Jinnah a man without vision because if he hadn't created Pakistan then Muslims would consititue 30-40 per cent of India's population and it would have been easier to get that figure up to 51 per cent - the inflexion point when India becomes Muslim India. (The same reason the Deobandi's opposed Partition).

Muslim India is a far more important project for both Sunnis and Shias than mutual hatred. They first want Muslim India and then they will go about killing each other.

Sorry but sometimes your solutions sound - well let's put this way (for fear of Adminullahs)- not well thought out.

I don't know how you could think that two nuclear armed Muslim nations would cancel each other out and be to India's advantage?

And we tell Israel that nuclear Iran is necessary and then, like good boys, they go home nodding their heads in agreement?

Boss please think before you post.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by pushkar.bhat »

vishwakarmaa wrote:India should openly support Iran's nuclear programme.

Pakistan's nuclear programme forwards American and Chinese interests in the sub-continent.
- It gives amrikan self-built excuse to maintain equal equal force parity in sub-continent and sell F-16s to pak and F-18s to India and Indians accept it naively, good for amerika.
- It keeps India busy with pakistan, good for China.

Iran has its own reasons to toe Indian line and appose Pakistan. If Iran becomes nuclear, it will neutralize pakistan's advantage against India and hence it will neutralize Amrikan and Chinese "pawn" against India.

Pakistan can cry foul about nuclear Iran, while India will be free to take on other biggies.

I totally support funding and making Iran Nuclear. Its in our self-interests.

We should tell Israel same that americans tells us - "Nuclear Iran is necessary for power parity(equal-equal) and peace in middle-east".

"Democracy" is only a tool to weaken others. Russia achieved security not through democracy. China achieved security not through democracy.
While it makes strategic sense to support Iran, I think it needs to be done in a very sophisticated way. The key challange is how can India help Iran get out of its international paria status and integrate with global powers like US, Europe and Russia. A emperical analysis of the states where China has a say will indicate that Beijing is supporting every country which is considered to be a outcast by western civilization. That way China is creating a sphere of influence which is the "coalition of the outcasts".

Integrating Iran into the global framework is a key China containment step. One of the main reasons why Unkil has been opposed to Iran is because American Energy companies did not and cannot have a share of the Oil Profits in Iran. I think that US will have to give up on this demand in order to meet a greater need, that of containing China and its influence.

I want to point to a detailed blog on Afghanistan which also mentions of Indian intrests in Chabahar and the Delaram-Zarang-Melak-Chabahar transportation axis. Link of the same is http://pushkarbhat.com/blogs/2008/07/in ... reat-game/.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by NRao »

On Indo-Iran topic, India does have agreements to use Iranian "soil" in case of war with TSP!! To support a second front.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by pushkar.bhat »

NRao wrote:On Indo-Iran topic, India does have agreements to use Iranian "soil" in case of war with TSP!! To support a second front.
NRao it would be interesting if you could share any open source reference on the same.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by NRao »

Is Iran Next?
Iran also recently agreed to construct a $3.2 billion undersea gas pipeline to India, to be built by Gazprom, the huge Russian gas monopoly. And Iran and India also signed a military agreement that gives Indian armed forces access to Iranian territory and facilities during any war between India and Pakistan. In return, the Indian military will provide training and technical assistance to Iranian forces.
IIRC it occured around late 1990s .................... early days of BR.

Google for "India Iran military agreement bases".

(Just BTW, the "In return, the Indian military will provide training and technical assistance to Iranian forces" is what the US Congress people are cribbing about ........ the Hyde Act too. The Naval training became a big thorn in the US a few years ago.)
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by NRao »

Iran Hedges Its Strategic Bets As American Bases Spread On All Its Frontiers.

This is a very interesting article (in a more appropriate thread granted):
In return, according to defensenews.com, "India's military planners want to be able to quickly deploy troops, armoured personnel carriers, tanks, light armoured vehicles and surveillance platforms to Iran during crises with Pakistan". While the go-ahead for such a deployment seems unlikely - given the rapid intensification of Indo-US defence relations over the past two years on the one hand and the complexities it would involve for Iran (a vulnerability to Pakistani nuclear attack for example) on the other - regional uncertainties in the coming months open up multiple possibilities.
pushkar,

please email me at indicgroup at netscape dot net.

thx.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by Sumeet »

NRao,

Most of our surveillance platforms are of Israeli origin. How will Iran feel about placing them there ? And how comfortable will Israel be with it ?
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by NRao »

Sumeet,

The deal was signed some 10 years ago and it was meant for a second front against Pakistan.

Much has changed since then, so I am not too sure that it matters too much, but the agreement is still there for use if need be.

However, please note that the equipment would have been placed in Iran only for the duration of a conflict with Pakistan.

And, we forget that there were plenty of other agreements signed with Iran and Turkmenistan and Russia - for developing a land corridor. This was just a part of those agreements.

Sumeet,

Check this out. A little dated (compared to today), but worth a read.
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Re: Suicide Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

Post by ramana »

From Deccan Chronicle, 25 Aug 2008
Big tender soon for Afghan projects


New Delhi, Aug. 24: India will soon award contracts for construction of the new Afghan Parliament building and India’s new chancery in Kabul. The Union Cabinet is expected to clear this in a fortnight or so, sources said. Work on the new chancery, which will take 18 months to complete, will be taken up on a priority basis. The Parliament building will take longer.

A boundary wall is coming up at the Parliament building site. The design and architectural plan is ready, and the Central Public Works Department, the lead consultant, is awaiting award of the contract. The Parliament building will have two chambers: Wolesi Jirga (House of People) and Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), a library and other facilities. India had committed over $50 million, but delays have led to cost overruns. The project was mired in uncertainty after security concerns discouraged companies from bidding, and the CPWD had to extend its deadline for inviting tenders.

New Delhi decided to relocate to a new, more secure location after the July 7 suicide car bomb attack on its Kabul embassy, which claimed the lives of defence attaché Brig. Ravi Datt Mehta, diplomat Vadapalli Venkateswara Rao, two ITBP personnel and an Afghan working for long at the mission. The contract for the new Parliament building will be awarded three years after the late Zahir Shah, former Afghan King, laid its foundation stone on August 29, 2005 in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"The roots of a plant are being laid that will, through your nurturing and care, grow into a sturdy Panja Chinar (tree) of democracy. Representation is the very essence of democracy. This edifice, when it is built, will be the very heart of democracy in Afghanistan," Dr Manmohan Singh had said on that occasion in Kabul.
So for 3 years they were sitting on it?
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