Kabul attack: Aircraft sent to bring back bodies of Indians killed

India is sending a special aircraft to Afghanistan to bring back the bodies of its nationals including army officials, who died in Taliban suicide attacks in Kabul on Friday. At least nine Indians were among 17 people killed as Taliban bombers carried out a string of attacks in the heart of Kabul, targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan.

A team of army officers and officials from the Ministry of External Affairs will go to Kabul to review the security situation there in the backdrop of the attacks, it was stated..

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has strongly condemned the "senseless act of violence and barbarism” in Kabul, saying the Indians who were killed in the Taliban bomb attack on Friday were on a "mission of goodwill and friendship". "I condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless act of violence and barbarism which strikes at the core of everything a civilized society holds dear," Singh said in a statement in New Delhi.

External Affairs minister S M Krishna termed the attacks as "barbaric" and a matter of "deep concern" and said they were clearly aimed against the people of India and Afghanistan.
A Boeing 737-200 aircraft from the Palam-based Communication squadron took off from New Delhi on Saturday to bring back all the bodies and those injured, IAF officials said.

The Indians, who died in the incident, include two army officers, government officials, an ITBP constable and a tabla player. Five other army officers were also injured in the attack. According to ITBP officials, force constable Roshan Lal was among the Indians killed in the blast. Lal, around 35, was a resident of Himachal Pradesh and deployed as the security personnel at the Indian Embassy. Tabla player Nawab, part of the three-member cultural troupe which was sent by Indian Council for Cultural Relations to Afghanistan, was also killed.

The Taliban bombers equipped with suicide vests and automatic rifles and a car bomb had attacked guest houses in central Kabul, particularly at Park Residence, rented out by the Indian embassy for its staffers and those linked to India's developmental work in Afghanistan. A series of explosions occurred at the City Centre shopping complex and the Safi Landmark hotel, about 300 metres from the interior ministry, police said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said were aimed at Indians working in Kabul. In a statement, President Karzai condemned Friday's assault as a "terrorist attack against Indian citizens" who were helping the Afghan people. He said it would not affect relations between India and Afghanistan.

The four-hour assault began about 6.30 am on Friday with a car bombing that leveled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors. The blasts and attacks underscored the militants' ability to strike in the heavily defended Capital even as NATO marshals its forces against them in the volatile south.

Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahman told reporters that the attacks began when a car bomb exploded outside the Arya Guesthouse where Indian doctors, who treat Afghan children in the area, were living. The blast leveled the building, also known as the Hamid Guesthouse. After the car bombing, a suicide attacker detonated his vest of explosives outside the demolished building.

Two other attackers then entered a second hotel known as Park Residence. Police surrounded the building. One of them holed himself up in a room and then blew himself up, killing three police officers and wounding six others. The other attacker was shot dead by police. The Italian diplomat who died had been assisting the police.

Indian officials condemned the attack. "We are shocked at the inhuman attack on innocent lives," Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said. "Our ties are strong and deep (with Afghanistan) and will remain so. We are very clear that the forces of terrorism will not succeed and we will take every measure to defeat the forces of terror," he said in New Delhi.

The Canadian Embassy and the US government issued statements denouncing the attacks.

It was the first attack in the Afghan capital since Jan. 18, when teams of suicide bombers and gunmen targeted government buildings, leaving 12 dead, including seven attackers. On Dec. 15, a suicide car bomber hit near a hotel frequented by foreigners, killing eight people. That followed an October attack on a small residential hotel that housed a number of U.N. election workers. Gunmen with suicide vests stormed the building, killing five U.N. staff.

India is among the largest economic donors to Afghanistan apart from countries that have sent troops to the NATO-led mission. The Indian Embassy in Kabul has suffered two major attacks, the most recent on Oct. 8 when a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle at an embassy security barrier, killing 17 people. In July 2008, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle at the gates of the embassy, killing more than 60 people.

- Asian Tribune -