India asks Kabul to ensure safety of Indians

India asked Afghanistan on Saturday to ensure full protection for Indians working in the conflict-racked nation, a day after at least nine Indians were killed in a militant attack in Kabul.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the appeal when Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai telephoned him early Saturday to offer his condolences over Friday's attack, a statement from the PMO said.

Dr Singh conveyed India's "outrage" at the strike while Karzai voiced his condolences and pledged a "full investigation" into the attack that claimed a total of 16 lives and left 20 people critically injured, the statement said. The bodies of Indians killed in the bombing have been brought back to New Delhi by a special IAF plane on Saturday.

President Karzai's telephone call came as New Delhi sent a military plane to bring back the bodies of the Indians killed in the attack and began a review of safety arrangements for its nationals in Afghanistan.

The Taliban bombers had targeted two guesthouses in central Kabul frequented by foreigners. One, known locally as the "Indian guesthouse," was occupied by Indian medical staff working at a hospital funded by New Delhi. It was the third major attack on Indians in Kabul in less than two years.

- Asian Tribune -